When Faith Breaks Your Heart.... by Rabbi Hannah Goldstein

When I woke to news of the shooting at Charlie Hebdo yesterday morning, my heart broke along with so many others. I imagined the fear in that office, the families torn apart by grief, the citizens of France whose values were under assault. Again, this morning, more bad news. Hostages taken in a kosher grocery store and children on lockdown. People often say, “Why choose religion? It’s a source of conflict in our world.” These past two days seem to make their case, that religion incites violence, that being a person of faith makes you vulnerable to manipulation or brainwashing, that religion tears us apart. 

Mayor Bowser addressing a packed WIN action

At times when faith feels so distant, I still find myself searching for the comfort that faith can provide. Yes, religion can be the source of destruction and hate, but it can also strengthen us and bring us together. Last night, Temple Sinai participated in a Washington Interfaith Network action with DC’s new mayor, Muriel Bowser, at St. Augustine Catholic Church.  This interfaith group pressed Mayor Bowser to commit to creating jobs, stopping gun violence, maintaining affordable housing and ending homelessness in our city. With faith as the common bond, but with vastly differing ideologies, Washington’s interfaith community used religion as the catalyst to come together and as the source of hope that we can build a better world. 

 

In the Shabbat morning liturgy, there is a modern interpretation of the Hoda’ah, a prayer in the Amidah during which we show our gratitude to God. There is a line that reads, “For high hopes and noble causes, for faith without fanaticism, for understanding of views not shared, modim anachnu lach (we thank you).” We thank God for the potential of religious pluralism. We thank God for our intellectual ability to hold more than one truth at a time. We thank God for our capacity to disagree passionately without turning to hate. 

On this Shabbat I pray for the safety of satirists and Semites. I pray for reason and restraint, and for the courage to believe in that which we cannot see. I pray for the freedom of ideas, images and ideologies. And I pray for a world where we can live in peace and celebrate our many faiths without the threat of fanaticism.

 

-Rabbi Hannah Goldstein

 

Over 1,000 WIN members and friends packed St. Augustine's