RI State Council of Churches Annual Awards Breakfast

On Thursday, October 31, the West Valley Inn was the setting for a glorious convocation of the Rhode Island faith community. Hosted by the Rhode Island State Council of Churches (RISCC), the 4th Annual Heroes of Faith Breakfast brought together more than 325 members of the Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu communities to honor individuals who havehave had a significant impact on improving interfaith relationships and understanding in Rhode Island.

After a brief welcome by Reverend Betsy Garland, president of the RISCC, Reverend Marie Carpenter set the tone for the event – “Everyone can make a difference” – by relating the story of the starfish:

“An elderly beachcomber came across a multitude of beached starfish dying in the sun and began throwing them back into the water. A young jogger came upon the scene and challenged the older man, ‘Why are you throwing them back into the water? There are thousands of them – what difference can that possibly make?’ At that, the elderly man picked up another starfish, tossed it back into the sea and said, ‘It makes all the difference to that one.’”

“We are all just individuals,” said Carpenter, “but we can all make a difference in other people’s lives.” She then went on to introduce the Heroes of Faith and the Partners of Faith as individuals who selflessly “lent their lives helping one person, one group, one organization at a time …  we are blessed to have them all in one room … the energy and the spirit in this room today is truly amazing.”

The Jewish Alliance delegation included Board Chair Sharon Gaines; President and CEO Jeffrey Savit; Senior Vice President Minna Ellison; Community Relations Council Director (CRC) Marty Cooper; Maxine Richman, of the Rhode Island Interfaith Steering Committee, as well as Rabbi Emeritus Jim Rosenberg of Temple Habonim, Rabbi Marc Mandel of Touro Synagogue and Rabbi Andrew Klein of Temple Habonim and his husband Andy Mastoon, and a reporter from the Jewish Voice.

Reverend Don Anderson began distributing the Heroes of Faith Awards. The first George Dickson Kenney Stewardship Award was presented posthumously to Kenney’s family in his behalf. Hébert W. Bolles posthumously received the lifetime achievement award named for him and Dr. Marian Styles-McClintock also received a Bolles Lifetime Achievement Award.

Swami Yogatmananda was recognized as the Interfaith awardee and the Community and Faith Service Awards were presented to Kathleen M. McKeon and Kathleen Taylor. Susan Adler and Linda Katz were recognized as previous recipients of that award. During Rev. Anderson’s acknowledgement of Kathleen Taylor, the West Valley Inn’s intercom blared to one of the venue’s catering managers, “Shorty, the bread is here!” The Reverend, with timing worthy of a Borscht Belt comic, delivered the well-received punchline, “The bread is here, but is the wine?”

The 2013 Faith Leader of the Year, Rabbi Amy Levin of Temple Torat Yisrael in East Greenwich, President of the Greater Rhode Island Board of Rabbis, was introduced and praised by Anderson, her long-time friend and co-traveler to Israel – along with Iman Farid Ansari. (See “It’s no joke: A rabbi, a minister and an imam travel together to Israel” The Jewish Voice, April 26, 2013.)

RISCC’s formal introduction of Rabbi Levin read, in part, “Not only is Rabbi Levin interested in supporting rabbis and faith communities in envisioning and achieving goals, she is a founding member of Voices of Faith where she has been collaborating with Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and other clergy to establish a new interfaith organization. Rabbi Levin has served congregations in the United States and Israel and works to bring these communities together. She has been an instructor of Talmud and Jewish Law in Jerusalem and is widely respected as a member of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards in the Rabbinical Assembly. She is also on the cutting edge of using technology as a tool for community building, education, and communication.”

Rabbi Levin’s humble acceptance remarks exemplified the sports adage that “there is no ‘I’ in team” and to those who know the rabbi were not surprised that she credited other individuals, groups and organizations for the fine work they do that makes her work so meaningful. (The complete text of Rabbi Levin’s remarks can be found on page 39.)

Maxine Richman, the first Interfaith Hero awardee in 2010 and a member of the Interfaith Coalition Steering Committee, said of Rabbi Levin, “Rabbi Levin is an integral part of the RI Interfaith Coalition to Reduce Poverty. We are so proud that she has been chosen Faith Leader of the Year by the RISCC. We celebrate her extraordinary accomplishments of bringing people of other faiths together to foster better understanding of each other.”

“Rabbi Levin exemplifies the spirit of the Hero of Faith Award,” offered Marty Cooper, CRC director for the Jewish Alliance. “The rabbi’s hard work and dedication on the numerous committees she participates in is an excellent example of how to bring our communities together.”

Rabbi Andrew Klein was one of several Partners in Faith award winners. Klein’s award was sponsored by the Rhode Island Interfaith Coalition to Reduce Poverty; the RISCC’s introduction informed the gathered guests that “Since Rabbi Klein came to Temple Habonim in Barrington six and one-half years ago, he has made fostering interfaith relations a significant part of his pulpit … Last June at Temple Habonim, Rabbi Klein welcomed The Prism of Praise Community Gospel Choir, a multicultural, ethnically diverse Christian choir and the Temple’s Ruach Singers for an evening of interfaith harmony. Rabbi Klein is currently the president of the Barrington Interfaith clergy Association.”

Although Rabbi Klein did not address the assemblage at the ceremony, he offered these comments to The Jewish Voice: “I feel honored and humbled to be receiving this award. I don’t believe there is anything more important than helping people learn to appreciate the similarities we all share and respect the differences between us. Dr. Kristen Standahl called upon all of us to engender a healthy ‘holy envy’ for what we admire in one another’s traditions. I believe that’s an ideal for us all to strive to attain.”

Jewish Alliance President and CEO spoke for our entire community when he saluted both rabbis. “Mazal tov to both Rabbi Levin and Rabbi Klein for receiving these lovely, important, well-deserved honors. Both Amy and Andy shine brightly upon their respective synagogues and, quite simply, upon our entire Rhode Island Jewish community. They are, indeed, ‘Heroes’ to us all.”