Temple Sinai in Roslyn will host an interfaith Thanksgiving service on Tuesday, when leaders and congregants from five North Shore houses of worship will celebrate gratitude and break bread.
“It’s an opportunity to come together and share our faith traditions,” said Rabbi 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 will include Church of Saint Aidan in Williston Park, Community Church of East Williston, Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Williston Park, Islamic Center of Long Island in Westbury, and Temple Sinai of Roslyn.
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 will last approximately 45 minutes, and feature songs from the Church of Saint Adan and Temple Sinai choirs as well as readings from clergy belonging to each of the houses 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 “will be reading various verses from the Koran expressing the importance of gratitude toward God and gratitude toward our fellow human beings.”
She will 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 will eat a potluck meal featuring traditional dishes contributed by members from each of the participating congregations.
Chaudhry said members of the Islamic Center will bring samosas, chicken kabobs and salad, while Stamm said congregants of Temple Sinai will bring miniature latkes.
Both Chaudhry and Gordon said this year’s interfaith Thanksgiving service carries special significance, as it takes 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 provides for the homeless population of Long Island.
