“This is just one meeting,” said Jim Vrettos, as he introduced “Times That Try Our Souls — Let the Healing Begin,” a Sunday evening panel discussion at Bridgehampton’s Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork. “The idea is for all of you to have your own meetings, and bring people together on any discussion or debate that you have.”
Mr. Vrettos, a sociologist and criminologist who hosts “The Radical Imagination” on LTV, co-organized and co-moderated the event with Dr. Asma Rashid, D.O., a physician with Hamptons Boutique Medicine in Bridgehampton. “There are many avenues and platforms that, if you do not agree with what the panel or what the room is speaking about, then those guys are usually kicked out,” Dr. Rashid said, looking out at the audience. “The aim here is for us to have the differences, vocalize them, and for us to be patient and understand where they’re coming from.”
They had invited three local faith leaders — Rabbi Jan Uhrbach of Gesher | The Bridge Shul, Imam Amin Ur-Rahman of the Islamic Center of MedfordCoram, and the Rev. Dr. Ben Shambaugh of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in East Hampton, to hear their guidance on creating unity in an age that feel increasingly divisive and isolating.
“For me, I think they’re very difficult times for everyone, especially anyone who is sensitive of soul,” said Rabbi Uhrbach. One thing Judaism offers, she said, is “practice.” She cited Shabbat, Friday night, when observant Jews turn off all electronics, disconnect from the internet and television, and spend the next day praying, studying the Torah, and being with family and community.
“It’s not escapism,” she said. “It’s understanding. It’s a way of living that moves us out of our day-to-day consciousness ... and I think it’s really essential for the world right now, because if we do not calm ourselves, if we remain active all the time” — constantly responding to the latest outrage — “we’re not going to respond very well to anything.”
Reverend Shambaugh referred to a similar “rhythm” in Christianity, which, he said, helps with remembering “who we are inside, and those core beliefs that ground us, that keep us focused.” He mentioned his congregation’s Scripture study every Sunday morning, during which not all may agree, but they are able to debate and “dig into those traditions to find our roots.”
Imam Ur-Rahman identified “mercy” as “one thing that is common in all of us,” without which “none of us can move an inch from his or her own spot.” He referenced multiple mentions in the Quran, including the Almighty’s reminder to the Prophet Muhammad to “have mercy on those who are on earth, and the ones in the heavens will have mercy on you.”
Throughout the evening, the three cited tales from their holy texts and provided examples of practices specific to their faiths but following similar approaches: Diligent focus on texts and traditions, combined with active community engagement, all within the acceptance that there is a domain beyond individual control, reserved for a higher power.
When Dr. Rashid turned to the topic of the Gaza war, asking about feelings of “excitement and tenacious hope” following the signing of a ceasefire deal earlier this month (though the situation remains unstable), Rabbi Uhrbach cited a rabbinical teaching that it is “forbidden to despair — hope is a religious obligation.”
“Where we are, I’m very hopeful,” she said. “I’m also aware of how hard this is, and how much work lies ahead and how much courage will be demanded of everyone. I think if hope is going to turn into a reality and go beyond the optimism and wishing and become actual, active hope, we need a certain kind of leadership, and our tradition focuses on leadership that is self-critical.”
Accountability, she said, “must happen on both sides,” including “We in America, who have very vocally weighed in in a situation that’s so complex — and most of the people weighing in have very little understanding of what it’s actually about.”
Dr. Shambaugh likened “self-critical leadership” to the Christian tradition of “servant leadership,” which, he said, American Christians particularly “aren’t really good at.”
Speaking again of Gaza and Israel, “The question is not who’s right, the question is what’s right. Everybody has the right to live on this earth,” said the imam. “It doesn’t matter which country we’re talking about, it doesn’t matter which faction or which group that we’re talking about, it’s universal from east to west, north to south — all continents on this planet. That dignity must be respected.”
“I think the challenge now is going to be who’s going to have the privilege to go first — and again, this is where I have failed and I would like to do differently,” said the rabbi. “And it has to be on both sides, or this will not be a peace that holds. We will just keep reversing the old resentments and trauma, because it’s real trauma on both sides.”
“You and I can sit here and say, right, everybody has a right to live, and everyone has a right to live in dignity and freedom and have their basic needs met. And there are always going to be people who look at another person and say No. They cannot be in charge.”
The complete two-hour conversation, which covered several other topics and included questions from the audience, was filmed by LTV and will soon be viewable online.
