​Events, Holy Days, and News (October 2016)

​Welcome to the AshevilleInterfaith.org email newsletter. A copy of this monthly newsletter can also be found at http://www.ashevilleinterfaith.org/newsletter.html. This is a special update because of new events, holy day listings, and articles.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think might also be interested. Anyone wishing to also receive future newsletter emails may email [email protected]. To be removed from future emails, please email [email protected] and we’ll do so immediately.

AshevilleInterfaith.org is an effort to support and promote faith-based activities, events, connections, and conversation in the Asheville area. There will be a special focus on uplifting events that are open to the public and specifically intended to help bring together individuals from diverse faith-based communities.

To submit information, or for specific questions, suggestions, or corrections, contact Steve Hargadon ([email protected]) or Vicki Garlock ([email protected]).

Thank you!

EVENTS
  • Urban Dharma 5th Anniv. Celebration, Friday, Sept. 30 - Saturday, Oct. 8, 29 Page Ave., 28801
    • Construction of Tibetan Buddhist sand mandala. The monks are working on the mandala every day from 10AM-noon and from 2-5PM. You are welcome to stop by and watch them work and/or ask them questions.  The dissolution will be held on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 4:00PM. Additional details on other events happening this week can be found at http://udharmanc.com/fifth-anniversary-celebration/.
    • Asheville Interfaith Event: An Evening of Spiritual Food, Thursday, Oct. 6, 7 - 9 PM. An Evening of Spiritual Food at Urban Dharma (29 Page Ave., Asheville, NC 28801). Learn about the Vasudhara sand-mandala being constructed at Urban Dharma from Oct. 1-Oct. 8. Then, hear about foods from various faith paths, including the Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, and Goddess traditions. Program from 7-8PM. Meet-n-Eat from 8-9PM. Please contact us if you are interested in sharing a food item and a brief message about why it’s important in your tradition.
  • Nine Days of Mother Divine events, Oct. 1 - 10, at Mount Soma and Sri Somesvara Vedic Temple, Clyde, NC. Honor the nine incarnations of the Divine Mother at one of the daily pujas. Go to http://shopping.srisomesvara.org/sharad-navaratri-dussehra.html and scroll down for more info. on each day. Also, donations are requested but not required. For directions to Mount Soma, go to http://www.mountsoma.org/contact-us/directions/. For more information on Temple etiquette, go tohttp://srisomesvara.org/info/temple-etiquette/. Questions? Contact Dave Ehmke at [email protected].
  • Rosh Hashanah at Congregation Beth Israel (Conservative)
  • Israel/Palestine - Beyond Sides
    • The Cathedral of All Souls, in partnership with the Episcopal Diocese of WNC, Kairos West, The Episcopal Peace Fellowship, and Congregation Beth Israel, is honored to welcome Ali Abu Awwad and Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger to Asheville for two events in October. These are truly unique opportunities to hear from and speak with transformational leaders from Israel/Palestine.
    • Friday, October 7 at 7:30 p.m., the two will share their unique Israeli/Palestinian collaboration during a public meeting at Congregation Beth Israel. This event will bring two peace-minded thinkers directly to our community to share their wisdom and their ideas for the future.
    • Saturday, October 8 at 10:00 a.m., All Souls will host Ali Abu Awwad for a youth question-and-answer session open for grades 6-12 and their parents. Ali will share his life as a peace activist and change-agent in the Middle East. With our world as tense and fraught with conflict as it is, Ali has good news to share with his personal story of transformation and his call to the work of peace. We ask that you please RSVP to Rev. Milly Morrow ahead of time.
  • The Asheville Choral Society concert October 8th.  We'll be performing Annelies, based on the diary of Anne Frank. 7:30 at Central United Methodist Church downtown.  Look at the ACS website:  http://www.ashevillechoralsociety.org
  • The Asheville Family History Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be hosting a special Mini-Seminar on Saturday, October 22nd from 1-4 pm. The presentation will be "Immigration to North America: St. Augustine to Ellis Island" given by Dr. James M. Ragusa. During one time in our history, 80% of all immigrants passed through New York's Ellis Island, and 40% of all living Americans are related to someone who was processed there. But there were many other ports of entry to past and present United States lands through coastal cities, including: Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Galveston, New Orleans, and San Francisco. This presentation covers immigration to North America for the 360 year period between the Spanish colonization of St. Augustine in 1565 until the closing Ellis Island to immigration in 1925. However, it goes further than just to identify ports of entry. This presentation addressed the issues of: Who immigrated? What were they required to do to immigrate? Where did they come from? Why did they leave their native lands? What emigration ports of departure were used? What was travel across the ocean like for them? and What were their immigrant processing requirements after arrival? This information should help genealogists better understand the context of immigration and the trials and tribulations of their ancestors, as well as what information IS and IS NOT available for their family research. Nothing is needed to bring except yourselves - handout notes will be provided. Cynthia Rush is taking RSVPs in order to know how many copies of materials to prepare - she can be reached at (828) 442-3056 or you can leave a message on the Family History Center phone at (828) 684-6646.

HOLY DAYS

NEW ARTICLES (posted on the Facebook Group Page)
  • Sharing sacred spaces by DEBRA MORTON GELBART. Jewish News, September 7, 2016. “Whether or not you’re affiliated with a Jewish congregation, you probably are aware that it takes millions of dollars to construct a facility in which to hold worship services, offer educational and social programs and operate a religious school. A number of congregations in Greater Phoenix have determined that building and maintaining their own space is prohibitively expensive, and have found a suitable alternative by sharing space with other faith groups.”
  • Obama names last adviser to his final faith-based council by Adelle M. Banks. Religion News Service, September 19, 2016. “President Obama has announced plans to appoint the leader of a Chicago Muslim organization as the final member of his corps of faith-based advisers. Rami Nashashibi co-founded the Inner-City Muslim Action Network in 1997.”
  • WHY THE NEW INTERFAITH CENTRE IN KADUNA IS A CRUCIAL SYMBOL FOR INTERRELIGIOUS PEACE IN NIGERIA by Cynthia Okoroafor. Ventures Africa, August 28, 2016. “Nigeria will be 56 in about a month and one of the most significant strides the country appears to have made in improving its sociopolitical identity, in recent times, is in trying to address its infamous religious differences. For the first time in Nigeria, two of the most prominent religious faiths have been brought together through the establishment of an interfaith centre in Kaduna State.”
  • San Rafael interfaith exhibit features Muslims, Jews by Janis Mara. Marin Independent Journal, September 16, 2016. “A painting of a building that has been both a mosque and a Catholic church, a photo of golden light pouring through a window at San Francisco’s Mission Dolores — these works are part of an interfaith art exhibit at San Rafael’s Osher Marin Jewish Community Center. ‘We Are the Bridge,’ a free exhibit showcasing more than 30 artists from various faith traditions, is running through Dec. 31 at the center, with the goal of finding common ground for Muslims, Christians, Jews and other religions through art.”
  • Jewish and Chinese: Explaining a Shared Identity by Chris Bukley. New York Times, September 25th, 2016. “The ancient Jewish community of Kaifeng, in central China, was experiencing a cultural and religious revival until a recent government clampdown, which has brought a ban on collective worship and forced out foreign Jewish groups. Moshe Yehuda Bernstein is a researcher based in Perth, Western Australia, who has studied this revival and written a coming book, “Globalization, Translation and Transmission: Sino-Judaic Cultural Identity in Kaifeng, China.” In an interview, Mr. Bernstein explained the background to the recent revival and official restrictions.”
  • Study: Religion contributes more to the U.S. economy than Facebook, Google and Apple combined by Julie Zauzmer. The Washington Post, September 15, 2016. “Religion is big business. Just how big? A new study, published Wednesday by a father-daughter researcher team, says religion is bigger than Facebook, Google and Apple — combined. The article in the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion said that the annual revenues of faith-based enterprises — not just churches but hospitals, schools, charities and even gospel musicians and halal food makers — is more than $378 billion a year. And that’s not counting the annual shopping bonanza motivated by Christmas.”
  • Duke custodian wins university’s top medal by Josh Shaffer. The News & Observer, September 29, 2016. “Every morning at 5, Oscar Dantzler flicks on the lights at Duke Chapel, checking for stray blades of grass on the carpet, a brochure dropped between the pews or a spider web growing on the statue of Martin Luther. He makes sure the wooden chairs get lined up straighter than soldiers, that nobody spilled a sip of water on the stone floor and the sanctuary looks neater than his own bedroom. Then before he collects his dust mop, Dantzler descends to the crypt to perform one of his most hallowed chores as chapel custodian: He says good morning to Terry Sanford, the former senator, governor and Duke University president who resides below. ‘We were tremendous friends,’ explained Dantzler, 65.”