Article About WISDOM in the Jewish News

Sharing Wisdom
Interfaith outreach group compare religions.

Diana Lieberman
Special to the Jewish News

As told in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers), a man once asked Hillel to teach him the entire Torah while he stood on one foot.
"That which is despicable to you, do not do to your fellow:' Hillel replied. "This is the whole Torah, and the rest is commentary, go and learn if'
The five speakers at the Birmingham Temple in Farmington Hills June 6 were faced with a similar quandary. Each woman - all members of the mul¬ticultural group WISDOM (Women's Interfaith Solutions for Dialogue and Outreach in Metro Detroit) - was asked probing questions about her religion. Each had about five minutes to answer.
Among the questions: What is the place of women in their religion? What is most misunderstood about your reli¬gion? How would you summarize your own religious experience?
WISDOM came together soon after 9-11 to work to build bridges between different faith communities.
"Detroit is one of the most segregated communities in the United States:' said WISDOM president Gail Katz of West Bloomfield, who moderated for the event. "We want to set up opportunities for peo¬ple who, under everyday circumstances, would never get together and give them an opportunity to meet each other:'
WISDOM member Judy Satterthwaite of Rochester Hills said, "We have more in common than the media would have us think:'
The Birmingham Temple event,
titled "Five Women, Five Journeys: How Different Are We" began with a potluck dinner attended by more than 100 peo¬ple. The menu was vegetarian to accom-
modate the broadest possible religious and cultural laws and preferences.
Panelists were the Rev. Sharon Buttry, an ordained American Baptist min¬ister; Paula Drewek, retired professor and author of interfaith teaching aids, representing the Baha'i faith; Padma Kuppa, founder of the Troy Interfaith Group, who is Hindu; Sofia Begg Latif,
a co-author of the Children of Abraham play, who is Muslim; and Rabbi
Tamara Kolton of the Birmingham Temple, the first person ordained by
the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism.
As they fielded questions, several speakers cautioned that their opinions and their life journeys as women were not necessarily typical of everyone who practices their religion.
"Islam is a religion of about 1.2 billion people" Latif said when asked about the position of women in her religion. "Islam itself doesn't put women down. It's the culture that puts women down."
Similarly, Kolton explained the first woman rabbi was ordained in 1972 in Judaism's Reform movement. It took until 1985 for the Conservative Movement to ordain its first rabbi.
"Half the students at seminaries that
are ordained today are women" she said. "But most are not hired as pulpit rabbis. The image of the person on the pulpit is not a woman."
The case is similar in most Christian denominations, Buttry said. "Being ordained is one thing; finding a pulpit is another."
Kuppa differentiated between Hindu culture and religion. "Hindu women may be putdown culturally; but from the scripture, women are very powerful" she said. ''A lot of Hindus do not know about the faith traditions."
There are roughly 5.5 million Baha'i spread across the globe, Drewek said. She found the religion a good fit with feminist beliefs. "Because we feel all religions come from god, we take a little from here, a little from there."
Kolton said the evening was very much ion the spirit of the Birmingham Temple. "This congregation believes not only in creating bridges, but in walking across them."
For more information about WISDOM, go to the Web site www.interfaithwisdom.org.

Farmington/Farmington Hills Multi-Cultural Multi-Racial Diversity Breakfast

Watch these videos (especially part two) to see Gail Katz, WISDOM President, featured as the keynote speaker for the Farmington/Farmington Hills Multi-Cultural Multi-Racial Rainbow Diversity Breakfast on March 13, 2008.

Part 1:



Part 2:

Many Voices, One Future

Click on the videos below to see WISDOM Co-Founders Gail Katz, Trish Harris, and Shahina Begg on the SWOCC Farmington/Farmington Hills Cable TV program entitled "Many Voices, One Future" on March 17th, 2008.

Part 1:



Part 2:

Prayer in America Reminder

Monday, June 23rd 4:00 PM at U of M Dearborn - come and join The World Views Seminar, Detroit Public TV, the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion for a wonderful interfaith event. Click on the link below to go to the PDF File.


Prayer in America PDF File

WISDOM Birmingham Temple Interfaith event

Friday night, June 6th, WISDOM and The Birmingham Temple on Twelve Mile Road in Farmington Hills held a joint interfaith event. Over 100 Christians, Jews, Muslims, Baha'is, Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains (men and women) came together at a potluck supper to get to know other people of different faith traditions. The salads, pasta dishes, cooked vegetables and assortments of bread were wonderfully delicious, but what was more delicious than the food was the warm exciting feeling in the room of people reaching out to get to know others that they might never get the chance to meet in their own usual circles of friends and family. Following the potluck supper, about 150 people seated themselves in the sanctuary of The Birmingham Temple for a "Shabbat Shalom" Peaceful Sabbath service, led by Rabbi Tamara Kolton, senior rabbi of this congregation for Humanistic Jews. The service began with the singing of "Hayveynu Shalom Aleichem" followed by a poem by Judyth Hill entitled "Wage Peace." Other readings and Hebrew songs followed, including "We Shall Overcome," and the beautiful Friday night service ended with a memorial service for those departed and very spiritual candlelighting. The panelists for "Five Women: Five Journeys, How Different Are We?" were called up to the front of the sanctuary. Gail Katz, WISDOM President, was the moderator of the panel, which consisted of The Rev. Sharon Buttry (Christian), Sofia Begg Latif (Muslim), Padma Kuppa (Hindu), Paula Drewek (Baha'i) and Rabbi Tamara Kolton (Jewish). The panelists answered questions such as "How did your childhood impact where you are today with your own personal beliefs?" "How is your daily life impacted by the teachings of your religion?" "What do you believe is the most misunderstood part of your tradition?" and "What is it like to be a woman in your community, and what do you see as the biggest challenge for women in your tradition in the United States?" The answers from the panelists were thoughtful, touchingly personal, and very spiritual. What a most beautiful evening!! Below are some photos that were taken at the event.

Prayer in America PBS Special

Dear WISDOM Sisters:

Below is an invitation to a very special event. Detroit Public Television will be doing a joint TV program on June 23rd with the WorldViews Seminar at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. I will be part of this seminar which runs the entire week of June 23-27th, and I am very excited about learning more about the many religions in the Detroit Metro area. Please see the information below, and join us at the Prayer in America PBS special.

For those of you that have signed up for the WISDOM/Birmingham Temple potluck dinner and panel discussion Friday evening, June 6th, called “Five Women: Five Journeys – How Different Are We?”, we have over 100 people registered for the dinner, with many more coming just for the Sabbath service and panel discussion. Stay tuned for pictures on the website and in the newsletter.

Gail Katz
WISDOM President


Greetings all,

On Monday afternoon on June 23rd at 4 PM, Detroit Public Television will be joining with the Worldviews Seminar, the University of Michigan - Dearborn, Christ Episcopal Church, Dearborn and the Michigan Round Table for Diversity and Inclusion to present "Prayer in America." The event is being held at the College of Arts, Sciences and Letter auditorium on the UoM-D campus.

This two-part PBS production is a challenging and revealing documentary about the place of Prayer in American life. An Interfaith panel of religious leaders will join in a public discussion after each segment and a light meal will be served.

You are cordially invited to attend because of your involvement with our religious communities of Southeast Michigan. It is the hope of all of the sponsors that this event will build upon and encourage the interfaith dialogue that is occurring in our communities.

We hope that you will seriously consider attending. And please feel free to share this with others.

Peace,
Dan Appleyard

The Seventh Annual Worldviews Seminar,

Detroit Public Television,

and the

Michigan Roundtable for Diversity

and Inclusion

Present

Prayer in America

at the University of Michigan-Dearborn

Monday, June 23rd, 4 PM - 8:30 PM

To reserve a place contact Tanaya Parker of the Michigan Roundtable at

313-870-1500 or tparker@miroundtable.org