Phil Haslanger: New era begins for Unitarians and Jews

Phil Haslanger  —  9/17/2008 5:30 am

When the founders of what is today the First Unitarian Society of Madison began meeting in the late 1870s, their gathering place was the Gates of Heaven Synagogue, located on West Washington Avenue.

Now in a fascinating closing of the circle, a Madison Jewish congregation known as Shaarei Shamayim has begun renting space in the historic Unitarian Meeting House on University Bay Drive.

Just to add to the intertwining of these two points in history, "Shaarei Shamayim" is Hebrew for "Gates of Heaven" and has its origins as a congregation in that same old synagogue building that now stands in James Madison Park.

This has happened because the Jewish congregation outgrew the space it has been using for over 15 years at Prairie Unitarian on Whenona Drive just off Seminole Road south of the Beltline. Meanwhile, First Unitarian has just finished vastly expanding its space with a new addition that opened this month.

All of this is part of a growing story of interfaith efforts in Madison, efforts to cross old boundaries that have separated and isolated people from different religious traditions.

It was about three years ago that Michael Schuler, the parish minister for First Unitarian, first contacted Rabbi Laurie Zimmerman at Shaarei Shamayim about the possibility of the two religious organizations sharing space.

Schuler said this was "part of my vision to build an interfaith community" at the Unitarian meeting place.

First Unitarian already is a place that embraces people with a wide range of beliefs. There are agnostics and atheists, Christians and Buddhists. "We all identify as searchers, people 'on the path' who tend to be flexible rather than rigid about our religious convictions," Schuler wrote as he described his congregation to the members of Shaarei Shamayim.

The Jewish congregation was formed in 1989 from local people who for the most part were not affiliated with the existing Reform or Conservative synagogues in town. They were people who attended Rabbi Hannah Rosenthal's Rosh Hashanah services at the old Gates of Heaven building and wanted to continue meeting in some way.

The congregation they created is affiliated with the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation and the Jewish Renewal communities. "We work to create an environment where all people feel welcome regardless of their religious, spiritual, political, or cultural identity," the congregation says on its Web site.

Both First Unitarian and Shaarei Shamayim thus share an openness to religious seekers. They also both share a progressive orientation and have what Zimmerman described as "similar visions of social justice."

Of course, a willingness to work together and to share space is not without its logistical complications. For the most part, the two congregations are working their way through this, helped in part by the fact that the Jewish services are mostly on either Friday evenings or Saturday mornings, while the Unitarian services are on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings.

The Hebrew School on Sunday morning for the Jewish congregation will continue to meet elsewhere and its offices will remain on East Washington Avenue. Nevertheless, there is enough room at First Unitarian so that Shaarei Shamayim can hold its holiday services there -- something that it was not able to do at its previous location at Prairie Unitarian.

There are also identity issues. First Unitarian is a far larger congregation -- 900 households compared to the 100 households for Shaarei Shamayim.

"How do we have our own identity?" asks Zimmerman, citing one of the questions facing her congregation. "How do we create a new identity? How will we feel comfortable in a building that is so much bigger?"

The Jewish congregation has put up a mezuzah (a small case containing a parchment with a traditional Hebrew prayer) on the door post to the Gaebler Living Room (formerly the West Living Room), which it will be using as its regular sanctuary. "It's a tiny thing," said Zimmerman, "but it makes it feel more like we are at home."

Schuler, meanwhile, is being very deliberate about extending invitations to First Unitarian's new Jewish partners to become involved in the many activities that occur there.

"I don't want us to be two ships passing in the night," he said. He is looking for what he calls "cross-fertilization" between the two congregations that he hopes will enrich both of them.

Zimmerman noted that not every type of Jewish congregation would be comfortable with this sort of intermingling. "For a community that more closely follows Jewish law, there would be religious reasons to be cautious about this," she explained.

One of the areas where that could be a problem is with a congregation that was strict about observing kosher dietary laws, but the standard for Shaarei Shamayim is vegetarian food rather than strictly kosher food. Because of the congregation's openness about these and other matters, this kind of cooperation has the potential to work.

Besides, Shaarei Shamayim has 15 years' experience sharing space with Unitarians at Prairie.

First Unitarian, 900 University Bay Drive, moved into its new space Sept. 14 and will have a formal dedication of its new facility in mid-November (see its Web site at www.fusmadison.org). Shaarei Shamayim had its first services in its new home earlier this month and is looking forward to holding its High Holy Days services there later this month (the schedule for the services is on its Web site at www.shamayim.org).

"I think it's really great that we live at a time and in a city where this is possible," Zimmerman said. "Shaarei Shamayim is grateful we are being welcomed here."

For his part, Schuler acknowledged in his message to the Jewish group that "both congregations have a lot at stake and both seem determined to make the relationship work."

Neither faith tradition is giving up any of its core beliefs and both are trying to be respectful of the beliefs and practices of the other. What they are doing here could provide new insights into how people from very different belief systems can find ways not only to share physical space, but deepen their spirituality along the way.

Phil Haslanger is a minister in the United Church of Christ who writes this column as well as a blog on the Cap Times Web site.

Phil Haslanger  —  9/17/2008 5:30 am