What's In A Name?

"Mitzvah" means Commandment, and a key one is acts of loving kindness, a commission that applies to all faith communities. Nonetheless some might complain that something called "Mitzvah Day", celebrated on Sunday 16 November, was too explicitly Jewish to serve as an interfaith occasion. Not everyone would agree. Muslims and Jews got together for a Nottingham concert to provide Christmas toys for deprived children, and in London Muslims held a food festival with the Westminster Synagogue in Knightsbridge. At the Refugee Drop in Centre at the New North London Synagogue people made up welcome packs for Darfur asylum seekers and St. Alban's Parish Church in Golders Green worshippers joined with congregants from Alyth Synagogue to collect food for the hungry.

Mitzvah Day is an import from the USA. It started as an annual event in the large and diverse Jewish community of Los Angeles and was brought to the UK by Laura Marks. The original vision behind the day was that by participating in thousands of good deeds the whole Jewish community would be brought together. "But" says Laura Marks, "this was a way to move towards multi-faith action". In fact, with suitably laid-back Californian style the Jewish community in LA changed the name to "Big Sunday" and the event got bigger.

In the much smaller but no less diverse British Jewish community the move to multi-faith action is gaining pace despite some anxieties amongst the older generation. Which raises the question: what's in a name? Well, quite a lot. Faith communities are characterised by defining symbols and forms of worship, a special language, ethical codes, sacred texts and stories handed down from generation to generation. They can be a source of great comfort, spiritual support and security for those who belong. They can sometimes form a passionate source of personal identity, and for those who do not belong sometimes they can cause offence. In how many shared prayer rooms in Britain can you find a faint outline on the wall where the Cross has been removed to accommodate other faiths?

Should we be so threatened or so touchy about our symbols and special words? In multi-faith and multi-cultural societies on the one hand there is an obvious need for sensitivity to others' feelings as a measure of respect. On the other hand, there is the need to get things in proportion, for tolerance and some of that laid-back Californian attitude. Does it really matter if you call it Mitzvah Day, Big Sunday, Sadaqa Saturday or Diwali Deeds? Multifaith and interfaith action are not the pursuit of the religious lowest common denominator. But the beneficiaries of loving acts of kindness will, God willing, feel the love and glimpse at the deepest level where it comes from.

Ian Linden
Director, Faiths Act

Let us know what you think about names and symbols by writing to faithsact@tonyblairfaithfoundation.org

For more information go to www.mitzvahday.org.uk