Bradford faith leaders deliver message of hope

The Bishop of Bradford the Right Reverend TOBY HOWARTH writes: “This is our first National Day of Reflection. It will be one of many opportunities, personal and public, to consider deeply what we have all been through. But, whether we hold a minute’s silence at noon or shine a light at 8pm, it’s important that we find some way of stopping, reflecting and not letting life just rush by.

Reflection can involve simply noticing how those around us are coping and what our hearts, souls and bodies tell us about our own wellbeing. Reflection is also about honouring. Honouring the memory of those who have died. A time to recall memories and give thanks for those we have lost and how they shaped our lives.

We can also honour all those who have looked after us and continue to look after us during this pandemic. Is there someone you are particularly grateful to? Someone you may have taken for granted or not really noticed? Please pause, reflect and perhaps write a note, or send message to them.

When we stop to reflect, we may notice that it’s not just grief and gratitude that we are feeling. There may be other emotions too - frustration, anger, helplessness, longing.

Today we may experience feelings that can lie buried beneath the normal pace of life. When we notice these feelings, it’s important to find an appropriate way to express them. Perhaps speak to a close friend or family member, or maybe to a professional counsellor or religious leader.And maybe, speak to God in a simple prayer.

Reflection is about looking back, but it’s also about seeing ourselves and looking forward. What are the important things that we’ve learned over the last year that we want to keep and nurture as well as the things that we want to leave far behind? One thing I’m learning is that there are two laws at work in our world. The first law is that we reap what we sow. The scientists tell us that this pandemic probably started when a virus ‘jumped’ from a wild animal to a human. We know this kind of jump is more likely to happen when we humans destroy remote natural habitats, something that often happens in places far away from Yorkshire, but which can often be driven by consumer choices we make here in the West.

A day of reflection is a good time to ask ourselves how the choices we make can, even in a small way, make it less likely that a new virus will jump in the future. But there is another law which I’ve also experienced this year. We could call it the law of grace.

As the spring bulbs we now see flowering have grown in the cold and darkness of the winter earth, so we have also seen extraordinary kindness, bravery and beauty emerge from the sickness, hardship, frustration, loneliness and depression of these difficult months. That’s the story of Easter, of God’s love not suffocated by death but blazing forth in new life and hope.”

* Bradford Synagogue chairman RUDI LEAVOR writes: “‘Let my people go!” says the Negro spiritual, quoting the Bible where Moses asks Pharaoh, ruler of Egypt, where the Hebrew people, later called the Children of Israel, were held as slave labourers building inter alia, it is thought, the pyramids, to release them. If he did not do as requested Moses would ask G”d to shower the land with a plague. After allowing at first their release and changing his mind immediately afterwards Moses via G”d caused a plague to engulf the land. This happened 10 times, each plague becoming more severe. Eventually Pharaoh relented and they fled with their pots and pans. By absolute coincidence we celebrate the escape (we call it Exodus) from Egypt by the Festival of Passover on March 28/29.

The comparison with today’s pandemic is only too obvious. Yet there have always been plagues: in 1666; in the Derbyshire village Eyam; the Spanish ‘flu; ebola in West Africa, etc. This one is global and therefore even more lethal.

The Jewish community initially closed Bradford’s Synagogue for worship. Even when guidelines were eased we decided, as the logistics of keeping the building sanitised were too great with only one caretaker to carry it out, to keep the building closed. At first we joined two other Synagogues who streamed their services: Sinai in Leeds and Menorah in South Manchester, latterly also Jacksons Row also in Manchester. For the end of the Festival of Tabernacles called Simchat Torah in September we ventured out to stream a service of our own and it went very well, so now we stream our monthly services ourselves. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, we find that more people attend the streamed services than had attended in person before the pandemic.

Before this we ‘attended’ streamed services for the so-called High Holidays, also in September, which include the New Year service. I started to listen in with Sinai. The high point is the blowing of the shofar, a plain ram’s horn without a mouthpiece. It is intended to call the congregation to emphasise the solemnity of the occasion. When this was completed in Sinai I switched over to Menorah for a change of scenery when by chance their service had just reached the beginning of the shofar blowing and I was able to witness the holiest part of the service all over again, quite a bonus in unfortunate times.

Fortunately, though locked in, I am able to continue working from home, editing the Synagogue magazine, still correcting admittedly only slight errors in my published memoirs for a hoped-for reprint, keeping in touch by Facetime with two of my children, one of whom is a senior officer on a Cunard liner moored in the Channel for the duration; two others bring food to the doorstep or host me as their bubble for dinner once a week. Both (Muslim) neighbours bring food round regularly.

Unexpectedly, I have been able to adapt my lifestyle to the prevailing conditions especially as I have had my two vaccinations. Even so, I did not anticipate at my age of nearly 95 to experience the turmoil in which the world finds itself. Let us pray for better times ahead.”

* The Bradford-based MUSLIM WOMEN’S COUNCIL said: “This past year has been like no other. In the Muslim community, we were unable to do many things that we previously took for granted - going to the mosque, praying in congregation, opening the fast with the community and loved ones during the holy month of Ramadan, celebrating the festival of Eid with friends and wider family, making the holy pilgrimage to Mecca and so much more.

Local mosques and other places of worship have created online resources to keep us all connect, giving us strength and hope during the uncertainty of the pandemic. Many Muslim households have created prayer spaces within their homes to worship together as a family.

At the start of the lockdown Muslim Women’s Council set up a helpline to support those vulnerable and self-isolating in the Bradford community. We organise hot food packs for service users, provide a befriending service and signpost to other support services. So far we have distributed over 8,500 hot meals across the district. It has been truly heart-warming to see places of worship across Bradford supporting all members of the community at this difficult time. Their work demonstrates the essence of humanity, which is at the core of every faith.”