Members were treated to the sights and sounds of the\ncelebrations of five different faiths. After the meeting, we feasted on\ntraditional foods prepared by our Muslim sisters to break the Ramadan fast,\nwhich ended at 4:40 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ramadan (Islam)\u2014Beatrice Muhammad<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Beatrice explained that Ramadan, which this year began on\nOctober 27 and continues through November 25, is a period of purification. The\nword Ramadan<\/em> means \u201cburning\u201d or \u201cpurifying.\u201d\nDuring this period, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. It is important,\nBeatrice noted, to understand that Muslims are not starving themselves. If they\nare ill or pregnant, or if fasting can harm them for any reason, they are not\nrequired to fast. Children are encouraged to practice fasting, but it is not\nrequired. Fasting allows Muslims to identify with the hungry, the homeless, and\nthe persecuted. They are encouraged to give to the poor and to live simply\nwithout becoming angry or argumentative. Beatrice handed out a chart giving the\ntimes of sunrise and sunset each day of Ramadan this year, as well as the\nprayer times for each day. Muslims often break the fast with an iftar (meal) at\nthe masjid (mosque), especially on the weekends, but many have an iftar in their\nhomes. The entire Qur\u0384an is read during Ramadan, a different portion on each of\nthe 30 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rohatsu (Buddhism)\u2014Roko Sherry Chayat<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rohatsu, which commemorates the enlightenment\nof the historical Buddha and of us all, concludes on December 8 after lasting\nfor eight days. During this time, Buddhists meditate together and keep silent,\nexcept for the chanting of sacred texts and for the teacher\u2019s talk of the day.\nThe periods of meditation last for 45 to 60 minutes, break for ten minutes of\nmovement, and then resume. They run from 4:00 a.m.\nto 10:00 p.m. or later. The diet\nis very Spartan during Rohatsu; even at mealtimes, hand signals (rather than\nthe voice) are used for communication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n During the meditation periods, Buddhists seek enlightenment,\nas Buddha did centuries ago. They seek the nature of reality, which is often\ndistorted by the three poisons: anger, greed and delusion. People are often\ncaught up in anxieties and anger, and when their vision is clear, they can \u201clet\nit go.\u201d They come to understand that \u201cI and all beings together are perfect and\ncomplete… [They reach] a compassionate and enlightened awareness of all life\nand see no separation between Buddha and our own lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Festival of Diwali (Hinduism)\u2014Smita Rane<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Festival of Diwali is a five-day\nfestival of lights that occurs sometime in October or November, based on the\nHindu calendar. Smita displayed a beautiful oil lamp that she uses in her own\ncelebration, and she showed us one of hundreds of small oil lamps that decorate\nshrines and are placed outside of houses. Diwali is a time when people visit\nthe temple for prayers and the chanting of mantras. It is also a time that\nbrings people from different parts of India together to share joy and\nhappiness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Smita said that Hindus make preparations for a month ahead of\ntime, cleaning and decorating their house, buying new clothes, and cooking a\nvariety of sweets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although each part of India has its own way of celebrating\nDiwali, it is customary everywhere to exchange sweets with one\u2019s neighbors and\nfriends and to set off firecrackers from evening until midnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 On the day of Dhanteras, cows are offered\nspecial veneration, and the family gathers together to pray. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Lakshmi Pooja is a very important time, when\nLakshmi, the goddess of wealth, is worshipped by displaying cash, gold and\nsweets in front of the shrine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Naraka Chaturdashi is a day when all family\nmembers get early-morning oil baths\u2014body massages with hot oil and sandalwood\npaste followed by a hot-water bath\u2014and when sweets are distributed to friends\nand neighbors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Bestavarsh is the financial new year for\nbusiness people, for the inauguration of new homes, and for the buying of property.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Bhai Dooj is the day when brothers take\ngifts to their sisters\u2019 homes and sisters prepare delicious meals for their\nbrothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Women wear traditional saris; and men, the traditional kurta pajamas.\nEach region of India has its own traditional sari. Two of Smita\u2019s friends from\nother areas of India modeled their traditional saris and explained how Diwali celebrations\ndiffer in their parts of the country. Smita shared pictures and some examples\nof beautiful rangoli designs. Rangoli<\/em> refers\nto an art form that is popular in India (a type of sandpainting, with the\n\u201csand\u201d actually being natural-colored and tinted rice powder) as well as to the\npaintings that are created using this technique. During all five days of Diwali,\nrangoli are placed in front of doorways along with hundreds of small lamps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hanukkah (Judaism)\u2014Joan Burstyn<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hanukkah, Joan told her audience, is not a major holiday in\nJudaism, but it has taken on added significance in predominantly Christian\ncountries because of its proximity to Christmas. The festival lasts for eight\ndays and begins this year on December 19 at sundown. It commemorates the\nrededication of the Temple in Jerusalem (165 bce),\nthree years after its desecration by soldiers on orders of Antiochus IV, king\nof Assyria. In the hundred years or more following the death of Alexander the\nGreat, the Jews who lived in Judea had been allowed to keep their own\nfestivals. Antiochus IV, however, wanted the Jews to become more Hellenistic\nand abandon their religion. Led by Judah the Maccabee, the Jews revolted and\nrecaptured the Temple. When it came time to rededicate the Temple, according to\nthe story, there was only enough oil to burn in the lamp for one day, yet it\nmiraculously burned for eight days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jews celebrate this event by lighting candles in the menorah\n(a nine-branched candelabrum), beginning with one candle on the first night and\nprogressing daily, one candle at a time, until eight candles are lit on the\nlast night. (The ninth candle, the shamash, is set somewhat apart; it is lit\nevery night and is used to light the other candles.) Joan said that when you\nare facing the menorah, the candles are lit from right to left, but the newest\ncandle on the left is always lit first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hanukkah is a time to welcome friends. Each family might\nbring its own menorah. Blessings are said to thank God for the Hanukkah\ncelebration, for looking after those who fought to save the Temple, and to\npraise God for enabling the celebrants to reach this season. Gifts are\nexchanged, often money, often chocolate money. Children play the dreidel game.\nEach side of the dreidel, a four-sided spinning top, has a Hebrew letter that\ndenotes whether the player gets candy and, if so, how much. Joan brought some\ndreidels and candy and invited women to play after the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n La Nit de Sant Joan, Los Reyes Magos, and Tio Catalonio (Christianity in Spain)\u2014Ester Brooks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ester comes originally from Barcelona\nin the Catalonia region of northeastern Spain, which has its own language. She\nshared with us three holidays celebrated there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 La Nit de Sant Joan (St. John\u2019s Night) occurs\non June 23 and 24. It is a pagan holiday that celebrates the summer solstice\n(the shortest night of the year). Big bonfires are lit all over the city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Los Reyes Magos (The Three Wise Men) occurs\non January 6. Prior to that day, people set up a nativity scene, with the three\nwise men on their camels. As January 6 approaches, they move the camels closer\nand closer to the cr\u00e8che. Ester demonstrated this with her own nativity set and\ncamels. Children leave food and water for the camels and messages for the\nkings. Because the kings brought gifts to the Christ child, the children\nreceive gifts on that day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Tio Catalonio (Catalonian Log) occurs on\nDecember 24. This celebration, which has a Roman origin, is named after the\nYule log, or tio. As children repeatedly hit the log with a stick, presents keep\ncoming out of it, thanks to the person hiding behind it. Ester showed pictures\nof her own children hitting the Yule log. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ester explained that Muslims lived in\nSpain for seven centuries, leaving a legacy of many Arab words and other Middle\nEastern influences. She illustrated this by playing some traditional music and\nby explaining that the sweets eaten during the Tio Catalonio season are made\nwith almonds and honey, much like Middle Eastern sweets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We were treated to the sights and sounds of the celebrations of five different faiths, and after the meeting, we feasted on traditional foods prepared for ending the Ramadan fast. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[21,15,22,42,16,17,41],"class_list":["post-7770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-programs","tag-buddhism","tag-christianity","tag-hinduism","tag-holy-days","tag-islam","tag-judaism","tag-spiritual-practices",""],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7770"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8523,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7770\/revisions\/8523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}