Goldman Building

 I attended an interfaith dialog event about what charity, i.e. caring for neighbors, widows, aliens, etc., looks like in Los Angeles for Jews and Evangelical Christians.  The dialog was held at the Goldsmith Building, near Beverly Hills.   

I’m so glad I attended. It was great to make connections with new people on important issues.  We compared biblical texts and traditions related to Tikkun Olam and Social Justice.   Rabbi Elliott Dorff had so many thoughtful things to say.  I can’t wait to find his podcasts.

But during the event we heard about this . . . http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8094076.stm and it was disgusting and appalling.

The building we entered today had three large security guards who were wired up, a metal detector, a x-ray bag scanner, a sign-in sheet and more large guys manning the desk.  I was so surprised by the muscle that I wasn’t sure I was in the right place.  My daily reality hasn’t included being prepared to deal with violent threats from those who oppose my faith. 

To sit and hear about the shooting in DC’s Holocaust Museum by an elderly White supremacist member while talking about “Caring in a Caring Community: Doing the Right Thing in Bad Times” leaves me nearly without words.  A tragic object lesson?  A slightly more informed understanding of someone else’s reality?  A new prayer for an end to hatreds, violence, and -isms?  A renewed committed to working for peace and shalom?  Definitely!