Fasting for Peace and Justice

The 9th day of Dhul-Hijjah (the Month of Hajj) is called the Day of Arafat [in 2007, December 18]. This day is the culminating event of the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

The Day of Arafat falls on the 2nd day of pilgrimage rituals. At dawn of this day, nearly 2 million Muslim pilgrims will make their way from Mecca to a nearby hillside and plain called Mount Arafat and the Plain of Arafat. It was from this site that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, gave his famous Farewell Sermon in his final year of life.

During the entire day, from dawn until sunset, Muslim pilgrims stand in earnest supplication and devotion, praying for God's abundant forgiveness. Tears are shed readily as those who gather make repentance and seek God's mercy, recite words of prayer and remembrance, and gather together as equals before their Lord.

Dear friends,

How do we announce a major religious event, such as the October 8 Fast to move America from conquest to community, from violence to reverence?

When the steering committee of the Fast began discussing this, our first response was the conventional one in American society –- a press conference.

But then we recalled that there are ancient traditions for making the announcement of such a religious act itself a religious act. In the Talmud, for example, there is described a way of Calling a Communal Fast in Time of Calamity. (The calamity might be a drought, a famine, a war.)

WE CALL FOR A NATION-WIDE FAST ON OCTOBER 8
TO DISCOVER THE TRUE AMERICA;

TO MOVE FROM CONQUEST TO COMMUNITY,
FROM VIOLENCE TO REVERENCE

A Call from the Tent of Abraham, Hagar, & Sarah

America stands in great danger of becoming addicted to violence, at home and overseas.

Pervasive violence in American culture, society, and policy is expressed in mass murders like those at Columbine and Virginia Tech; in daily murders on the streets of our cities; in physical and sexual abuse in families and communities; in the obsession of our media with grotesque violence; in our government's decision to wage an unnecessary, morally abhorrent, and disastrous war; in its effort to make torture a legitimate instrument of policy; indeed, most lethal of all, in the ecocidal violence we are imposing on the earth itself.

Dear friends of all faiths and communities,

If you want to sign on to the Call for the Interfaith Fast, please write to Office@shalomctr.org and explain what religious congregation, organization, or community you are working with. PLEASE ALSO SIGN UP AND DESCRIBE THE EVENT YOU ARE PLANNING, BY CLICKING TO --

Http://www.INTERFAITHFAST.ORG

Shalom, salaam, peace –
Rabbi Arthur Waskow

FROM CONQUEST TO COMMUNITY,
FROM VIOLENCE TO REVERENCE:
AN INTERFAITH FAST on OCTOBER 8
TO END THE WAR IN IRAQ

We call on all Americans to join in fasting from dawn to dusk on Monday, October 8, to call for an end to the Iraq War. On this day, people of faith in local communities across our nation will act as catalysts to move America from conquest to community and from violence to reverence.

Lee Moore and Rabbi Arthur Waskow 10/30/2002

October 30, 2002 25 Mar-Cheshvan 5763

Dear Friends,

Long ago, Jews chose when they were facing the calamities of drought, or plague, or famine, or war, to call the community to fast.

By the time of the framing of the Mishnah (around 200 CE), this tradition had been shaped into a liturgy for calling such a Fast. What follows below is a liturgy or service that draws upon this special service as it is described in Mishnah Ta'anit (Chapters 1-3). The service can be used on the actual day of fasting, or can be used to proclaim a later day of fasting.

WE CALL UPON AMERICANS TO FAST:

TO REFLECT, TO SEEK A TRUER PEACE, TO PRAY

In the name of the God of compassion, Who commands us to seek peace and justice — In times of profound spiritual crisis, our traditions teach us to fast. Whethe

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, 2/29/2004

Almost always, Torah and I have danced together in joy and delight. But on a spring morning in 1994, Torah came in a darker mood, dressed in terror and despair.

I had just awakened from a pleasant sleep after celebra

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, 1/19/2005

Next fall, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holy month of Tishrei (which begins with Rosh Hashanah) will coincide.

They will begin on or about October 3, and the saint's day for Francis of Assisi falls

Rabbi Arthur Waskow

Wellstone, Wellsprings, & We Ourselves

A Letter from Arthur Waskow

Dear Friends,

This past Friday afternoon, I took part in a meeting in the Washington DC suburbs about plans for a campaign to "Take Back Your Time

Rabbi Arthur Waskow

In response to the Iraq crisis and the danger of war, The Shalom Center has been exploring with leaders of the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish communities the idea of a Multi-religious Call to a Fast for Peace.

We found strong support and assistance, and in a separate post you can see the Call and the names of its signers.

Perhaps in reverse of "logical" order, we will first suggest some practical steps that might go with the fast — What, When, How — and then explain why we have taken this approach.

WHAT do we mean by a fast? Traditionally, in Muslim practice for the whole month of Ramadan and in Jewish practice for fasts in times of impending calamity, refraining from eating or drinking from dawn to sunset of the day/s named.