Jewish Chaplaincy to Support Athletes, Olympic Village
Rabbi Thomas Salamon of Westminster Synagogue is one of nine Jewish Chaplains who will be part of the London 2012 Multi Faith Chaplaincy team.
Rabbi Thomas Salamon of Westminster Synagogue is one of nine Jewish Chaplains who will be part of the London 2012 Multi Faith Chaplaincy team.
With less than a month to go until the Olympics come to town, athletes and organizers aren't the only ones gearing up for their big moment. So too are some of London's rabbis, who've been chosen to represent the Jewish faith in the Olympic chaplaincy. Rabbi Thomas Salamon is one of the 9 Olympic rabbis, all chosen from local communities virtually on the stadium's doorstep. But getting this far wasn't easy - like their sporting colleagues, the rabbis had to fight off stiff competition for limited places.
The rabbis will be on-call to provide counselling to anyone who needs it at the Games. With 17-thousand athletes, 20-thousand journalists, and up to 200-thousand staff, they're expecting a spiritual marathon. They'll also be leading prayer services inside the village as part of a multi-faith chaplaincy that'll cater for all 9 major religions -- one of the key selling points of London's 2012 bid. For many Jewish people though, the Olympics are forever tainted with tragedy. At the Munich 1972 Games, 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were murdered after being taken hostage by Palestinian terrorists.
Organizers haven't forgotten either...with endless checkpoints surrounding the Olympic park. London 2012 will be Britain's biggest ever peacetime security operation -- coming in at a cost of 1bn pounds. Security's so tight in fact that this is the closest I can get to the Olympic Park. That's it over there and it's already under complete lockdown. Organisers are leaving nothing to chance here, hoping that with things like the multi-faith center showing that Olympic spirit of togetherness, London 2012 will be remembered for the right reasons.
by Ivor Bennet, JN1, London.
London 2012 Olympics Faith Logo
Source: Jewish News 1, Youtube
Photo Credit: Jewish News 1, Youtube
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We, as leaders of faith communities, need to develop a more inclusive view of the religious other, to recognise the humanity of the religious other as a starting point. We need to recognise the essential equality of all human beings regardless of religious beliefs. We need to affirm the mutuality and interdependency of all people... We may need even to extend this and recognise that religious other may, just may, have at least some access to the Truth. We may need to accept that the religious others also adopts more or less the same set of essential universal ethical-moral principles we share; that the religious other has feelings of pain and pleasure just like us; that the religious other has similar expectations about their children and family and the preservation of life, property and security; and that the religious other has the same fears and anxieties about the world and the future, just like us.