Last night, members of several religious communities on campus gathered to celebrate an early Thanksgiving. Featuring all the trimmings of a traditional Thanksgiving meal save the turkey, the "Interfaith Thanksgiving" was held for students and professors to discuss prospects for American unity.
Comparative religion professor Elizabeth Lemons addressed the group to present religion's power to unite, rather than to divide. Differences within the same religion, she said, can unite people from separate religions.
"What many do not appreciate is that there is diversity within each tradition, not just among traditions," Lemons said. "Often it is the differences within a tradition that is more important than the differences between traditions."
The Sept. 11 attacks weighed heavily on this year's event. Like many students and professors around campus, those involved with the celebration recognized how recent events have changed their perspectives on Thanksgiving.
"After Sept. 11, it seems especially important to gather together and give thanks for our loved ones... and to do it as Americans," Lemons said.
Sophomores Flori Engler and Rich Kalman, co-chairs of Hillel's Holiday Committee, organized last night's event. The two felt the celebration served to reassure students who felt alienated after the attacks that they would find acceptance in the Tufts community.
"Especially this year we wanted to promote togetherness on campus," Kalman said.
Lemons said that a wave of religious persecution following the attacks was incongruent with the ideal of American unity. "An attack on one religion is an attack on the freedom of all religions," she said.
Saying all religions can find common ground, Lemons noted it was easy for the members of the different religious communities to decide what food to serve at the dinner, and that they decided to advertise the meal as a celebration "without the relatives" - a fact that, she said, pointed to a similar understanding of what Thanksgiving is.
"Despite our rich differences... there's still a general consensus as to what Thanksgiving is - at least, what foods to serve and who's supposed to be there," she said.
Engler added that the fact that Thanksgiving doesn't evolve from any specific religion makes it a more universal holiday - religions can bring their own influences to it, she said.
The groups involved consisted of members from the Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, Catholic, and Unitarian faiths, along with members of the Chaplain's Office and the Comparative Religion Department.
Rabbi Jeffrey Summit, the Director of Hillel, saw the event as a powerful tool to bring people of different faiths together.
"It is one of the best ways to learn about one another, to celebrate together," Summit said. "The people I'm sitting with at my table are just wonderful people that I didn't know prior to this event."
Sophomore Josh Pressman paused over a plate of green beans, mashed potatoes, and stuffing to reflect on the gathering of faiths.
"I'm here because very rarely do I get the chance to spend time with people coming from a wide variety of faiths," Pressman said. "It's refreshing to be with people other than people of my own faith and people who have no religious persuasion whatsoever."
At such an interfaith event, saying Grace before eating might have posed a problem, were it not for Alexis Gerber - the freshman organized the prayer by collecting statements from each of the groups. Representatives around the room stood up, one by one, to add to the prayer, each expressing what their group was thankful for.
The Muslim Student Association, for example, thanked God for the opportunities that an education at Tufts provided, and expressed hope for future religious understanding. "May this gathering bring people from all races and faiths together, to unite and promote peace and happiness."
"I think we need to do more than build tolerance, we need to build community," Gerber said. "Tolerating means that you simply accept someone's presence. Community implies mutual caring."
