c. 2005 Religion News Service
Jews Looking for a Few Good Shofar Players
(RNS) It sounds like a biblical brand of “American Idol.”
The “Great Shofar Blast Off” is seeking the best rendition of Hebrew notes on the shofar, or ram’s horn, which is blown on the Jewish high holidays to awaken Jews to new spiritual heights.
Sponsored by the National Jewish Outreach Program, which last year held a contest for the best chicken soup in America, the event is intended to pique the interest of unaffiliated Jews.
Held in advance of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which respectively mark the Jewish new year and day of atonement, the Sept. 22 contest is targeted to the estimated 50 percent or more of American Jews who do not attend high holiday services, organizers said.
“We needed something to catch their attention,” said Rabbi Yitzchak Rosenbaum, associate director of the National Jewish Outreach Program.
He’s hoping that the vision of people with swollen cheeks and purple foreheads straining to produce the tricky pattern of notes on the shofar might just do it.
The idea is to inspire uninvolved Jews to visit the group’s Web site where they would discover opportunities for Jewish learning like an online “crash course in Jewish holidays” or free Hebrew language classes.
“We’re coming out of the synagogue and into the street to reach the people where they are,” he said.
Five finalists chosen from videotaped entries will be flown to New York City to sound the shofar for a “showdown in Herald Square” at “high noon,” Rosenbaum said, referring to the midtown Manhattan landmark.
A panel of judges will evaluate the contestants based on the accuracy and length of notes, musicality and performance. The winner receives a trip for two to Israel.
_ Rachel Pomerance
Mourners Begin to Pay Respects to Brother Roger, Condolences Continue
(RNS) As mourners paid their respects to the slain leader of the ecumenical Taize movement, religious officials from across the globe offered their condolences to members of the French community founded by Brother Roger.
The 90-year-old Swiss Protestant was stabbed to death by a 36-year-old Romanian woman during a service Tuesday (Aug. 16) at the community he founded in eastern France in 1940, authorities said. The chants of the community, known for its efforts to foster relations among Christians, have become widely used by churches of a range of denominations.
“Remembering the commitment of Brother Roger and the Taize community to the ecumenical task, we share this moment of grief with the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, and the church throughout the world,” wrote Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a letter to Brother Roger’s successor, Brother Alois.
Metropolitan Herman, the ruling archbishop of the Orthodox Church in America, sent a letter to the monastic community, saying that their leader’s life was “senselessly taken.”
“Throughout the many years of his monastic life and service, Brother Roger was a well-known example of dedication to the work of Christian unity,” the Orthodox leader wrote.
The secretary general of the worldwide Anglican Communion, the Rev. Kenneth Kearon, also expressed sorrow at Brother Roger’s sudden death.
“The news of the death of Brother Roger has saddened Anglicans around the world, and we are especially shocked by the violent manner of his death, which was in stark contrast to his lifelong ministry of peace and reconciliation,” Kearon said in a statement. “The Taize community which he founded, whose witness to ecumenism and reconciliation especially among young people will be his lasting memorial, has influenced Christian worship and spirituality worldwide.”
Funeral services for Brother Roger are planned for Tuesday (Aug. 23), but other remembrances will occur in other countries. In New York, the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York was to host a “Taize Requiem” Friday (Aug. 19). Mourners were invited to “come sit in silence, chant, pray around the cross and give thanks for Frere Roger’s life and work.”
_ Adelle M. Banks
Putin Reaches Out to Muslims in Russian `Homeland’
MOSCOW (RNS) President Vladimir Putin reached out to Russian Muslims after a meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan on Friday (Aug. 19) while admitting that Russia needs to do better in combating Islamic extremism among its citizens.
Putin told reporters after the meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi that Muslims are not outsiders in the predominantly Orthodox Christian country, but an integral part of Russian society.
“There are 16 million Muslims living in Russia. They are not immigrants, they are Russian citizens and they have no other homeland,” Putin said.
But he also said he hoped that Russia could draw on Jordan’s experience “in order to win the hearts and souls of our Muslim citizens and be a lot more convincing than we perhaps have been in the ideological battle against religious extremism.”
Muslim extremists from the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya have claimed responsibility for a series of bombings, suicide attacks and hostage takings that have killed hundreds of Russians in recent years.
Along with Orthodox Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism, Islam is recognized as one of Russia’s official religions.
Putin, who is pushing for Russia to join the Organization of Islamic States, called it unacceptable to associate Islam with terrorism.
“The evil of terrorism cannot be eradicated through the use of force alone. It is important to develop a broad dialogue between religions and civilizations and to take action to address acute social problems,” he said.
Putin also praised Israel for moving forward with the withdrawal of Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip. Russia is one of the quartet of Middle East peacemakers along with the United States, the European Union and the United Nations.
“(The withdrawal) is a very important step in the peace process and we see how difficult and painful it has been for the Israeli public and the authorities,” he said. “But at the same time, this is only part of the `road map,’ which also contains plans for further steps. We will work toward its implementation in full.”
_ Michael Mainville
Zimbabwean Churches Form Coalition to Aid Demolition Victims
(RNS) An alliance of church groups in Zimbabwe is forming a coalition to aid victims of the government’s “drive out trash” campaign that the United Nations estimates has cost 700,000 Zimbabweans their homes or livelihoods or both.
“Churches have formed a broad-based ecumenical body in the aftermath of the clean-up operation,” the Rev. Charles Muchechetere of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe told Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news agency.
“The three general secretaries of the country’s main church organizations will meet regularly to address the imbalances created by the clean-up operation,” he added.
In addition to EFZ, the coalition includes the Zimbabwe Council of Churches and the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference.
The government says the clean-up campaign was designed to clear slums and eliminate the informal markets in the country’s cities.
Once considered the bread basket of Africa, Zimbabwe has been descending into economic chaos for several years _ turmoil many blame on President Robert Mugabe’s land reform policies, but exacerbated by a severe drought and the HIV/AIDS pandemic sweeping sub-Saharan Africa.
In July, the U.N.’s World Food Program estimated a third of the population faces food shortages. Inflation has been soaring.
Meanwhile, the South African Council of Churches has been attempting since Aug. 1 to send 37 tons of food to Zimbabwe, but the Zimbabwean government has refused to let the food in. It says it needs assurances none of the food is from genetically modified crops.
The Rev. Ron Steele, a spokesman for the SACC, told reporters “everybody is very frustrated” over the delay and council leaders have taken the issue up with South African government leaders.
The South African government has been generally supportive of Zimbabwe and Mugabe, through it was highly critical of parliamentary elections earlier this year and the clean-up campaign.
South African church leaders met with government officials Aug. 9 to press the government both to help in getting the food aid into Zimbabwe and also to put pressure on Zimbabwe to end the crisis.
“I do not need to remind you that the consequences of a meltdown in Zimbabwe will actually be disastrous for the whole of southern Africa,” said Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Capetown, South Africa.
_ David E. Anderson
Quote of the Day: Confessed BTK Killer Dennis Rader
(RNS) “Hopefully, someday God will accept me.”
_ Dennis Rader, the confessed “BTK” killer in Wichita, Kan., at his sentencing on Thursday, Aug. 18. Rader, a former president of the church council at his Lutheran church, also thanked his pastor, the Rev. Michael Clark, for his support.
KRE/PH END RNS
