Holy Day a Help for All

This weekend, Americans are assembling for prayer and reflection to an extent not seen since the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. A National Day of Prayer and Remembrance took place Friday at the Washington National Cathedral, synagogues in Orange County held special services that evening, churches will be full today, and an interfaith prayer service will occur tonight at Holy Family Cathedral in Orange.

As we struggle to cope with the catastrophe of last Tuesday, an event on the Jewish calendar may help provide meaning for all of us. The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, begins Monday evening and resonates with the rhythm of everyone’s life. The season of fall is when the school year, federal government’s fiscal year, work year, and the theatrical and television programming years all commence. None of these have religious significance, but they signal the fresh start that comes with autumn. Now, though, in light of the terrible wound in America’s heart, we need a new beginning and renewed hope both civically and spiritually. Perhaps Rosh Hashanah could help us all begin a new and better year.

An interesting feature of the holiday is that it catalyzes a 10-day examination of conscience for Jews, culminating in the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, that starts the evening of Sept. 26. During this period, Jews are instructed to take stock of the year past, resolve to do better, and seek reconciliation with anyone they’ve hurt during the last 12 months. The practice holds important lessons in light of last week’s catastrophe.

There is now deep resentment by some Americans against Muslims worldwide and in the United States over this outrage, and it has already resulted in sporadic acts of violence and numerous threats against them. . The anger stems from the perceived linkage between the religion of Islam and the political agenda of a minuscule cadre of fanatics (among the world’s 1 billion Muslims) who use their religion to justify evil.

We must distinguish between terrorist acts by those appealing to a twisted version of Islam and the authentic religion that permits violence only in defense of persecuted Muslims or their holy places. Similarly, Protestants in Northern Ireland who terrorize Catholic children on their way to school or Catholic IRA members who blow up buildings clearly are not acting from Christian principles.

Another area needing healing is relations between American Arabs and Muslims, and their Jewish counterparts. The former maintain that Israel has responded to the current Intifada by the Palestinians with unnecessary force and dehumanizing restrictions. The latter decry the spate of terrorist bombings directed against Israelis and the cruel rhetoric about Jews permeating the Arab press-including Holocaust denial. All of this has chilled relations between the two groups during the last year.

But now, especially, dialogue between Jewish and Muslim leaders in the United States must go forward to signal to their counterparts in the Middle East that violence ultimately solves nothing. Even one heartfelt conversation between a Jew and Muslim is meaningful and consequential for the world, much like the rock dropped into a pond whose waves spread outward.

Another area where religious tension exists over past grievances and presents disagreements is Jewish-Catholic relations. Jewish historians are unhappy that the Vatican won’t give them unfettered access to all data pertaining to Pope Pius XII’s actions during the Holocaust. Some Catholics, on the other hand, wonder why the presence of a large cross near the entrance to Auschwitz is so offensive to Jews. Dialogue on these and other issues is needed from living room to boardroom, to create an atmosphere of trust.

I am beginning my second year as one of the Jewish participants in a Catholic-Jewish dialogue sponsored by the Diocese of Orange and the American Jewish Committee. It has been a privilege to meet and interact with people of faith from both traditions and help in a small way to heal old wounds and present pains.

Finally, on the purely personal level, the spirit of reconciliation called for during these Jewish days of reflection may have wider significance.

Many people are at odds with a relative, friend or business associate. Reaching out to that person this fall could heal the world--and oneself--just a bit.

The human race has become amazingly proficient technologically. We build space stations, transplant hearts, transmit data across continents at the speed of light, and map the human genome.

But we still struggle and falter with human relations.

This fall, amid the pain unleashed on Tuesday, we need to start building new interpersonal links so that nations, cultures and religions might cooperate more consistently to comfort and restore an aching humanity.