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Weighty Issue: Pete Constant challenges res1dents to lose a m1ll1on pounds page 6

Sooner or Later: English Beat returns to MUSIC

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Dione Eldridge, left, of Lincoln Glen Church nnd Ley Ia Kose of Pacifica Institute Silicon Valley Branch help prepare meals to be served at Inn Vision's Montgomery Street Inn shelter on March 2.

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Yaseen Elashmawi, left, Brice Harnack, Olyli Bantu as and Febin Habeeb of the South Bay Islamic Association and Karen Rafferty of Lincoln Glen Church prepare to serve meals at CityTeam Men's Recovery Center last year.

In Good Faith Abrahamic Alliance International was born from a

need to create relationships across various religions

S ide by side and shoulder to shoulder, Christian, Muslim and Jewish participants in

Snn .Jose-based Abrohamic Alli­ance IJJtcmat.ional are called to­gether for two main cai.IBei!--6Crv­ing the poor and hungry and taking time to learn about one another.

Rod CardO't.a, founder of Abra­hamic Alliance, said that "people come as strangers" to the inter­faith fellowship events sponsored by the the alliance but leave as neighbors. A unique feature of the group are the seminars that are mandatory before joining in

10 SIUCON VAJ..U .'YCOMMUNI'IY NEWSPAPgRS JUI.Y II, 2014

By LEETA-ROSE BALLESTER

the community service events. These educational ''Loving

Neighbors" seminars arc held at houses of worship throughout the Bay Area. Two local churches involved so far are Lincoln Glen Church in Willow Glen and Ven­ture Christian Church in Los Ga-

los. There arc plans for seminars and events to be held in other coun­tries such as Canada and Nairobi.

"We need education at the griiSIII"OOts level," said Cordoza, a practicing Cluistian. "We are looking for brave churches, brave synagogues, brave mosques. We

attract people of peace who 11'8willing to give."

Filling a need Abrahamic Alliance lnterlll

tional was born in 2008 t'rom

AbraJu:unjc,JXVIe U

IT

Abrahamic ( 'onllllllt'ti from J!Of.!c• /0

;I nt•Pcl to nt•alt• t'Pialionships at't'o' tlw faiths, Cardoza s:tici ;:~lt.l 1 ~. lta~<·d on td<•as found it; t ,tc h l.uth s sa1•1·pd l<•xt, sut'il as low, pPa<·~· and kindnt•ss.

Whtlt• ltving in E!-tYPL during till' 2()()(i W:\1' lwlW('!'II lst':t(•l and l.!•hanon, Cut'(loza was in spn·l·d lo help rwopk• of difli•t·­c•nl fmlh gr·oups l)('tl('t' und!•r slun~l . one another's views und lradttums and possibly dispel prcconc·c•tvcd notions. . "Munypcoplcaregl'llingtheir

v~c~s of ea~h other through mc­~ta , ht• smd. "The masses al'e tgnorant of each other. If we don't have friendships with each other,. that's whel'e stereotypes come m."

Learning about others

The seminars, he said, are the first s~p lo giving people an op­portum.ty lo ask those questions they mtghl be ne!'vous or afi·aid lo ask-or that might sound of­fensive.

"At the seminal' level it's mono­faith, so people can learn about other faiths in a safe environ­ment," he said. "You geL a healthy introduction." A leadel' of one faith community will speak and teach its members about ~the!' religiions in a space they can feel comfortable in.

Cardoza said that the teachers for ~~ese ~therings are not only fanUliar Wlth theu· own religion but are able lo use their sacred text as a teaching tool.

"Our instructors need to be people who know how to teach about others through their sa­Cl'ed text," he said, adding that the doors lo understanding open when "we can humble ourselves and be a learner."

Once people have completed seminars about the other reli­gions involved, Cardoza said, the hope is that they will have a bet­ter understanding of other faiths' practices and needs within the community.

Aziz Baameur, a member of the South Valley Islamic Community, a mosque in San Martin, said that he had many Jewish friends while growing up and his wife is Chris­tian. Regarding his attendance at

. PIIOTOGIW'HS COURTESY OF ABRAIIAMIC ALLIANCE INTERNATION

Forty Mushm~ and <?hris tians united to serve 250 meals at City Team Men's Recove Center June 2~113d .O•·te~~llon and meal preparation were hosted at Lincoln Glen Church. V;;unteers ~~~~te ~o;;:t~ysuandJ'1f;:~~::O:~.bonded over fun questions about fond childhood memories,

religions but rather was reas­sw·ed that people wanted lo work together toward the goal of help­t~g the less f01iunate, de pite any differences.

"What was exciting was the no­tion that people would congregate around those actions" of giving he said, noting that he was glad to see people trying to learn about each other. · "After 9/11, there were a lot of thoughts that crept into the psyche," he said, and he found it refreshing to see people willing to come together in peace.

Louder than words Graduate of the seminars then

come together, face lo face, to serve the needy, Cardoza said The goals are to serve a good meal, do it together, get to know each other and have a good tinle.

On Oct 20, 2013, more than 150 Jews, Christians and Muslims gathered tA? hear what each community's sacred scriptures say ~t servmg ~poor, suf!~ ~ llllll'ginalize Congregation Smat hosted this Abrahamic Religions Trialogue and pone! discussion. Speakers included, left to right, Rabbi Joshua Berkenwald of Congregation Sinai, Pastor LwTy Albright of LincolGlen Church and Imam Mubasber Ahmad ofBaitul Basir Mosque.

Service events have been held at CityTeam Ministries and Inn­VISion Shelter Network in San Jose, as well as St Joseph's Fam­ily Center in Gilroy. So far about 18 such gathetings have been held in the Bay Area, as well as four in Arizona.

The events begin with a 30-minute meet and greet, then par­ticipants are paired up lo begin

knowledged and embraced at the I rerence: he said.

event, according to Cardoza. Rabbi Joshua Berkenwald

a seminar, he didn't necessarily discover something about other

177

cooking a meal. Diversity is ac- "Every event is like a UN eo& Sinai Synagogue in Willow Gl

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AL

in

n

huH partil'ipal•d in two Almoha mit· Alii; mel' nu•:oii'Vf'TJI "'' fior

"Wo• IA·ntl Lo dwc·ll on ditli r t·nt·o'>l in lo·.ttl of mmrncm11htu • lu· aid, allhoulo(h "th" do tro• u, •·rvt• olho•o 1. lltndhtng th:tl uru(l· ,til of'11 ." lit ntld•·dtluot hy dtlllli(C·wnl• 11do:o~th1 J•,J,.~>p~· t·un h·arn lll rt•1l 1mly lt•l<•r,tl• hut llJ rt· )X'd tho. ·c· <lilli·n·n

FtxH'I i~ prt•p,tt'('(l lo tho• n·h l(iou~ l~~·tlical icm of th" vohm lf•t·r ·, mo·mlllll! k()t;hr·r or lwlal pral'li<'l'~ HI'!' oh'l•rvt~l

Finally, wlu·n Lht· food is ••nlht• Utbh•, lht• ),'rOUp of ubout 40 will sit down with th indtvidll<lls th('Y huvc s<•rv<'d. One of tht• fuith k•nd· crs generally leads a meal prayrr.

Baamcur snid that thL~ part of tht> gntherinj.( t'<'ally brings JX'Opk• together.

"When it's done across faith' and aero!\.~ languagt's, there's a resonance to it," he said. "It is strange but familiar We arc all Abrahamic faith~<."

A movement Cardoza said more relig-ious

leaders and members are look­ing to interfaith activities, even though the idea is still "kind of controversial." He said some lxL lieve it's not wise lo engage m m­terfalith events.

"We want people to sweat to­gether, not just talk," he said "It's pretty amazing what kinds of threads are between us."

Berkenwald said that because Sinai is a smaller synagogue, rep­resenting about 200 households, it has been difficult so far to initiate interfaith activity with the kind of scope the Abrahamic Alliance en­vi.,ions.

"Our synagogue is committed to social action and we have a his­tory of serving the poor," he sa.id. "We didn't huve a lot of experience with interfaith work.lt' been nice to combine those two elements."

Anyone can register for a o;emi­nar hosted at a centt'r of their own faith and .take the first ~tep toward parttctpating in ser.ice events, Cardoza said. There are plans in the work.q for two fall meal even~.

"If most ,Jews, Mu:ilims and Christians were together "<'1'\~ the poor regularly, maybe the;.>

;:::_wouldn't be ~ powt-rful."

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