Bridging a big divide on Yom Kippur

Clay Evans wrote a post about the interesting and unique take on Yom Kippur taken by Congregation Pardes Levavot and the Rabbis Gross.

Evans describes the wide-ranging ecumenism of the Renewal movement, and in particular, the partnership that Pardes Levavot has developed with their building-mates, the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church.

As if to show they mean business, Gross and his wife, Rabbi Nadya Gross, and their congregation will share their Yom Kippur services today and tonight with Christians (and at least one Muslim, an Israeli Arab guest).

“When ‘Reb’ Zalman gave his seminal teaching on ‘deep ecumenism'” — basically, the idea that there is “one river” of truth and wisdom, tapped into by the “wells” of every spiritual tradition — “…. he said, ‘You know, we’ve gotten to the point where we’ve got no problem with ‘Bu-Jews’ (Jewish converts to Buddhism), or Hindu Jews, or Sufi Jews, but use the ‘C’ word (Christianity), and we start heading for the hills,'” Victor says.

Link to rest of post.