Temple Sinai in Roslyn was to host an interfaith Thanksgiving service on Tuesday evening for leaders and congregants from five North Shore houses of worship to offer gratitude and break bread.
“It’s an opportunity to come together and share our faith traditions,” said Andrew Gordon, associate rabbi at Temple Sinai.
“It doesn’t matter what our faith tradition is; we observe Thanksgiving. That’s the beauty of the holiday,” Gordon said.
The participating houses of worship included the Church of St. Aidan in Williston Park, the Community Church of East Williston, the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Williston Park, the Islamic Center of Long Island in Westbury and Temple Sinai.
This is the third year Temple Sinai has been involved in the event, which has taken place for as many as 15 years, Gordon said.
The event rotates to a different one of the five congregations each year.
“The event has two components,” said Alison Stamm, executive director at Temple Sinai. “There’s a service in the sanctuary followed by a potluck reception.”
The service lasts about 45 minutes and features songs from the Church of St. Aidan and Temple Sinai choirs as well as readings from clergy from each house of worship.
“Temple Sinai will be sharing a prayer of thanksgiving that we have in our daily prayer service,” Gordon said.
Isma Chaudhry, the president of the Islamic Center of Long Island, said she would read “various verses from the Koran expressing the importance of gratitude toward God and gratitude toward our fellow human beings.”
She was to be joined by Mufti Sarhan, a visiting scholar at the Islamic Center.
“For a Muslim person it’s important to be grateful to God for various attributes like kindness, mercy and forgiveness; and it’s important to look for those attributes in fellow human beings,” she said.
After the service, the expected 200 people in attendance were to eat a potluck meal featuring traditional dishes contributed by members of the participating congregations.
Chaudhry said members of the Islamic Center would bring samosas, chicken kabobs and salad, while Stamm said congregants of Temple Sinai would bring miniature latkes.
Both Chaudhry and Gordon said this year’s interfaith Thanksgiving service carried special significance, taking place amid an uptick in hate crimes that followed the election of Donald Trump as president.
“It’s not just the Muslim community; it’s not just the Jewish community, everybody is feeling unrest,” Chaudhry said. “Whenever communities feel this way it’s always good to come together and support each other.”
Gordon added, “The importance of coming together after the election is to realize that all traditions care about giving thanks and giving back.”
Charitable contributions of money or nonperishable food given at the event will go to the Interfaith Nutrition Network, a volunteer-based organization that addresses hunger and homelessness on Long Island.
