Saturday marks the start of Eid al-Adha, the feast of the sacrifice.
The next 48 hours are a triple whopper of holy days. Tonight, Jews will file into synagogues to hear the Kol Nidre prayer that kicks off the 25-hour Yom Kippur fast. Tomorrow, Muslims will gather to pray and feast on meat as part of Eid-al Adha, the feast of the sacrifice. Saturday is also the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, arguably the Catholic Church’s most popular saint. Certainly my favorite.
Leave it to Kimberly Winston to pull this all together in a triptych of a ‘Splainer. Her lede? “This is a good weekend to be a Catholic goat. Less so for Muslim and Jewish goats.”
Fasting on Yom Kippur? Here’s how to prepare.
Thinking of dropping in on Yom Kippur services in Istanbul? Take your passport and be prepared to walk through a metal detector.
Artistic objections
Lest we go into the holiday controversy-free, Judaism’s Reform Movement formally protested the Metropolitan Opera’s decision to stage “The Death of Klinghoffer,” an opera about the murder of Jewish-American Leon Klinghoffer aboard the passenger liner Achille Lauro by members of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
“Art that in its overall effect glorifies terrorism against innocents, steps across a line, and this opera raises just such concerns,” wrote Rick Jacobs president of the Union for Reform Judaism and Richard A. Block, president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.
Catholics, it seems, are just as troubled by controversial works of art.
A screening of the movie “Milk,” which chronicles the life of gay-rights pioneer Harvey Milk, was scrapped at the Catholic University of America after administrators said showing the film violated a campus policy banning events that advocate for positions contrary to Catholic teaching. That position, I suppose, would equal rights for gays?
Things are looking a bit differently at the Vatican.
Our own David Gibson writes that Pope Francis is a fan of “fraternal and open discussion” on controversial issues.
“I’m not afraid of this,” he said. “On the contrary, I seek it.”
He’ll be getting plenty of it at the upcoming synod on family life that begins Sunday.
In overseas news:
In Australia, Prime Minister Tony Abbott asked officials to reconsider a new security measure that segregates Muslim women who wear face veils from other visitors to Parliament House. Under the new measure, they would be directed to galleries where they could sit behind soundproof glass.
Irish voters will be asked to vote on whether to remove the crime of blasphemy from the Constitution.
Hong Kong’s Christian churches are playing a quiet but important role in the city’s protests, reports the Wall Street Journal.
The Dalai Lama has been denied a visa to travel to South Africa to attend a peace conference in Cape Town.
Religious bias
The Supreme Court will consider whether retailer Abercrombie & Fitch discriminated against a Muslim woman who was denied a job because her headscarf conflicted with the company’s dress code, which the clothing chain has since changed.
And speaking at Colorado Christian University, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said secularists are wrong when they argue the Constitution requires religious references to be banished from the public square.
A valuable gift
President Obama presented Narenda Modi, the prime minister of India, with a special book, the 1893 compilation of the Parliament of World’s Religions, which has a paper of Swami Vivekananda whose writings are known to have influenced Modi.
President @BarackObama presented to me a very valuable gift that I will cherish forever. pic.twitter.com/RNkheM7RA2
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 2, 2014
Bookends
Martin Amis’ “The Zone of Interest” is a satire about Nazi bureaucrats’ appalling obliviousness to the crimes against humanity they helped commit against Jews during the Holocaust.
And Marilynne Robinson’s new novel “Lila,” returns to 1950s Iowa to look at Pastor Ames’ wife, Lila. LA Times critic David L. Ulin calls it a “profound and deeply rendered novel.” Can’t wait to read it.
Weekend warnings and blessings
For those venturing to movie theaters this weekend, you may want to skip the apocalyptic Left Behind movie starring Nicolas Cage. According to The Daily Beast, it’s God-awful.
And for those observing this weekend’s two biggies, we wish you a Gmar hatimah tova and Eid mubarak! See you in this space Monday.
