Night of Service, Role of Hospitality
November 30, 2006 - Ryan Teitman, Staff Writer |
| Interfaith students prepare dinners for the Mitzvah Food Pantry. |
Standing shoulder to shoulder alongside a number of tables, a row of teenagers passed aluminum trays down a makeshift assembly line, putting together lasagna dinners element by element, adding zucchini as a vegetable and ending with a heap of apples for dessert. Finally, the meals were sealed and packed in boxes, which volunteers of the Mitzvah Food Pantry would then deliver to homes in Northeast Philadelphia.
Spending an evening making meals for the needy was just part of an event called Sukkat Shalom/Peace Shelter/Darus-Salam held on Nov. 16. An interfaith program for students, it was organized by Seasons of Service, the Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia's Walking the Walk: Values in Action and the Suburban Jewish Community Center-B'nai Aaron in Havertown.
The Christian, Muslim and Jewish students came together at B'nai Aaron not just to help others, but to learn more about themselves in the process.
"This is a lab course for Jewish service," said Beth Margolis-Rupp, the director of the Service Learning and Leadership Institute of the Jewish Community High School of Gratz College.
The night began with a primer on hospitality in each of the faith traditions, presented by three religious educators. Mohammad Aziz, chairman of the board of directors of the Islamic Society of Valley Forge, talked about how, in Islamic teachings, Muslims are instructed to welcome a guest into their home for three days before even asking the reason for the visit.
Rabbi Alan LaPayover, former associate rabbi of Congregation Beth Am Israel in Penn Valley, spoke of the tradition of hospitality during Jewish holidays and festivals, noting the symbolic invitation offered to Abraham, Moses and David to dine in the sukkah during Sukkot, and the throwing open of the door for visitors before the Passover seder.
Molly Roach, director of religious education at Philadelphia's St. Timothy's Parish, discussed the work of Dorothy Day -- the founder of the Catholic Worker movement -- and her efforts to feed the poor. While groups like hers didn't always have enough to feed everyone or even keep themselves afloat, Roach said Day insisted that "divine providence [would] provide for them."
The mixture of education and service exposed students to traditions they don't have a chance to delve into during their daily routines. After the lessons in hospitality -- and the practical application of it in the service project -- the group sat down for dinner to discuss the insights they'd gained from their experience.
Marshall Moritz, 17, a second-year participant in the program from Gratz Jewish Community High School, said he's "gotten to know a lot more about Christianity and Islam. It's an opportunity that I'm very grateful to have."
Kimberly Spadaro, 17, of Radnor's Archbishop Carroll High School, agreed: "It takes you out of your comfort zone."
Going to Catholic school, she added, doesn't give her much access to people of other faiths.
"We all have the same ideas," felt Spadaro, even though the rituals in each religion differ.
"It sculpts me into a better person," said Ibrahim Muhaimin, 15, of the Quba Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies in Philadelphia. By meeting people of other faiths, he said he can now go to his new friends with questions about their beliefs.
"Students form friendships that wouldn't occur normally," attested Rabbi Carol Harris-Shapiro, a professor at Gratz College and a board member at the Interfaith Center. Not only are relationships growing between adherents of these faiths, she said, but also between teens from urban and suburban backgrounds. And because the program lasts an entire year, the time exists for real bonds to develop.
"All of the components reinforce each other," she concluded. "They're learning about one another at the same time they're learning about the world."
