A Sign of Division

In Sharon, Massachusetts, an interfaith youth group, led by teens and coordinated by Executive Director Janet Penn, spent months planning an event at Temple Israel: “Sharing Sacred Seasons.” That year, the Muslim month of Ramadan and the Jewish High Holidays coincided. It would not happen for another thirty years. Sharon, a town that for decades was majority Jewish, was becoming religiously diverse, with a large Muslim population. For many religious and community leaders in Sharon, their town was “a living laboratory” for interfaith relations. Events like an interfaith iftar at the synagogue were just one example of the vibrant and vital relationships being forged in Sharon. On the morning of the event, Penn, a member of the temple, walked by the large sign in the lobby that reads, “We Support Israel.” That day, she viewed it through a different lens: How would it be received by their guests from the local mosque? 

Should she ask the rabbi to remove the sign, despite the community’s deep commitments to Israel? How should the rabbi respond? Is their interfaith relationship strong enough to take on the subjects they avoid, the subjects that divide them, like Israel/Palestine? Are interfaith events like this truly meaningful if the toughest parts of the encounter are avoided?

The complete, updated case is included in the volume Pluralism in Practice.