Past Events

Fall 2011

The Office of Religious & Spiritual Life had its annual Festival of Many Faiths on December 7 at the Betty Shabazz Center. Gladys Moore, Dean of Religous & Spiritual Life plays her guitar and leads the singing as the guests enter the room.

Representatives from each of our nine faith groups share a reading, song, or thoughts on an aspect of the winter solstice. Here the Baha'i Advisor, Holly Hanson and Baha'i students share a reading from Abdul Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 194-5, 343, 320-324.

Deirdre Drennen (third from left) sings and plays her lap harp while the Faith Advisors light a candle, one for each faith group. Ellen Kennedy, (second from left) the Leader of the Sacred Circle Dance Troupe will soon lead everyone in a sacred circle spiral dance for the conclusion of the service. The program was followed by refreshments and conversation in the living room.

Spring 2010 Events

Wednesday, April 28, Blessing and Sending of Seniors

During our second to the last Interfaith Lunch we had a Blessing and Sending of Seniors ceremony. Our theme for this year was "Make A Difference". The cold and damp weather kept us indoors nice and snug in our lounge with a fire in the fireplace. The Senior students sat in the center of the lounge as a red cord, from the Buddhist tradition known as a Blessing Cord, was placed behind them in a circle. Ellen Kennedy, Director of the Mount Holyoke Sacred Circle Dance Troupe, led the rest of us in a dance around the Seniors. A member of each faith group read a blessing, then the staff of Religious Life joined the students in the circle as they handed out "Make a Difference" pins and read quotes about making a difference, some of them were: It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference. - Tom Brokaw, Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. - William James, and If you think you're too small to make a difference, you've obviously never been in bed with a mosquito. - Michelle Walker. Then the staff cut the red cord surrounding the seniors and they tied the blessing cord on each other's wrists.

Wednesday, May 5, Come Share and celebrate the gifts of our Interfaith Lunch community.

We closed our Interfaith Lunch for the year 2009-2010 with a closing ceremony. Each Chaplain and Advisor spoke about our community that gathered together weekly to share themselves and their ideas and spoke of the blessings that we each received as a member of that community. Using the metaphor of flowers being put in a vase, those students who wanted to, came up and put a flower in a vase and commented about the gifts they had received during the year at Interfaith Lunch. Some of our seniors mentioned that they wished they had started coming to Interfaith Lunch before their last year at MHC. Others talked about the camaraderie that was shared and what a peaceful and quiet place the Eliot House Lounge is to come to during the busy week. We ended the ceremony singing, "A Dazzling Bouquet" (adapted from Bret Hesla): "This is a place where everybody's welcome. I know it's true 'cause I got through the door. We are a dazzling bouquet of every kind of flower. Jump in the vase 'cause we've got space for more". Then we said our goodbyes with lots of hugs and some tears.

October 2009 Events

Fall 2009 Special Guest Speaker, Yehezkel Landau

Wednesday October 21, 2009, Guest Speaker, Yehezkel Landau, Professor at Hartford Seminary gave two informative talks on "Facilitating Difficult Dialogues".

The first event was at Noon as part of our Interfaith Lunch series, "Living an Ethical Life - Ethics of Communication" with a talk entitled, "Facilitating Difficult Dialogues". We learned tools for navigating tough conversations with people whose belief systems are different than our own. More than 40 people attended this lunch and many stayed on after lunch to chat with Yehezkel.

Later in the day, Yehezkel continued his lessons on "Facilitating Difficult Dialogues" in the New York Room in Mary Woolley Hall offering us beginning topics for discussions with people whose belief systems are different than our own and some topics to avoid in the "getting to know you" stages of dialogue. Using a salt shaker, pepper shaker and small condiment bottle, he helped us to see the many different ways that Christianity, Islam and Judaism are similar and different. He also helped us to see how within each religion itself, there are differences that will have implications about how each of us will view these religions.

Since 2002, Professor Landau has been a Faculty Associate in Interfaith Relations at Hartford Seminary, in Hartford, Connecticut. He teaches Jewish spirituality, Hebrew bible, and religion and peacemaking. He also coordinates "Building Abrahamic Partnerships", a training program for Jewish, Christian, and Muslim clergy, religious educators and seminarians. We hope to have him back again to share his insights with us.

April 2009 Events

Yom Ha~Shoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day- Tuesday, April 21

There will be a Moment of Silence and the Tolling of the College Bells followed by a short service of remembrance on Tuesday, April 21 from 12:15-12:45 starting outside Abbey Memorial Chapel.

The Nazis killed not only the Jews but also millions of other people who threatened the Nazi goal of creating a world dominated by the "Aryan race." Triangular badges were used to identify the different groups of people in the concentration camps. If you fit into more than one "group" you would wear the different triangles one overlapping the other.

We are offering colored triangles for our Mount Holyoke community to wear on Tuesday, April 21 in memory of all those who lost their lives during the Holocaust with the determination that all genocides will end. Please join us. Triangles are available Monday & Tuesday, April 20 & 21 in the Eliot House Lounge and on Tuesday, April 21 at our table in Blanchard.

Also, check out the educational display in the stairwell in Eliot House explaining about the Holocaust and the stories of dozens of survivors and other eyewitnesses to the Holocaust created by the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.

Passover, April 9-16

The Jewish community celebrated Passover, or the "Festival of the Unleavened Bread", which is an observation of the Jews' escape and liberation from Egypt. The term "passover" refers to God's promise in the last of the ten plagues to pass over the households who had slaughtered a spring lamb and marked their doors with its blood. This is a symbol of devotion which God commanded and recognized, and because of this the first-born sons of these household would be spared in the last plague. This holiday is commemorated in many ways, and one primary way is the avoidance of leavened bread. This shows solidarity with the Jews, who left Egypt in haste and could not wait for the bread to rise.

Holy Week, April 5-12

The Protestant and Catholic groups observed Holy Week, which is the seven day period beginning with Palm Sunday and continuing until Easter Sunday. This period observes the time that Jesus entered into Jerusalem to face Pontious Pilot on streets lined with palm branches, leading into the Passion and crucifixion of Jesus, and concluding with the resurrection and ascension. Easter is arguably the most important celebration of the Christian year, as it marks Jesus' reunification with the triumvirate God.

February 2009 Events

Mardi Gras

On "Fat Tuesday," the day before Christian observation of Lent begins, the Protestant student group, led by Rev. Sherry Tucker, cooks up a Mardi Gras lunch for all MHC staff in the Eliot House Lounge. This is the student's way of saying "Thank You" to the behind the scenes staff who do so much all year long for students. With genuine Louisiana brass band music playing in the background, the Protestant group serves up rounds of chocolate chip pancakes, fruit salad, crunchy hashbrowns, and Mardi Gras cakes!

December 2008 Events

Welcoming the Light and Embracing the Darkness:

A Multifaith Festival of Light and Spirit

At the end of the fall semester the Office of Religious & Spiritual Life offers a "Welcoming the Light and Embracing the Darkness" festival. This celebration recognizes the shortening of day time light until we reach the shortest day of the year, the hibernation of the earth, animals, and ourselves. We remember the promise of the days getting longer and the earth and its inhabitants reawakening to spring.

October 2008 Events

Sitting a Spell in a Sukkah!

You may have noticed a curious sight behind the Eliot House building these past weeks: a beautiful wooden structure adorned in colorful chains, decorations and dried harvest bounty. The Mount Holyoke Jewish Student Union has observed the annual celebration of Sukkot, also known as the Zman Simchatenu, or "season of our joy," in building this Sukkah. This act evokes memory of the experience of the Jewish people wandering in the desert for 40 years, as well as in celebration of the harvest's bounty and having our needs met by the Earth. It is a holiday of celebration in the wake of the Jewish High Holidays of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashannah, which emphasize soul-searching and reflection.

The building of the Sukkah is inherently an act of accepting the condition of impermanence, as beautifully crafted decorations are exposed to the natural elements, and participants are reminded that we are all wanderers. This process of construction, decoration and dwelling in the Sukkah is seen as a mitzvah in itself, meaning a fulfillment of duty as declared in the Torah. In some ways it is symbolic of temporality life and the importance of enjoying the process, or perhaps the journey, so to speak.