Opening
Part of Building Bridges
Activity time: 15 minutes
Materials for Activity
- Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED/battery-operated candle
- Newsprint, markers, and tape
- Leader Resource 1, Judaism Background
- Leader Resource 2, World Religions Distribution Map
Preparation for Activity
- Review Leader Resource 1 and 2, so you will be comfortable presenting the information.
- Post a blank sheet of newsprint.
Description of Activity
Answer any questions you were unable to answer at the last workshop meeting.
Then light the chalice with these words:
We light this chalice in celebration of Unitarian Universalism and the sustaining faiths of all people of the world. May the flame represent the fire of our commitment to understand all faithful people and build bridges that connect us as one human family.
Invite participants to check in by saying their names and briefly sharing something from their personal experience with or knowledge about Judaism. Say there are many Unitarian Universalists who are personally connected to Judaism and some in the group might identify as Jewish. Invite youth who identify as Jews to share their experience with Judaism, if they are comfortable doing so.
Ask what questions participants have about Judaism. Write the questions on newsprint. Answer the ones you can. Tell the group this workshop may answer some of their questions and, after the workshop, you will seek answers to remaining questions which you will share at their next meeting.
Read or share in your own words the information in Leader Resource 1. List important terms from the resource on newsprint.
Share Leader Resource 2; explain that Judaism is the first of the Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.