Greetings!
This week at Faith House is all about Purim, a festive Jewish holiday that celebrates how Queen Esther reversed history and saved her people from a massacre in the Persian empire. Jews around the world will be celebrating Purim this weekend. Our Living Room tonight is for people of all faiths or no faith at all. Read more below!
On Sunday in the early afternoon (Purim itself), we will bring the fruit collected at the Living Room tonight (please bring uncut fruit to contribute) to a Kosher soup kitchen in Brooklyn. Sharing with the poor is a commandment of Purim. We have been invited to stay after delivering our gift and share in a meal for a donation. RSVP to Bara.
Can't wait to see you all tonight!
Blessings,
Bowie Snodgrass
Executive Director
Upcoming Faith House Living Rooms
2nd & 4th Wednesdays, 274 5th Ave, Doors at 6 pm, Program at 7 pm
Mar 10, 2010 Myong Haeng Sunim, Korean Buddhist Monk from
Chogyesa Zen Temple of New York
Mar 24, 2010 Early Christian Communion with Emily Scott,
founder of St. Lydia's
April 14, 2010 Sundeep Sonny Singh, from the Sikh Coalition, on
Vaisakhi, Sikhism and Social Justice
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LIVING ROOM
Purim! How Queen Esther Reversed History
 Wednesday, February 24, 2009
6 pm Doors, 7 pm Program
Intersections, 274 5th Ave
Btwn 29th and 30th Sts
New York, NY 10001
With Rabbi Justus Baird
Music led by Barry Merer
Come celebrate Purim with a traditional reading of the Book of Esther,
the only book in the Bible that does not mention G-d, where a beautiful
Jewish woman becomes Queen of Persia and saves her people from the plot
of the wicked Haman to massacre all Jews in the empire. This megillah,
scroll or book, is read with wild cheering and booing from all in
attendance. We will also hear portions chanted in the traditional
Hebrew. This carnival-like celebration will include hamantaschen cookies (named for the villain in the story), songs and blessings. We will prepare a matanot l'evyonim, a package for the poor, a commandment for this holiday. Please bring hamantaschen to share and/or UNCUT fresh fruit for the fruit basket we will present to a local Kosher soup kitchen. Rabbi Justus N. Baird has served as the Director of the Center for Multifaith Education
at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City since 2007. He
oversees the seminary's multifaith programming which strives to prepare
religious leaders for a religiously diverse world. In addition to his
work at Auburn, he founded an alternative Hebrew school program in NJ
called Yerusha. He
has taught, preached in, and consulted with seminaries, churches,
synagogues, mosques, and interfaith organizations. He teaches the
Multifaith Seminar in the Multifaith Doctor of Ministry Program (a
partnership between Auburn and New York Theological Seminary). Raised
in Texas, Rabbi Baird lives in Princeton, NJ, with his wife Rabbi Julie
Roth (Director of the Center for Jewish Life at Princeton University)
and their two sons. Image: "Queen Esther Revealing Her True Identity" by Lilian Broca
RSVPs welcome, but not required on Facebook or Meetup |
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SERVE TOGETHER
In the Spirit of the Purim Holiday
 Sunday, February 28, 2010
1:45-3 PM
Masbia Kosher Soup Kitchen
Brooklyn (RSVP for address; Masbia has multiple locations)
It is a commandment on the holiday of Purim to give gifts of food to
friends, family and those in need in order to insure that everyone has
food with which to have a holiday meal. For our Serve Together this
month we will be collecting uncut fruit at our Purim Living Room on
February 24, 2010 that will be delivered to a Masbia Kosher soup kitchen in
Brooklyn on Sunday February 28, 2010. We will also partake in a meal
at the soup kitchen for a donation. This is a great way for the soup
kitchen to raise funds, spread awareness, and further normalize the
restaurant enviornment they seek to create. I hope you will join us on
Sunday to deliver the package and share in a late lunch. We will be at
the Soup Kitchen, which is located in Brooklyn, from around 1:45-3:00.
Please RSVP to Bara at bara4987@gmail.com
if you are interested in attending. Upon RSVP, all locational details
will be provided. Even if you can not attend on Sunday, please
remember to bring a donation of uncut fruit to the Purim Living Room.
Thank you.
Chag Purim Sameach (Have a happy Purim) Bara
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Your Religion IS Changing (Probably for the Better)
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Excerpt, Article by Samir Selmanovic
... Religion can be defined as the "spirituality of others" or the
spirituality we hold together. That's why to be spiritual but not
religious can be not only lonely but frighteningly undemanding. To disregard religion is to disregard the discoveries of our spiritual predecessors, close our ears to our spiritual contemporaries, and refuse to deliver our spiritual experience into the future. Religion does all of that and more. Religion organizes our individual spiritual selves into spiritual communities. Religion gives voice to what matters to us, offer stories, histories, communities, group impact, and a long catalogue of teaching, experiences, and practices that have both served us well in the past, or that have miserably failed us.
Click for full article
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