Tag Archives: sacred texts

Birds of Longing: An Interfaith Panel

Taking inspiration from exhibiting artist Laurie Wohl’s Birds of Longing: Exile and Memory, panel participants will speak to the interweaving of words, beliefs, and philosophies amongst the Abrahamic religions. Participants include: Wohl, Maha Elgenaidi from the Islamic Networks Group, Rev. Dr. D. Andrew Kille editor of Reading Between The Lines, and Rabbi Me’irah Susan Iliinsky from VITAS Healthcare.

Birds of Longing interweaves Muslim, Jewish, and Christian poetry and spiritual texts from the period of convivencia (co-existence) in Spain (8th-15th centuries), and from modern Middle Eastern poets, particularly Palestinian and Israeli.

Emphasis is on the common themes and striking parallels between Arabic and Hebrew texts, similarly rich in their poetry of spiritual love, an extensive poetry of exile, and poetry of nostalgia for Andalusia.

The project contains Wohl’s weavings, as well as an audio component which consists of readings in English, Arabic, and Hebrew that are interwoven to create a soundscape illustrating the commonality of the Middle Eastern languages.

All 2015-2016 art exhibits are made possible, in part, by a generous gift from Cookie Addison & Family.
All APJCC programming for Cultural Arts is made possible, in part, by generous gifts from Sylvia & Leonard Metz, Doris & Rick Davis, and Bill Lister.
The APJCC is proud to be a part of the Initiative on Jewish Peoplehood,
co-funded by the Koret Foundation and the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture.

Palo Alto Faith Leaders Luncheon

Our next luncheon gathering will be on Tuesday, September 1 at noon at Covenant Presbyterian Church. Our host will be The Rev. Margaret Boles. The church will provide lunch and kosher and vegetarian options will be available. Donations for lunch are appreciated, but not required.

In addition to time to socialize, two items will be up for discussion. Margaret Boles will lead a discussion about our interfaith Thanksgiving service (currently scheduled for November 24). Rabbi Shelly Lewis and Rev. Diana Gibson will facilitate a brainstorming session about the possibility of developing a public event with an interfaith panel sharing sacred texts that bear on racism. This would be in support of the wonderful leadership that Rev. Kaloma Smith and others at University AME Zion have already begun to facilitate community conversations about racism after the mass shooting in June at Emanuel AME in Charleston. A recent story on Palo Alto Online summarizes these efforts.