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WISDOM was one of the co-sponsors of the Sunday evening, November 16th ,2009 Jewish Community Center Book Fair presentation by interfaith activist Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, author of You Don't Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right. WISDOM held a Pre-Glow in the former Milk and Honey Restaurant and about 40 WISDOM interfaith supporters nibbled on Middle Eastern appetizers, veggies, fruit and brownies while chatting amongst themselves. Following the Pre-Glow Imam Salie made some very passionate remarks about reaching out to include other religions to increase respect and understanding, and then introduced Rabbi Brad Hirschfield. The Rabbi spoke for an hour to a mesmerized crowd of people about how he has reached across boundaries, not to dilute those boundaries or differences, but to love that particularity and the full human experience. He stressed how we all need to heal polarizations, and to turn faith from generating hatred to being part of the solution. He remarked that what's so crucial is not the things we say to each other, but the things that we don't say.What a wonderful and inspirational interfaith evening!! Please see some of the photos below that were taken that evening!!Gail KatzWISDOM President
On Sunday, November 9th, WISDOM held an educational day about three Eastern faith traditions - Hinduism, Sikhism and Jainism. We began our day at the Bharatiya Temple in Troy with Padma Kuppa instructing us about the basics of Hinduism as we sat in the beautiful and holy prayer hall. Padma was surrounded by some of the youth of the temple who helped her explain the tenets of the Hindu faith. The WISDOM participants dined on an Indian vegetarian lunch with the members of the Temple, and listened to the priest, Brahmasri V. Janaki Rama Sastry, give a lecture on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Murthi Pratishta. We then journeyed to Plymouth Township to the Sikh Gurdwara Sahib. Raman Singh and Supreet Singh gave us a personal view of the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib and a tour of the temple. The powerpoint was very clear and informative, and we all felt so welcome and comfortable in the Gurdwara. We were treated to Samosas and other goodies before we continued on our way. We ended our day at the Jain Temple in Farmington Hills. We thank both Bhavna and her husband for being such gracious hosts, accompanying us to view the 24 tirthankaras, answering our myriad of questions, and showing us a very informative powerpoint about Jainism. The Jain vow of "Ahimsa," non-violence, gave us all pause for reflection on our daily lives and the state of the world. Thank you Padma, Raman, Supreet and Bhavna for all of your hard work, time and energy. My thanks also go to the programming committee for their support of this wonderful day. For all of you who made this journey with us, I thank you for taking time out of your busy weekend to learn about three Eastern faiths which have a great presence in Metro Detroit, to widen your worldviews, and to help make our community a place of greater respect and understanding. Please take a few moments to view some of the pictures that were taken at this terrific WISDOM event.
Gail Katz WISDOM President
