Interfaith relations
Feb. 3rd, 2013 04:05 pmThe lovely Free Churches chaplain at work runs a Christian-Muslim women's discussion group, and last term she asked me to join to make it a JCM thing. ( religion )
On the other hand, I'm not feeling nearly as positive about being Jewish in the broader community beyond the campus "bubble". This is mainly because it's been Holocaust Memorial Day. I have very, very mixed feelings about HMD. I think in principle it's a good idea to have an international day for remembering the Holocaust, and it's a counter to letting the events fade into oblivion as the people who remember the 30s and 40s are coming to the ends of their lives. (I'm not sure it's an effective direct response against deliberate Holocaust denial per se; people who buy into that kind of nonsense are just as likely to see the event as part of the conspiracy to spread supposedly pro-Jewish propaganda.) The problem is that kind of everybody feels they ought to mark the day, whether or not they actually have any sensible ideas for how to do so.
( I'm probably not supposed to be grumpy about Holocaust commemoration )
All in all I'm glad I have such a positive workplace community to counter all this grumpiness. (I should mention that some of the chapel community put on a very sensitive, short Holocaust Memorial event which I was proud to be invited to participate in.) This week we discovered some thieves had nicked the lead from the roof of the synagogue. This is very annoying though the damage isn't as bad as it might be. On hearing the news, I found myself weirdly grateful that they vandalized our building purely for financial gain, and not because they hate us.
On the other hand, I'm not feeling nearly as positive about being Jewish in the broader community beyond the campus "bubble". This is mainly because it's been Holocaust Memorial Day. I have very, very mixed feelings about HMD. I think in principle it's a good idea to have an international day for remembering the Holocaust, and it's a counter to letting the events fade into oblivion as the people who remember the 30s and 40s are coming to the ends of their lives. (I'm not sure it's an effective direct response against deliberate Holocaust denial per se; people who buy into that kind of nonsense are just as likely to see the event as part of the conspiracy to spread supposedly pro-Jewish propaganda.) The problem is that kind of everybody feels they ought to mark the day, whether or not they actually have any sensible ideas for how to do so.
( I'm probably not supposed to be grumpy about Holocaust commemoration )
All in all I'm glad I have such a positive workplace community to counter all this grumpiness. (I should mention that some of the chapel community put on a very sensitive, short Holocaust Memorial event which I was proud to be invited to participate in.) This week we discovered some thieves had nicked the lead from the roof of the synagogue. This is very annoying though the damage isn't as bad as it might be. On hearing the news, I found myself weirdly grateful that they vandalized our building purely for financial gain, and not because they hate us.
