麻豆约拍

From Rabbi Pete Tobias of the Liberal Synagogue, Elstree:

What do a photographic exhibition in Derby, a tea party in Rochdale and a football tournament in Croydon have in common? Answer 鈥� they鈥檙e all events that are part of interfaith week, which began last Sunday. It鈥檚 an annual opportunity to consider not just what it means to be religious but what different religious traditions demand of their followers; specifically in relation to those of different faiths.

It all concludes next Sunday, which has been designated as this year鈥檚 Mitzvah Day. This is an annual event, initially established by the Jewish community in 2005. Its motto is 鈥榳e don鈥檛 want your money 鈥� we want your time!鈥� People of all ages take part in different projects: in past years I鈥檝e taken my Religion School children to sing in an old people鈥檚 home while adults helped to decorate a charity鈥檚 premises as others worked to clear an area of woodland.

In recent years, Mitzvah Day has become connected to Interfaith Week. It is a good opportunity to round off 7 days that are meant to demonstrate the potential for different faith groups to understand one another by combining to do a mitzvah 鈥� a good deed 鈥� to help their local community.

The idea of doing something active to make a difference in the world is integral to our humanity. I am reminded of a quote by Rabbi Leo Baeck, who once observed:

鈥淥ne can always find warm hearts who in a glow of emotion would like to make the whole world happy but who have never attempted the sober experiment of bringing a real blessing to a single human being.鈥�

I think what he鈥檚 saying is that it鈥檚 all very well to sit around talking about how to make the world a better place, but there comes a point when we actually need to do something about it.聽 This week of all weeks is a good time to start.