“A person walks in life on a very narrow
bridge. The most important thing is not to be afraid.”
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
Tziporah:
On the fall harvest
festival of Sukkot—once the most central holiday of the Jewish calendar cycle—we
observe the custom of inviting Ushpizin
(guests) into our sacred space. Each
year, we ask friends and family to bring a photograph of someone with whom they
would like to share a meal. Their honored guest can be alive or dead, or a
biblical, fictional or historical figure…anyone at all. As Thanksgiving approaches and we celebrate
the fall harvest as a nation, I am reminded of our Sukkot celebration earlier
this season, when I hosted Grace and Yasmina—and their Ushpizin—at my home. Their
choice of guests reflects their deep understanding of the subtext of our
interfaith work: We are striving to connect with each other, with our
ancestors, with our community and with God.
We are holding hands as we walk together across the very narrow bridge,
so that we will not be afraid. This
Thanksgiving, as I offer thanks for the abundance of my harvest, I am also
grateful for their wisdom and friendship.
Grace:
I invited writer Flannery
O’Connor to accompany me into Tziporah’s sukkah. This writer of some of
America’s greatest short stories certainly understood, in her personal life,
the meaning of a makeshift hut intended to remind the Jewish people of God’s
providence throughout the Exodus journey.
In her early twenties, O’Connor was stricken with a crippling disease
that compelled her to move from what must have seemed a most promising life
among the literati of NYC to her mother’s dairy cattle farm in rural Georgia. Yet, in the red clay—and even in the manure
of a hen house—O’Connor found a Land of Promise. As I celebrated Sukkot with women whose
friendship has been manna for me, I was reminded that God’s daily provisions
are sufficient for whatever “wilderness experience” we are called to face and
for each narrow bridge we are asked to cross. Abundant reason for thanksgiving!
Yasmina:
I wanted to invite a
person who could revive some much-needed values in our present day; someone who
saw beauty in all humanity, understood our common roots, and stood for the
rights of justice and equality.[1]
I picked an individual whom I thought best exemplified these virtues. He defied
preconceptions and laid the foundation for a wider perspective while crossing a
very narrow bridge. He contributed in freeing minds and souls in his time, and
is still helping people forge their way across new bridges today; our own interfaith
group is a testament to that. Al-hamdu
lillah: all praise, all thanks are due to God, and Muslims utter these words
not only in prayer, but also in answer to the greeting “How are you?” This
is because we recognize the human spirit as one of God’s countless and endless
bounties. Tziporah welcomed that spirit of Abraham Lincoln, and me, into
our Sukkot celebration.
[1] The Prophet
Muhammad [Peace and Blessings be upon him] taught in his farewell
sermon: “All mankind is from Adam and Eve. An Arab has no superiority
over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white
has no superiority over black, nor a black has any superiority over white, except
by piety and good action.”
