We all pray: The beginning of my discovery of religious pluralism.

A couple of days ago, our group went to the city of Yoff, a religious city not limited to one faith. It was in this city that I finally began to understand the meaning of religious pluralism; a term I’ve been wrestling with for years.

You would think attending a Jewish day school for 13 years, and the Jewish Theological Seminary for the past 2 and a half, I would know what pluralism looked like. Unfortunately, in both these spaces, my peers and I never quite understood the fact. It seemed that we always had to cater to the most religious denomination and that there was not much space to express different beliefs and practices than the majority. Don’t get me wrong, we constantly theorized the meaning of pluralism and what it could look like, but rarely did we see it in practice. Who would have thought being almost 4,000 miles away from my comfortable Jewish spaces that I would finally see religious pluralism in action.

The first site we attended was a mosque right on the ocean which was such a holy site for the people of that denomination of Islam. They considered it the holiest site in the world because of many mystical signs involving that place. As one of the imams was sharing with us his beliefs and signs he has received from Allah, I could not help but be reminded of Jewish mysticism and the importance placed on signs involving numbers and letters. His intense fervor for sharing his findings with us gave me hope that there are still people in this world who are so truly devout to their religion and faith in a higher power. Unfortunately, our frightening world has caused me to question mine, but this imam, standing in front of us and completely pouring his heart out for love of his God, ignited my lost religious fervor which had been subdued for quite some time.

After visiting this holy site, generously opened to us by the people who consider it so, I began to understand that religion in Senegal is meant to be shared, regardless of one’s beliefs. The imam was not looking to convert us or make us believe in his signs, but he so generously shared with us his holy site, never once fearing that we would defame it. It is this trust and hospitality, that truly characterize the people of Senegal. If only we could learn just a little bit of this kindness back in the States.

So, moving on to the next religious site, we went to a smaller village in Yoff that was also predominately Muslim, but also contained some followers of traditional African religions. We met with one of the priests and healers who practices one of the traditional religions, and he again showed us the true character of Senegalese people, by opening his space to us and answering all our questions about his practice. He even shared some really personal moments about his near-death experience and then being brought back to life by the spirits of his ancestors. Again, we witnessed someone who was so devout in their faith and practice, and who believed with their whole heart in the powers of their gods.

It was not only speaking with him where we saw true passion in the eyes of the believer, but what we later got to witness was the moment I believed in the possibility of pluralism. We were invited to stay for a healing ceremony the priest was conducting for someone who was gravely ill. Part of their ceremony is sacrificing animals to their ancestors in order for the healing powers to take affect. As the ceremony began, all the healers were called up to begin dancing around the person needing to be healed. They began to sing and chant various prayers. It was as if a fire was ignited in their souls, with the amount of passion they exhibited chanting and dancing. It was truly unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, and something I hope to witness again during my time here.

Later, I learned that the reason we had been waiting a while for the ceremony to start, was because the priest was waiting for the daily prayer in the mosque, right across the street, to finish. He did not want to disturb their prayer with the sound of the drums used in the healing ceremony. He also wanted to give the opportunity to those who prayed, to come to the ceremony, because some of them also engage in the practices of this traditional religion. They found a way to not limit themselves to one form of prayer, and to engage in the worship of their ancestors as well as the worship of Allah.

The solution is so simple; at least it should be. We can engage in our practices, while also being conscious and aware of the different practices around us. However, this seems to be a large issue in the Western world, where we have blinders on, ignoring those around us. We are only concerned with ourselves and people like us. Why? Honestly, I don’t know. What I do know is that we are constantly looking down at our prayer books, but do we ever look up? Do we ever look around us at those who might not be praying like how we pray? If we began to look up, look up at our God, we would finally see the meaning of God’s words. We would finally understand the meaning of God’s commandments and God’s intentions. We would finally understand what it means to be human.

Have you ever realized that every single person in the entire world who has a religion and practices that religion, prays? I know this is a "Yeah, duh" type of question, but I'm serious. We often forget this seemingly obvious fact. Even those who don’t follow a religion still pray. We all pray. We are praying all the time, even when we don’t realize it. Getting an “A” on an exam, we say “Thank God” in our heads. Meeting the love of our lives we say to ourselves “What did I do to deserve this person?” Hugging your best friend after not seeing them for months on end (I’m looking at you Molls), that’s a sign of thanks to whoever brought them into this world and into your life. We are always praying. Whether we know it or not, and sometimes whether we like it or not. Thus, is it really so hard to be in relation to those who might not practice prayer in the same ways we do? Once we realize that we all have this commonality binding us, maybe we can begin to take off our blinders, look up, look around, and no longer look down.

So, catch me next week doing some intense Kab Shab (Kabbalat Shabbat-the prayers for Friday night in Judaism) on the roof of my homestay, as my neighbor on the roof next to me is laying down their prayer rug. Religious pluralism.

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