MY JEWISH SOUL

Anthony & Ann Gimpel

At Quaker Meeting House, Queens Road, this evening for the launch of Anthony Gimpel's new book, My Jewish Soul (published by Christians Aware).

There are more than 60 people in the room when Barbara Butler (Executive Secretary, Christians Aware) opens the meeting, inviting David Patterson to speak first. David is a neighbour of Anthony Gimpel and his wife Ann in Loughborough. He speaks about Anthony's influence on the way that Holocaust Memorial Day is commemorated there and how this is informed by Anthony's personal engagement with the Holocaust, as described in the book.

In the worldview Anthony espouses in his book, forgiveness must come before understanding, not the other way round as has long persisted in the classic British liberal model espoused by influential figures such as George Eliot and John Stuart Mill. Understanding oneself comes before understanding others. So  it follows that in order to understand oneself, one must forgive oneself.

Anthony - and of course his book - are deeply influenced by Quaker spirituality. The book is a search for his own inner soul, but at each stage of that search, it shows how he is engaged with the outer world: family, community, society, the world, always leading back to himself.

Next to speak is Ruth Fraser. She, in common with Anthony, describes herself as a Jewish Quaker. She offers the memorable observation that for a Jew to dwell on the Holocaust feels like applying a Brillo Pad to the soul.

David Clark, speaking next, says that he would locate the essence of Anthony's book on page 57: but he won't say what that is, or read the passage to us. If we want to find out for ourselves, we should buy the book! For the sake of the blog, I prevail upon him later and he points out the following paragraphs:

A friend was asking me about prayer. I answered saying that perhaps prayer is what happens when your heart genuinely wants something and the universe responds. It is instructive to hear my friend's comment: She said something like "you mean when I really want in my heart to do something." No, that is not what I meant. You may think it is what I said but listen carefully and notice the addition of one little word in her comment: I. It is quite different for your heart to want something and for you to want something in your heart. In the first case the universe responds: in the second the universe remains silent. That is why "I want never gets."

So what then do I mean about the universe responding? Being aware of what your heart is saying may allow you to be aware of the response of the universe but that is not a given. The response may or ay not accord with your conscious understanding. You may or may not want what the universe if going to give you. Do you really know what your heart wants? Is your ego happy with this? Will you accept the consequences? Only you can know and the universe is not particularly bothered whether you do or not. The key is your self awareness. Your ego and your conscience are irrelevant. It is neither here not there.

Just before this meeting, early news reports of the incident in Woolwich begin breaking. I get the feeling I'm the only one who knows about it, from the simple fact that no one else mentions it. Something of a contrast to what's been going on here this evening, I'm sure you'll agree, faithful reader.

PEACE VISIT 2012

Today Leicester Council of Faiths is holding our annual Peace Visit. This is one of what might be called our "signature" events for the benefit of the general public in Leicester (the others being our exhibition in Highcross during Inter Faith Week at the end of November and Holocaust Memorial Day in January).

There are twelve of us when we set off by minibus from Town Hall Square (after a brief welcome from Cllr Manjula Sood, Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths). The size of the group varies at each stop; at its height later in the day, there are 13 of us. It's a pleasant, sunny and warm day and we have a nice mix of old hands and new faces among us today.

Stage 1: Jain Centre

Our first stop is the Jain Centre on Oxford Street. The itinerary for the Peace Visit has changed each year (as has the name of the event, which has occasionally gone under different titles). The Jain Centre, however, has been a constant: and no wonder - it's surely the most distinctive among Leicester's many places of worship. I've visited it at least a dozen times and each time I do, something new has been done to the place. There's a nice panel display in a long corridor that's recently been opened up, conveying the history, beliefs, principles and practices of Jainism.

Stage 2: BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir

This temple has been open to public worship for less than a year, but has already become a major attraction, not only for worshippers but also for tourists. We're shown around by Narendra Waghela, who is one of two representatives of the local Swaminarayan community on Leicester Council of Faiths. He explains a few of the technical secrets behind making the whole site function to award-winning standards. It really is a beautiful place, with something to delight all the senses as well as elevate the soul.

Stage 3: All Saints' Church, Kerrysdale Avenue

We emerge from Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, get into our minibus and cross the road to our next stop. The Church of All Saints serves Leicester's Asian Christian congregation. Originally St Gabriel's (the statue of the Archangel has been retained above the entrance, as you can see top right in the photo above), the church was closed due to falling number of Anglican worshippers and remained unused for two years until it was resurrected in June 2012 for this diverse community. I haven't been to this church today (in either of its forms). We're given a warm welcome (in what is a surprisingly cold building) by the Pastor, Sunny George, and a handful of the congregation.

Stage 4: Guru Ravi Dass Sikh Temple, Harrison Road

Final stop on our short tour is another place I haven't visited before. This temple is named for Guru Ravi Dass, a revered historical figure among Sikhs and Hindus, previously unknown to me. Guru Nanak is reported to have met him and some of his verses are included in the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib. Today's been quite an education for me - as are most days in this job!

I reckon that, if we had the resources, we could fill a minibus on this kind of tour once a month. There's certainly variety among the places of worship that we could visit plenty of them with dreary repetition. With adequate promotion, we could surely get a dozen people on board, once a month. Ajay, who is Co-ordinator at Leicester Council of Faiths, organises our annual Peace Visit. I wonder how he'd feel about that ...

POET'S VISIT INSPIRES PUPILS TO SPEAK UP AND SPEAK OUT

This article is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Poet's visit inspires pupils to speak up and speak out

A group of youngsters were so inspired by a visit by a poet whose grandparents perished in the Holocaust they set about writing their own poems.

The result is a collection of poetry which has been published to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

Pupils at Granby Primary School, Stokes Wood Primary School, Queensmead Primary School, Lancaster School and the Phoenix Centre, have produced the "Speak Up Speak Out" anthology, after a visit by Leah Thorn.

Some of the pupils attended the Holocaust Memorial Service at the University of Leicester, where they read out their poems.

Kiana Chapman, of Stokes Wood Primary School, has four poems published in the anthology and read out some of her work at the service.

She said: "I was nervous about having to read out on stage, but once I was saying it I felt better.

"It was very challenging having to write on such a subject, but the poet Leah was brilliant."

Aleisha Baxter, 11, also of Stokes Wood Primary, has seven poems published in the collection.

She said: "The time we had with poet was really exciting. I am proud of what I have managed to write, about such a hard subject."

Oliver Kind, 11, of Stokes Wood, has two poems published in the anthology.

He said: "I was full of nerves about reading out loud, but Aleisha went before me so that made me feel more confident.

"It was great to be able to stand up and read out. It is a good feeling that other people will be able to read our work."

Stokes Wood teacher Elizabeth Stone said: "The visit of the travelling poet coincided with anti-bullying week, so we incorporated both in the work.

"The children have produced some wonderful poems on the subjects. I am very impressed."

Stokes Wood headteacher Jane Gadsby said: "All the children from all the schools involved should be proud of their work. The standard of work the children produced was quite remarkable. They have fantastic writing skills."

Poet Leah, whose mother survived after fleeing Germany to escape the Nazis, said: "The poems these children create are a powerful testimony to their talent and to their sensitivity."

Councillor Manjula Sood, chairman of the Leicester Council of Faiths and assistant mayor of Leicester City Council, said: "The children have used their imagination to create an especially important message in our multi-cultural city."

The project was supported by the Leicester Holocaust Memorial Committee which includes the Leicester Council of Faiths, Leicester University, the city council and the School Development Support Agency.

The project was funded by the National Lottery Awards for All.

WORLD RELIGION DAY 2012

Today (the third Sunday in January) is World Religion Day.

Established in 1950 by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, World Religion Day has been increasingly taken up in other countries - at first by national and local Bahá'í communities in different parts of the world, although it has also become an event widely recognised and keenly celebrated by people of other faiths too. Its purpose is:

• to bring together people of various faith communities
• to celebrate the unifying power of religion
• to promote inter faith understanding
• to encourage religious leaders and adherents to acknowledge the similarities between their faiths and work together for the common good.

In the United States, 16 January is National Religious Freedom Day, officially proclaimed each year by an annual statement by the President of the United States. I can't say whether it's more than just a happy accident that these two dates are observed so close together, but hopefully, there's a mutual reinforcement of the positive message of the unifying power of religion, that it can illumine hearts and minds with its own positive light.

There's no celebration of World Religion Day in Leicester today - again. I'm sorry to be saying that for the third year in a row. You'd think it'd be just the kind of thing Leicester would take to, wouldn't you, faithful reader? Bit of a no-brainer really - like other anniversaries, events and occasions that we could celebrate each year (but don't) such as Golden Rule Day, Week of Prayer for World Peace or any number of United Nations international days and observances. Even World Interfaith Harmony Week, established in 2010 by King Abdullah of Jordan.

We do manage to get it together for Inter Faith Week (est. 2009) and for Holocaust Memorial Day (est. 2001) of course, which shows what can be done when we put our collective shoulder to the wheel. At the age of 62, World Religion Day is the grand dame of such events. You'd think it would have had sufficient time to establish itself. How come it's so neglected?

I think that, in common with other occasions such as Golden Rule Day (for example) no one feels ownership of World Religion Day. Even though it was established by Bahá'ís, still it hasn't really gained a foothold in the Bahá'í community in the UK. Firstly, it was set up by Bahá'ís in the US and may be seen as more of an American thing. Secondly, perhaps its age is working against it. Maybe it's been around so long that it seems a bit tired now - as if it were trying to fight a battle that's now been won. After all, back in 1950 when World Religion Day was established, inter faith dialogue, encounter and relations was neither  the everyday experience or the major concern that it is today.Thirdly -and, to my understanding, most importantly - it may be considered an extraneous bolt-on, hitching a ride on the Bahá'í calendar without properly being part of it. Bahá'ís are more essentially committed to the goals of World Religion Day than any other faith community (obviously, since they invented it) but maybe, where this occasion has been successful, Bahá'ís may have done too good a job in selling it to other agencies, communities, group or organisations to see it as still being something for which they hold greatest responsibility.

Take Holocaust Memorial Day, for example. While that has deliberately expanded its appeal in relation to other communities, faith-based or not, still it is the Jewish community that drives it forward more than any other. 

Considering how exhausted I felt at the end of Inter Faith Week last year and how long it took me to get over it, maybe I shouldn't be thinking of another event that I can throw myself into, so soon.  All the same: someone or other should get their act together for this event when it rolls round again next year. It's an open goal, isn't it? Custom-made for an organisation like ours, you'd think. I'm sure we could reap considerable reward without very much effort.

In the meantime, I wouldn't World Religion Day 2012  to pass unmarked, so here it is in the blog – again (although admittedly it’s a poor show that it should be a case of all words, no action – again).

There’s a good collection of tweets about World Religion Day, many of which show what's happening in other places around the world. Just search #worldreligionday. There's some very good stuff out there, including information about ways of celebrating World Religion Day that could easily be adapted here.

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY: STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

As it is Holocaust Memorial Day, and since there are entries in this blog today about a couple of events commemorating it in Leicester today, I thought it would be good to round off the day with this published "Statement of Purpose". This describes the aims of Holocaust Memorial Day as being to:

• recognise that the Holocaust was a tragically defining episode of the twentieth century, a crisis for European civilisation and a universal catastrophe for humanity.
• provide a national mark of respect for all victims of Nazi persecution and demonstrate understanding with all those who still suffer its consequences.
• raise awareness and understanding of the events of the Holocaust as a continuing issue of fundamental importance for all humanity.
• ensure that the horrendous crimes, racism and victimisation committed during the Holocaust are neither forgotten not repeated, whether in Europe or elsewhere in the world.
• restate the conitnuing need for vigilance in light of the troubling repetition of human tragedies in the world today.
• reflect on recent attrocities that raise similar issues.
• provide a national focus for educating subsequent generations about the Holocaust and the continued relevance of the lessons that are learnt from it.
• provide an opportunity to examine our nation's past and learn for the fututre.
• promote a democractic and tolerant society, free of the evils of prejudice, racism and other forms of bigotry.
• support the Government's commitment that all citizens - without distinction - should participate freely and fully in the economic, social and public life of the nation.
• highlight the values of a tolerant and diverse society based upon the notions of universal dignity and equal rights and responsibilities for all its citizens.
• assert a continuing commitment to oppose racism, anti-Semitism, victimisationa and genocide.
• support our shared aspirations with both our European partners and the wider international community centred on the ideals of peace, justice and community for all.

PARAGRAPH 175

I drop in for 20 minutes or so at Leicester Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Centre on Wellington Street, where they’re holding their public observation of Holocaust Memorial Day. They’re remembering in particular the tens of thousands of LGBT people who suffered and died as a result of the years of brutality and hatred during the Fascist regimes in Europe.

The centrepiece of their programme this evening is the showing of Paragraph 175 (2000) a feature-length documentary directed by Rob Esptein and Jeffrey Friedman, narrated by Rupert Everett. The film chronicles the lives of several men who were arrested by the Nazis for homosexuality under Paragraph 175, the sodomy provision of the German penal code, dating back to 1871. Between 1933 and 1945, 100,000 men were arrested under Paragraph 175. Some were imprisoned, others were sent to concentration camps. Only about 4,000 survived. In 2000, fewer than ten of these men were known to be living. Five come forward in the documentary to tell their stories for the first time, considered to be among the last untold stories of the Third Reich. “Paragraph 175” tells of a gap in the historical record and reveals the lasting consequences, as told through personal stories of gay men and women who lived through it.

“Paragraph 175” fills a crucial gap in the historical record, and reveals the lasting consequences of this hidden chapter of twentieth century history. Since the theme of Holocaust Memorial Day (chosen this year, as it is every year, by the Holocaust Educational Trust) is “Untold Stories”, the Nazi persecution of LGBT people fits right in the mainstream of this year’s commemoration. Indeed this persecuted group is mentioned specifically by Prof Aubrey Newman during his speech at the HMD event in New Walk Museum starting later this evening.

INTER FAITH WEEK 2010: DAY 4

Priority this morning is to get my hands on a copy of the Leicester Mercury, to get a look at The Wave - the paper's young people's supplement, in which we've been promised front page coverage. There's a good big photo, showing Smita Shah (President of Jain Samaj Europe and Treasurer of Leicester Council of Faiths) and me, speaking with Katie (editor of The Wave) and Will (who wrote the story). The coverage is really good; I buy a dozen copies so we can show it off on the stall today.

Marion Kennedy is already at the display when I arrive around 0915. She's very apologetic about having missed her turn earlier this week (on Monday morning) when she was poorly and had to go home. She's determined to make the most of her time here this morning. I'm obliged to go off to CreativeCoffee Club just before 1000 and although I am loathe to leave her there on her own, she's quite content for that to be so.

Scott MacDonald and Aramesh Mahboubi (from Leicester Bahá'ís), Chogma (Education Outreach Officer from the Nagarjuna Kadampa Buddhist Centre), Suzanne Kelly (of Christians Aware) cover the 1400-1600 slot. Those four are in the photo below.

Speaking with one of the staff on the body care products concession that's selling products based on minerals from the Dead Sea, I ask what's happened to her colleagues from Israel, who had been speaking with us just a few days before, on Sunday. She tells me that their visas were found not to be in order, so the government has sent them home. Oh ...

In the late afternoon, a diminutive Sikh man and a big burly Christian fellow have a lively and friendly discussion about whether one has free will in matters of faith and belief or if it's no more than an accident of geography and history, determined by where and when one is born.

One woman, who introduced herself as a social worker, plucked half a dozen copies of each leaflet from our display.

Two young fellows, who later describe themselves as engineering students attending one of the city's universities, spend some time eyeing up the display on one side (the one with the later letters of the alphabet on it). After they've caught my attention, I go over and introduce myself and ask them what they think of it. They tell me that they'd like me to remove one of the banners from the display. I ask them which one, and they motion toward the Jewish one. They don't seem able to bring themselves to say the name. When I tell them that's not going to happen, they ask if I can at least move it so it's not adjacent to the Muslim banner. I tell them that's not going to happen either; we follow alphabetical order to avoid any protests at any faith community being unduly favoured over any other. After we've talked for a moment, I recognise these two chaps from a larger group who visited the exhibition earlier in the week, looked at it, appeared to speak about it among themselves, but wouldn't take any literature when offered it, or engage with anyone on the stall. (I note, later, that they've also been here earlier in the day - to judge from comments that one of the volunteers on duty earlier in the day had left in the reflective log.) This evening, the three of us spoke together for what must have been more than a quarter of an hour - and I found it all very interesting. They say that they were from Saudi Arabia and had never been outside their home country till coming here to study. They've only been in Leicester for a couple of months. Their issues with the Jewish presence in this exhibition arises from their awareness of the political and economic situation of the Palestinian people. I explain to them that the mission of Leicester Council of Faiths is to attend to relations between the faith communities in the city, and between the faith communities as a whole and the wider citizenry of Leicester. We know about the conflict between and among religions around the world - we don't hide our heads in the sand, but we also know can't resolve these conflicts. What matters to us is how we live here. To illustrate this, I describe to them what happened at Holocaust Memorial Day in Leicester, January 2009 (see blog post dated 31 Dec 2009, where I highlighted that event as my number one occasion of the year). They're still not convinced and tell me that, while their Palestinian Muslim brothers and sisters are being persecuted, there are no instances of Muslims persecuting members of other religions. I ask them to walk with me to the other side of the display and show them the Bahá'í banner. I ask them if they've heard of the Bahá'ís. They tell me that they never have. When I describe how they are being treated (how they have always been treated) in Iran, they fall silent. I put to them the question, because this is being done by Muslims to members of the religion I follow, should I take that out on Muslims in Leicester? To put it more bluntly, would it be good reason for me to punch the two of them in the face? Is it their fault this is happening? Of course it isn't - and of course I don't feel like that. but the rhetoric seems to work. At this point, they both tell me their names (they'd said earlier that they wouldn't do so) and we part on friendly terms, with firm handshakes all round. They tell me that they'll come back before the end of the week and try to talk with other people on the stall.

A young and dynamic Muslim businesswoman came to the exhibition late in the day and spent several minutes scrutinising it told me that she's opening a care home facility in Thurmaston and would be interested in obtaining training from the Council of Faiths in faith and cultural awareness for the staff she's taking on there.

"An uplifting experience. Thank you for the brilliant organisation. I've enjoyed all the conversations with 'staff' and visitors alike."

"Two Saudi Arabian students studying at DMU (engineering) were interested in the exhibition. when told about the leaflets one of the picked out Muslim, Christian, Jewish, His friend asked him why he wasn't taking one of each (I didn't hear the response). His friend took the others. We had a long chat."

"Was on exhibition from 4-8, met some interesting people and someone bought me a book to help me understand some alien concepts and approaches to spirituality."