Students of all faiths are invited to gather tonight at St. Louis Hillel to take part in an interfaith dialogue centered on services for Jewish Shabbat (the Hebrew word for ‘Sabbath’).
The event, co-sponsored and funded by an array of campus religious groups, is the first of its kind to stimulate interfaith conversation by inviting a diverse body of students to Jewish services.
The driving force behind the event is David Schwartz, a senior majoring in education. Schwartz says that the event will help students see how their friends live religiously.
“It is important that people are able to better understand those they are spending four years of college and beyond with,” said Schwartz. “Religion is an important part of many people’s identities, and understanding people better at that level helps us understand what makes people tick.”
The event will begin at 6 p.m. and will take place at St. Louis Hillel, a chapter of the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life located at 6300 Forsyth Blvd.
The Interfaith Shabbat will be organized into two main parts. There will be an opportunity to observe one of the three Jewish services that take place weekly or a special learner’s service.
The second half of the Shabbat will include an informal discussion and dinner.
The meal will be made up of foods from an interfaith menu, representing foods traditional to several major faiths. As guests dine on a menu that includes grape leaves, chicken soup, ribs and samosas, “facilitators” will be at each table to sustain the discussion.
Because the organizers of the event sought financial help from several different organizations, the dinner will be free for all attendees.
Schwartz hopes that the night will allow students to become more familiar not only with Judaism, but also with other religions.
“Facilitators will be present to begin the discussion and to keep it going after that if it doesn’t flow naturally,” said Schwartz. “Even if the discussions naturally end up flowing to non-religious areas, I think that still helps to achieve our goal of showing that people of different religions are more similar than one might think.”
The mood for the evening is expected to be optimistic and pensive, with the aim of appreciating diversity, but with the goal of reconciling differences between faiths to show similarities in beliefs and values.
Sophomore Lauren Monaco, a student involved with the project through the campus ministry College Central, looks forward to the opportunity to learn.
“I’m looking forward to the dialogue because it is really rare to find an opportunity to discuss what people of other faiths believe. If the event is successful, it would be great if it could happen again,” said Monaco.
Sophomore Michelle Eisenberg, who is also involved in the planning, says that hosting students at Hillel should only be the first step in a larger conversation about religion.
“This is a great start, but it needs to go farther than just having dinner and observing services,” said Eisenberg. “In the future, there should be more chances to continue the dialogue.”