GOING ON BEYOND 7: A SPOT OF DIY

At ChristChurch, Clarendon Park, for the seventh session in the course, "Going On Beyond: Meditation and Mysticism in the World Faiths". This nine-week course is an interfaith opportunity presented by Christians Aware, as part of its Faith Awareness programme. It is presented in association with Leicester Serene Reflection Meditation Group.

This evening we're expecting to receive a presentation on "Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism" but our speaker fails to appear. So Kevin Commons and Ian Grayling (from the Serene Meditation Group) and I speedily organise a DIY session in place of the one advertised.

We set up three groups of five to discuss three related terms that impact on theory and practice: "meditation", "contemplation" and "concentration". Lively discussion ensues over the next half hour or so, during which we raise such points as those listed below:

• Is there a hierarchy of these terms?
• Do commentators or practitioners consider any of them superior or inferior to the others?
• Does one have to go through different levels before experiencing each one?
• Once you reach one of these stages (e.g. “concentration”) are you done with the others that come before it?
• How do they relate to other terms used to describe similar experiences (e.g. "absorption", "reflection")?
• What is there relation to states of mind where there is an absence of mental processes?
• These terms are defined and redefined in complementary or contradictory ways according to the disciplines, paraphernalia and style of practice.
• We should beware of falling into the trap of believing that we can use these (or any other) terms to describe or express experiences which are beyond words – especially as they are themselves translations.
  
  

We end with a short spell of meditation practice after the zazen (“just sitting”) form that we experienced last week. I think we do alright this evening, for a spot of DIY.

NEW STATESMAN: WHO SPEAKS FOR BRITISH JEWS?

This week's issue is a special on the British Jewish experience, with a signature essay by David Cesarani. Also in the issue:

• Ed Miliband on his family's refugee history
• Linda Grant on the Jewish novel
• David Baddiel on identity
• Michael Rosen on his communist childhood
• Will Self on other people's obsession with his Jewishness
• Anthony Julius and David J Goldberg debate anti-Semitism
• Jemima Khan interviews Anne Frank's step-sister, Eva Schloss
• Rachel Shabi and Mehdi Hasan on Muslim-Jewish understanding
• Daniel Trilling on Britain's last anti-Jewish riots
• Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner on Judaism and women's rights
• Bella Freud interviewed
• A short story by Naomi Alderman

All this, plus columns from Nina Caplan, Felicity Cloake, Anthony Clavane, Will Self, Rachel Lichtenstein and Jon Benjamin, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

MINDFULNESS & WISDOM 6: THE PLACE OF WISDOM IN THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN TRADITION

At Christchurch, Clarendon Park, for the sixth session in the course, "Mindfulness & Wisdom", offered by Christians Aware as part of their Faith Awareness programme. The eight-week course has been devised by Ian Grayling and Kevin Commons from the Leicester Serene Reflection Meditation Group.

Our topic this evening: "The Place of Wisdom in the Judeo-Christian Tradition", presented by Revd Marcus Braybrooke. Marcus Braybrooke is President of the World Congress of Faiths and is the author of many books on religion and spirituality in its many forms. His specialist interest is in relations between Christians and Jews. The copy below is almost entirely adapted from the handout we’re given this evening.

Wisdom literature was commonplace in the Ancient world. Here are a few examples of Ptahotep's advice:

"Do not gossip in your neighbourhood, because people love the silent."

"Only speak when you have something worth saying."

"Love your wife with passion."

"Do not blame those who are childless, do not criticise them for not having any, and do not boast about having them yourself."

Wisdom literature in the Bible

The Wisdom literature includes books such as Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon and perhaps the Psalms and (in the Apocrypha) The Wisdom of Solomon and Ecclesiasticus, which is the Greek translation of Ben Sirah who wrote the book in Hebrew c. 190/180 BCE and it was then translated into Greek for his grandson in 132 BCE. Wisdom literature in the Bible is of two types: instruction and reflection.

Instruction

Are you good at getting up in the morning? If not, here's one for you: "As the door turns upon its hinges, so doth the slothful turn upon his bed." (Prov 26:13). Again, "The bickerings of a wife are like the ever-dripping gutter." (Prov 19:13). But lest we be accused of sexism, Proverbs also says of a virtuous woman, "her price is above rubies." (Prov 31:10). Sometimes there are parallels with New Testament passages: "The tongue that soothes is a tree of live; the perverse tongue a breaker of hearts." (Prov 15:4) and "With the tongue we praise Our Lord and Father with the tongue we curse man, who hath been made in God's likeness." (James 3:9). There is quite often a suggestion that God will reward the righteous: "Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death. The Lord will not let the upright go hungry. He thwarts the greed of the wicked." (Prov 10:23). Also, "The righteous man 'shall be like a tree planted by the waterside, but the ungodly are like chaff, which the wind scattereth away from the face of the earth." (Psalm 1)

Reflective literature

Wisdom literature ponders the injustice of life: "God has delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked. Know now that God hath overthrown me, and has caught me in a net. Behold I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud but there is no judgement." (Job 19:6-7) The Preacher in Ecclesiastes says: "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity".

The personification of Wisdom (who is female)

Wisdom says in "The Lord brought me forth or created me as the first of his works ... I was appointed from eternity, before the world began." (Prov 8:22)

"wisdom pervades and permeates all things. She is the breath of the power of God, pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty ... She is the reflection of the eternal Light, untarnished mirror of God's active power, and image of his goodness." (Book of Wisdom 7:25-26) Wisdom gives understanding and teaches the secret of a good lire, which is obey the Torah. Solomon says: "I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me ... I loved her above health and beauty ... She is a treasure unto men that never fails." (Wis 7:7)

"Thy word is a lantern unto my feet: and a light unto my paths." (Psalm 119:105) "Thy testimonies are wonderful: there fore doth my soul keep them." (Psalm 119:129)

Wisdom in the New Testament - Parallels in the Gospels

Wisdom says: "Put your neck under the yoke and let your soul receive instruction: she is hard to find." (Ecclesiasticus 51:26) Jesus says: "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me." (Matthew 11:25) Testing, and the mocking of a servant of God's claim to be protected by God: Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life: for if the righteous man is God's son, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries." (Wis 2:17-18). "He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him; for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'" (??)

The wisdom of God is foolishness to men (1 Cor 1:17ff)

Wisdom is a challenge to human conceit and to a knowledge-based pattern of education.

Jesus as the Wisdom or Word of God

Several New Testament writers identify Jesus with the figure of Wisdom who was with God from the beginning but how close is the parallel?

Paul actually speaks about Christ as "the power of god and the wisdom of God." (1 Cor 1:24) and says that his message was "of the mystery of the wisdom of God - even the hidden wisdom, which God orddainedCor 2:7) "Wisdom is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness." (Wis 7:26) The author of Hebrews says of Christ: "He reflects the glory of God and hears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power." (Prologue to John's Gospel)

Later Judaism

Rabbinic Judaism said little about Wisdom, but she reappears in Kabbala or mystical Judaism.

"How should we speak of Jesus?"

Some translations of the New Testament avoid "Father" and "Son".

"Stories of the Prophets", and Arabic Bible that uses "Lord" instead of "Father" and "Messiah" instead of "Son".

"True Meaning of the Gospel of Christ", an Arabic translation which removes "Father" in reference to God and removes or redefines "Son".

A Turkish translation of Matthew that uses "guardian" for "Father" and "representative" or "proxy" for "Son".

The Bengali Infil Sharif, which translated "Son" as "Messiah" and "Son of God" as "God's Uniquely Intimate Beloved Chosen One"

We're given an exercise for our small group work that seems a little odd, given that not everyone in the room is Christian (we have at least two Secular Humanists, two Buddhists and a Bahá'í). We're asked to discuss the most helpful way to speak of God's presence in Jesus:

• Jesus is God
• Jesus is the Image of God
• God was in Jesus Christ
• Very God of Very God
• The Wisdom or Word of God was present in Jesus and also in Buddha and Zoroaster and Krishna
• Jesus as a window into God (which is how he is described in Honest to God)

INTER FAITH WEEK, DAY 5: JUDAISM 101

At 1200 today we have number seven in a series of ten public meetings for Inter Faith Week. These hour-long introductions to “Communities of Faith or Belief in Leicester" are being held in Leicester Adult Education College (or, more precisely, in Leicester People's Photographic Gallery, which is part of the Adult Ed College). Leicester Council of Faiths is hosting these meetings in association with Leicester Adult Skills and Learning Service (LASALS).

The speaker for this Beginners’ Guide to Judaism – or Judaism 101 - is Dr Martin Stern, of Leicester Hebrew Congregation.

The photo above is one of two images representing the Jewish community in the Favourite Faiths Photo exhibition, launched at Leicester People's Photographic Gallery during Inter Faith Week. The picture shows a detail of the Town Hall Square Fountain, a gift to the people of Leicester in 1878 from Sir Israel Hart (1835-1911), prominent member of the city's Jewish community and four times Mayor of Leicester (photo sourced from Kiran Parmar, with permission).

FAITHS FILM FESTIVAL FINAL FIVE

This morning the schedule for the film festival at Phoenix Square during Inter Faith Week is made public. Phoenix Square’s November brochure is published online (printed version to follow in two days). I've been particularly keen to see the finalised programme, so that I can get the details into the flyer that we’re having printed this week, listing our main activities during Inter Faith Week.

So, how does the final programme for Leicester's first Faiths Film Festival shape up against what I've been hoping for? At first sight, the result could be thought disappointing. But it ain't necessarily so.

When I first enquired about the possibility of Phoenix Square screening a short season of faith-related films at the same time last year, it was just a wish - and rather formless, as wishes tend to be. A couple of months ago, when making a more formal approach to Phoenix Square, I would have considered it a triumph to get five films on. At one point, I as discussing with Andy Jones (Programme Manager at Phoenix Square) the viability of showing as many as 14 titles: two per day throughout the week. As is the way with Leicester Council of Faiths, we were trying to represent each of our member communities equally. But as you can imagine, faithful reader, it's harder to find movies about, by or from some of those communities than others. I put out an APB, by email, social media and word of mouth, seeking recommendations for titles. Some of the suggestions were innovative, inventive, inspired – although some left me wondering if the respondents had ever been to the movies themselves or even knew what a feature film was. Sifting through a considerable amount of dross, there were a few nuggets of gold.

The ideal situation (from our point of view) would have seen two movies screened per day (half of them in Screen 2, which seats 120 and half in the Screen Room, which seats 30; half of them in English and half in another language with English sub-titles; half of them commercially proven and the other half more of a risk). Phoenix Square has whittled this down to a final five, as listed in the brochure.

I've learned a lot about how a cinema like Phoenix Square goes about its business. It's certainly not a matter of simply presenting a wishlist and expecting to get everything you want. The eventual choice was based on several factors, e.g.

• availability in suitable format for projection;
• having been passed by the British Board of Film Classification and granted an age certificate;
• ownership of current screening rights in the UK by a trading distributor (some of the proposed films have never been licensed for public screening in the UK, while screening rights for others have long lapsed).

So after all that, here's the final selection of films:

Sun 20: Little Buddha (Buddhist - obviously) 

Mon 21: A Serious Man (Jewish) 

Thu 24: Life in a Day (illustrating the Bahá'í principle of world unity) 

Fri 25: My Name is Khan (Muslim - with Hindu connections too) 

Sat 26: Lourdes (Christian)

I should stress here that the final choice was made by Phoenix Square – and in the end, they’ve gone with those films most likely to get patrons out of their homes on a cold dark November evening and parting with £7 for their ticket. Three of the five have been shown at Phoenix Square and deserve another go-round there.

I saw two of these films during their theatrical release (A Serious Man and Lourdes). I've already blogged about the latter.

We’ve been asked to write copy for the A4 cribsheets that are available free at the time of screening. On these we can say something about the relevance of the film to the respective faith communities, something about Inter Faith Week and something about the Council of Faiths. We were also offered, initially, the opportunity for an introductory talk about each film, of no more than three minutes in length. I haven't pursued this - so far.

I would like to find out if we can get a slide shown before each of the films, saying something like:

This film is being screened as part of Phoenix Square's Faiths Film Festival, presented in association with Leicester Council of Faiths, during Inter Faith Week.

A few too many "Faiths" in there? I'll work on it.

Phoenix Square's online brochure has a page devoted to the Faiths Film Festival. This web page has a slide show of still from four of the  movies, each with Leicester Council of Faiths logo added in the bottom right hand corner. That looks very nice. And there’s a paragraph of copy, written by me, linking the Faiths Film Festival with the Council of Faiths 25^th anniversary:

The third national Inter Faith Week is being celebrated from Sunday 20 to Saturday 26 November. Leicester has a positive and widespread reputation for the diverse and cohesive nature of its faith and cultural communities, so when Leicester Council of Faiths asked if Phoenix Square would host the first Faiths Film Festival – of course we said yes! This varied selection of movies showcasing faith, religion and belief also marks the 25th anniversary of Leicester Council of Faiths – which has been working to promote trust, understanding and cooperation among the city’s communities since 1986.

I hope that this is a success and that we get to do it again next year. Now it’s up to you, faithful reader. If you’re within the catchment area of Phoenix Square, then come along to one or more of these screenings during Inter Faith Week, show your support and enjoy a good film with our blessing!

FAITH TRAIL LINKS PLACES OF WORSHIP

From today's Leicester Mercury:

Faith Trail links places of worship

A walking route linking places of worship will be launched on Friday.

The Faith and Place Trail was compiled by archaeology students from the University of Leicester.

It is accompanied by a map that includes all places of worship in the city.

The trail was devised by second year students, with the help of the city's faith groups.

It takes in a selection of the places of faith which can be visited in the course of a few hours.

They include centres of worship for Bahá'í, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism and Sikhism, plus the Secular Hall and world arts gallery at New Walk Museum.

A university spokesman said: "The trail highlights how much there is to discover about Leicester."

University vice-chancellor, Professor Sir Robert Burgess, will be at the launch of the trail at New Walk Museum on Friday.

For details and the map, see: www.le.ac.uk/faithtrail

IS LEICESTER GETTING MORE RACIST?

From today's Leicester Mercury:

Is Leicester getting more racist?

Dr Samuel Lebens believes it is. This is his tale of two cities: an old, welcoming one, and a modern city that he says tolerates hatred of its embattled Jewish minority

I was privileged to grow in up in Leicester; a beautiful city with fantastic schools, and a vibrant multi-cultural community. I cherish the ethnic diversity of my childhood.

Now, I'm studying to become a Rabbi where the study of Judaism is the only religion on the curriculum.

But, so moved was I during my youth by the wealth of multicultural wisdom around me that I chose to take a GCSE in Sikhism – a strikingly elegant religion with an egalitarian ethic.

I was also struck by the beauty of the other religions that surrounded me: Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. These experiences, I carry with me in to my adult life.

As a leader of the National Union of Students (NUS), I was in joint charge of their campaign against racism and fascism.

I recall a motion that was debated at a national conference. The motion called for the NUS to condemn the practice of women wearing a headscarf.

My childhood experiences in Leicester had inoculated me from the xenophobia that motivates this suggestion.

I was among the first to stand in front of the 1,000 students at the conference, to defend a woman's right to dress as she pleases.

I couldn't be moved by the notion that Islam is inherently bigoted or prejudiced. My childhood included too many counter examples to any such claim.

I grew up in a Jewish community that felt safe within this multicultural environment.

Leicester has never been home to a large number of Jews. But we've always been proud of our association with it.

Indeed, the number of Jewish mayors that have graced Leicester's City Hall is vastly disproportionate to our numbers.

Growing up in that community, habituated to the tolerance around me, gave me a confidence in my minority identity. I owe that to the city of Leicester.

But let me describe to you another city.

At best, it can be described as a city that tolerates the anti-Semitism in its midst.

In the past few years, I have found it is almost impossible to walk down its main streets without having anti-Semitic abuse hurled at me and my family.

Cars slow down, with windows opened, in order to unleash a bloodcurdling howl of Jew-hatred.

I don't feel comfortable to dress, outwardly, as a Jew in that city.

It is a place to which I fear to bring my children; I don't want them to know the face of anti-Semitism.

A young relative of the Rabbi, in that city, had a pellet gun shot at him indiscriminately. The synagogue there has been the target of repeated acts of vandalism.

Recently, anti-Semites located the home of its only Orthodox Rabbi.

They hurled bricks through its door in the middle of the night. The fear that such an attack can strike into the hearts of a young family is barely describable.

When will the next brick come? Will it still be a brick, or will it, God forbid, be something worse?

How are they supposed to explain the attacks to their children? It is the sort of fear that can drive a family, and even a community, out of a city.

The city I'm now describing is also Leicester; the Leicester of my adulthood.

Not since Simon de Montfort, who was known for his Jew-hatred, has Leicester been so overcast with the shadow of anti-Semitism.

Leicester's Jewish community is shrinking. It is unlikely to last as a viable community for another generation.

Its youth are attracted to larger centres of Jewish life. But, under the leadership of its vibrant young Rabbi and his wife, the community has been host to something of a renaissance.

Leicester would like to believe its greatest asset is its communal cohesion.

Mercury reporter Adam Wakelin's recent feature expressed his dismay at the attacks on our Rabbi and his family, but concluded that Leicester is, nevertheless, a tolerant town.

"Once upon a time we made socks and shoes," he wrote. "Now we do diversity. Rather well, usually."

But Leicester should be under no illusion about the scale of the problem it faces.

Very few of Leicester's Jews dress outwardly as Jews (in skull caps, and fringes on the corners of their clothes).

But, when a Jew does walk around dressed in traditional garb, there's almost bound to be to be a confrontation.

Community cohesion might be good, generally, but if even one religious identity cannot flourish there, then it cannot be said to be a city that "does diversity".

What are Leicester's faith communities going to do? What is the council going to do?

Other than issuing reassuring statements, how are they going to combat the rise of anti-Semitic attitudes?

Many of the anti-Semites who have confronted me in Leicester were of clear religious affiliation, and belonged to ethnic minorities themselves. They should have known better.

I haven't a clue who's responsible for this most recent spate of attacks; I certainly won't jump to any assumptions.

However, Councillor Sood was surely right to claim that "attacks on one religion are attacks on all religions".

Until the rank and file membership of faith groups in Leicester take this lesson to heart, those communities have a duty to do more than issue reassuring quotes, however heartfelt.

I appreciate their support but what are they actually going to do? What are you going to do?

The last chapter of Leicester's Jewish history is currently being written.

It could be a glorious ending: an old, venerable community, winds down, merging with larger communities elsewhere.

Alternatively, the last chapter could be one in which the Jewish community is hounded and bullied out of its city by an anti-Semitism that almost goes unnoticed.

Which of these cities does Leicester want to be?

Dr Samuel Lebens is studying towards Rabbinical ordination and lives with his wife and two children in Israel.

Pupils get an insight into beliefs at faith festival

Here's a positive article about faiths and young people on the local scene, from today's Leicester Mercury. This would appear to be a new initiative on the part of St Philip's Centre for Study and Engagement in a Multi-Faith Society. I'd not heard of it before, at least. Good on them for providing such a service.

Pupils get an insight into beliefs at faith festival 

Pupils had a chance to learn about seven religions in one day when their school held a faith festival.

Faith workers went into Mount Grace High School, Hinckley, to give the youngsters insights into the beliefs and customs of Bahá'í, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism.

The Religion and Belief Roadshow, organised by St Philip's Centre, in Leicester, gave youngsters the chance to try foods and henna and finger painting and try on clothing associated with the different faiths.

There were also stqalls showing relvant items, and opportunities to ask questions.

Assistant Head Teacher Tom Dunne said: "The whole school had been excited about this day for a long time.

"We want our children to have the broadest range of knowledge and understanding to become the active citizens of tomorrow."

Riaz Ravat, of St Philip's Centre, a multi-faith organisation run by the Anglican Diocese of Leicester, said: "Our main purpose is to generate fun on a subject which is often all too serious.

"We want to communicate the shared values of respect, acceptance and charity, which faith communities possess.

"This is a two-way process, however, so we have much to learn from the children."