Articles

Atlanta World Pilgrims -- A Jewish Perspective
(Part 4 of 4)

By Rosalyn Dailey Shareef
Faith And The City E-Letter
Volume 2 Issue 4
March 18, 2003

Rabbi Joshua Lesser was one of 15 Jews who joined equal numbers of Muslims and Christians from the metro Atlanta community for the Atlanta World Pilgrims' trip in November to the predominantly Islamic nation of Turkey. As a Jew, Lesser explained, the experience gave him a fuller appreciation of his ties with the other two Abrahamic faith traditions represented on the pilgrimage, for which, of course, the East also is a spiritual home.

While in Istanbul, for example, the pilgrims toured biblical cities and towns such as Tarsus, home of Christian Apostle Paul, including remnants of the well from which Paul drank. They also visited Antioch, where the church was first called "Christian." Lesser said that seeing these sites had quite an impact.

Atlanta World Pilgrims visited the ruins of ancient Sardis.

"What made it profound was putting it in the context of learning more about Christianity and visiting Christian holy sites," Lesser explained. "I think a significant healing came from being with my Christian brothers and sisters and really being able to have one on one and sometimes group conversations about the Jewish/Christian relationship," he said.

Lesser said that he also represented another minority group during the pilgrimage -- gays and lesbians. "I recognized that there could have been a great deal of tension, having the gays and lesbians on the trip," he explained. "[But] what we ended up facilitating on the trip was a profound respect for who each of us is -- and we were each allowed to be who we are and respected for that."

Rabbi Lesser serves Congregation Bet Haverim, a Decatur synagogue that is approximately half gay and lesbian and half straight. He became the congregation's first full-time rabbi in 1985, when it was established by a handful of men and women who wanted to worship together, conform to the practices of their Jewish heritage and, at the same time, recognize their gay and lesbian lifestyle. Today the synagogue has about 300 members and gathers for worship at the Atlanta Friends Meeting House.

Rabbi Lesser and Sherry Frank, executive director, Atlanta Chapter of the American Jewish Committee, pose near the ancient ruins of the city of Sardis.

Lesser, like other Atlanta World Pilgrims, has visited congregations of other faith traditions at the invitation of other Atlanta World Pilgrims -- an expression of the bonding that began in Turkey. Lesser said that he and his congregation have grown closer also to Atlanta's Muslim Community, as well as its Christian community. He described a particularly meaningful interfaith service he participated in at the Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam, a congregation led by another Atlanta World Pilgrim, Imam Plemon T. El-Amin. The service dealt with the death penalty in Georgia. Largely as a result of the experience, Lesser has placed a high priority on raising public awareness of the issue. In fact, several members of his own community have become more involved with capital punishment as a public policy issue, with some even planning to work directly with people on death row.

Atlanta World Pilgrims -- including Jewish, Christian, and Muslim members -- visit a synagogue in Antioch, Turkey.

Lesser said he is excited about the interfaith bridge-building today in metro Atlanta -- especially the work of the relatively new Faith Alliance of Metro Atlanta (FAMA), a number of whose members participated in the pilgrimage to Turkey.

"We want to continue the interfaith dialogue and work on issues of justice and advocacy for the citizens of Atlanta," said Lesser, describing FAMA's work. "While we certainly don't want to impose faith on others, we would like to represent the beauty and the power that faith can inspire a city to become a community."

For more information on Congregation Bet Haverim, visit www.congregationbethaverim.org, or email Rabbi Lesser at cbhrabbi@aol.com.

For more information on the Atlanta World Pilgrims, contact Jan Swanson at jswanson@faithandthecity.org or 404-523-5554.

Rosalyn Dailey Shareef, an Atlanta-based freelance writer, can be reached at yomashareef@hotmail.com.


Part 1: Atlanta Interfaith Group Models Diversity in Pilgrimage to Turkey
Part 2: Muslim Perspective
Part 3: Christian Perspective
Part 4: Jewish Perspective