A short report follows written by Kaushik Chakraborty:

Altrincham Interfaith Group hosts talks from representatives of different faiths to help understand each other better and foster working together in the community.

With this aim, Dr Manjula Arora from the Hindu faith talked about her personal journey in search of God following the Hindu tradition. This was a well attended talk with around sixty people present on the evening of Wednesday the 3^rd April in Westleigh, attached to St Vincent’s Church in Altrincham.

She talked about the ‘beauty of human existence on earth as it was meant to be’ introducing the salient points of Hinduism in the form of doing good ‘Karma’, thus creating a ‘bank’ of good deeds which could then free us from cycle of rebirths and attain Moksha (salvation).

She talked about the discipline needed to follow a virtuous path and help blossoming of the soul, titled by her as ‘blossoming of the jasmine flower’, contrasting material consciousness with spiritual consciousness which she said “was like a spark of pure light that sits in your heart” and imbues you with love, peace and joy. She urged us to eliminate boundaries – not to judge people by how they look or what they wear but to recognise the spirit in everyone; this would produce a shift in consciousness and be a more beautiful way to live.

In the questions and answers session, she discussed the existence of a Creator, and also the idea of reincarnation. She dispelled the common notion of polytheism in Hinduism, explaining there is only one God while other deities are corollaries, much like the saints in Christianity, who manage different aspects of life.

Manjula was presented with a lovely orchid as thanks for her talk, and then tea and coffee with biscuits was served by the ladies of St Vincent’s Church to whom we are most grateful. We also thank the Church for the venue which is much appreciated.

Kaushik Chakraborty, Hindu representative, Altrincham Interfaith Group

Thanking Manjula for her talk and presenting a small gift in appreciation

‘Interfaith in Action: Loving the Stranger Within’

A short report on the event by AIG Hon. Secretary Carolyn Jones

This year’s Alf Keeling Memorial Lecture was a truly interactive experience and very different from all previous events; Rabbi Robyn Ashworth-Steen from the Manchester Reform Synagogue engaged with her audience, shooting out questions and getting a wide variety of responses from people of all faiths, making it a stimulating and interesting event. Her theme was “Loving the Stranger Within” and there was a lot of discussion about the definition of the word “neighbour” and about being a “wanderer,”  especially in relation to being Jewish as Jews have a history of wandering even from the time of Abraham. The Bible tells the Jews to love the stranger for they were strangers in the land of Egypt, thus we all have a duty to love the stranger and be empathic to them, be they immigrants or foreigners, and try to cross the divide between them and us. Rabbi Robyn said that being a wanderer is part of being human -  feeling apart from other people – and that we should all see ourselves as wanderers with no distinction between them and us. She discussed work by Etty Hillesum (1914-1943) who died in Auschwitz and was an example of compassion and also Hannah Arendt who was a Jewish political theorist.  She closed by urging us to first love ourselves and then to love the stranger.  There was then a lively question and answer time and finally refreshments were served.

We thank Mr Driscoll of St Ambrose Preparatory School for allowing us the use of the hall and all those who helped to make the evening a great success.

Carolyn Jones (Hon. Sec., Altrincham Interfaith Group)

A group of members of Altrincham Interfaith Group and friends met up at Whitworth Art Gallery on the evening of September 6^th for a tour of the exhibition  “Four Corners of One Cloth: Textiles from the Islamic World” given by Uthra Rajgopal, Assistant Curator of Textiles and Wallpaper.  This exhibition showcased different cultures from the Islamic world, and we started with a fragment of the Kiswa, the cloth that covers the Ka’bah, the most holy site in Islam, which is replaced each year during Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). Positioned in the direction of Mecca, it was in the centre of the gallery, and around it were various displays of cloths from places such as Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Yemen, as well as Uganda and Egypt. Of particular interest was a courtly dress from Iran that was covered with figures, and there was a lively discussion about representation of humans in Islamic art. Another unusual piece showed a fire hose on a piece of material -  this was considered a great asset to a town or village, hence its depiction.  We also saw how William Morris and his contempories were influenced by Islamic Art in their designs. It was a most enjoyable and informative tour and we thank Uthra for her time and expertise.

Carolyn Jones (Hon. Sec. Altrincham Interfaith Group).

Katy Allan sang “Annie’s Song” and the popular Catherine Jenkins song “The Prayer”. Katy is Head Chorister at Christ Church, Timperley and sings with the Halle Youth Choir. Last year she performed at the Royal Albert Hall in The First Night of The Proms concert. She is now recording with the Halle. All this experience ensured her performance was beautifully moving and accomplished.

Vipasha and Krishna

Vipasha and Krishna performed a dance from Northern India, Bringing grace in motion Bollywood style to Altrincham. Their dance told a story in the manor of temple dance, every motion and gesture having significance. Their beautiful costumes reacted to each twirl and turn of their dance.

A break for tea and biscuits may not normally be worthy of comment at a performance event but on this occasion it was significant because it gave neighbours the opportunity to meet each other, congratulate the performers and admire the costumes.

Hafsah Bashir

Hafsah Bashir is a local published poet who writes about love, life, and justice and everything in between, she says her inspiration comes from all that happens around her as she juggles all the her experience with the aid of an over active imagination. This was demonstrated with her first poem “The Cake Gallery” telling stories of her daytime job in Bowdon; this was received with giggles and laughter as the audience recognised some typical reactions to her cakes. Later she silenced the laughter with her thought provoking poem “The Runners” which describes of the life of refugees caught up in the violence in Syria.

ACT II : Drama Matters brought the evening to a close. Muriel Cohen, Joan Sherman and David Mort gave us a look at Jewish culture through tears and laughter. David read his own amusing piece called “Oxford Blues” telling the story of his entry to Oxford University in 1964. Joan and Muriel read extracts from “How to be a Jewish Mother” which ensured everyone went home with a smile on their face.

This years Entertainment Evening was a great success and Ann Angel and her team deserve our thanks and congratulations in organising it so well.

Over 50 people from Altrincham Interfaith Group visited the Shiri Guru Gobind Singh Gurdwara in Moss Side. The Sikh temple opened in November 2011 and now has a thriving attendance of several hundred each Sunday. The group were taken, with their shoes off, heads covered and hands washed, into the prayer hall. Prakash and Pargash told them about the Guru Granth Sahib and the 10 gurus. The principles of the Sikh beliefs and practices were explained including the “5 Ks”.

Sikhs can be recognised by the “5Ks”. The Kesh or uncut hair. The Kangha or comb which is always worn under a turban. The Kara steel bracelet, Kacha underwear and the Kirpan sword or more commonly a small dagger.

Later the group were taken to the Langer, a dinning hall, and were given food and drink including some excellent onion bahjis. During a question and answer session a wide range of topics were openly talked about.

We were greeted by the AIG Chair person Dr Poonam Kakkar who introduced the Mayor of Trafford, Councillor Mrs Jane Baugh. The mayor said that she was happy to be at another AIG dinner as she had attended last year and that she considers interfaith dialogue an important part of developing the local community.

 Meanwhile the children were sitting at their own table with a variety of activities for them to do. 

We then had the dinner; the Jewish ladies had prepared kosher food, the Muslim ladies hallal, and the Indian ladies and gentlemen wonderful curries. As usual everyone wanted to try some of everything from this magnificent collection of home cooking.

Vegetarian curry being served

Indian food being served

The Chair person then introduced Tommy Nagra, Executive Producer, BBC Religion and Ethics Department, our guest speaker. He told us of how happy he and his family are to be living in Altrincham. He told us of the wide range of religious programmes produced by the BBC covering the special interests of many communities.

Tommy Nagra

We then had deserts provided by the Christian ladies – again a wide range of homemade sweets of all types.

Dr Kakkar thanked everyone who helped prepare for this excellent event. At the end of the evening there were so many questions being asked about how to make the food, someone suggested that we should collect the recipes together.

This is our largest event each year and will surely continue to be popular for many years to come.

Sukkot is the Jewish harvest festival of Tabernacles and the sukkah (booth/tabernacle) commemorates the biblical temporary dwellings used by the Children of Israel following their Exodus from Egypt.)

The significance of the festival was explained to us by Lucille’s granddaughter Hannah who said :-

“The word Sukkot means huts. Building a hut is the way we celebrate this festival. It says in Leviticus in the Bible “You shall live in booths 7 days. All citizens in Israel shall live in booths in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt”. On top of the sukkah is sechach; sechach is (made of) leaves or bamboo sticks woven together and then put on the roof. You have to be able to see stars through the sechach. A lot of people decorate the sukkah by making pictures and dangling paper chains from wall to wall to make it feel like home. Boys over 13 have to try, if the weather is okay, to sleep in the sukkah with sleeping bags to also make it feel like home. If it starts raining we have to do the blessing on the wine and blessing on the bread and if it is still raining by the time we want to start the meal then we may go inside the house to eat it. I hope that gives you an idea all about the sukkah and Sukkot.”

We gathered in the sukkah where Lucille said the blessings on wine and food and we all enjoyed these. Later, a Hindu lady from Mumbai, Anupama,  sang some songs for us and the Jewish participants sang a Hebrew  biblical verse which translated as : “Behold, how goodly and pleasant it is to sit as brothers together”.

The whole event was a delight and gave people from several faiths and interfaith groups the chance to meet and enjoy this Jewish festival.