Parashat Yitro 2009
One of the most powerful experiences of the annual Jewish Christian Muslim conference in Wuppertal happens when the members of the three faiths come together over the three last days of the week and share in each other’s prayer services. For me, this exercise raises both anxiety about the quality and meaningfulness of our Jewish prayer as well as a kind of spiritual envy of certain elements of the prayer of the other faiths.
What surprised me the most though, was to discover that just as I was inspired by the devotion of the Muslim prayer or by the stillness of the Christian prayer, members of those faiths were equally inspired by the joyfulness of the Jewish prayer or the wholeness of the Jewish Shabbat. Through their eyes I was able to re-appreciate my own tradition and learn to value what is unique and spiritually meaningful within it.
