Für mich ist Jom Kippur immer der Tag im Jahr, an dem ich mich am persönlichsten mit der jüdischen Gemeinschaft verbunden fühle. Vielleicht klingt dies etwas seltsam, da wenigstens von außen her Jom Kippur aussieht, als sei er intensiv privat und persönlich. Er ist der feierlichste Tag im jüdischen Jahr und wird ganz und gar im Gebet, im Fasten, in der Kontemplation und in der Buße verbracht. Es wird gelehrt, dass an Rosch Haschanah, dem jüdischen Neujahr, der zehn Tage vor Jom Kippur ist, das Buch des Lebens geöffnet wird; zehn Tage lang untersucht jeder und jede von uns seine und ihre Taten während des vergangenen Jahres, und unser Los für das kommende Jahr wird geschrieben. Was wir in dieser Zeit tun können, ist sowohl von Gott als auch von unseren Schwestern und Brüdern um Vergebung zu bitten, Taten der Liebe und des guten Willens zu tun und zu beten, weil Gott natürlich die Quelle des Erbarmens ist und barmherzig sein wird, wenn wir darum bitten. In gewissem Sinne ist Jom Kippur unsere letzte Chance, dieses Werk der Buße zu tun.
Kübra BölerNiemand hätte gedacht, dass wir den Großteil von 2020 mit einer Pandemie konfrontiert sein werden. Viele von uns hatten große Pläne für das Jahr, so auch ich. Masterstudium, neue Jobmöglichkeiten und Persönlichkeitsentwicklung und -entfaltung. Ja, Träume muss der Mensch haben.
Dann war es plötzlich ganz nah - das Corona-Virus. Von der Epidemie zur Pandemie. Plötzlich mussten alle Zuhause bleiben. Ich hatte bereits nach der vergangenen JCM im Februar angefangen, nur noch das Auto zu benutzen. Meine Angst hatte ich da noch im Griff. Pfarrer Mirko Lipski-ReinhardtMein Name ist Mirko Lipski-Reinhardt.
Ich bin 32 Jahre alt und ev. Pfarrer in der Kirchengemeinde Hünxe am Niederrhein. Das diesjährige JCM-Thema ist unglaublich spannend, denn zum ersten Mal in unserer Generation sind wir mit dem Phänomen konfrontiert, dass die gesamte Menschheit – egal wo, egal ob oder welcher Religion sie angehören – vor dieselbe Herausforderung gestellt ist. Die Unverfügbarkeit des Lebens ist seit März 2020 global erfahrbar geworden, hat von unserem Alltag Besitz ergriffen; auch von unseren Religionsgemeinschaften. Wir mussten unsere Gottesdienste anders feiern, unsere Feiertage anders verbringen, haben mit Enttäuschungen leben müssen. Ich möchte daher, wenn ich aus christlicher Sicht versuche eine Antwort auf diese Frage zu geben, aus meinem vergangenen Jahr als Pfarrer einer „normalen“ Kirchengemeinde und als Pfarrer in den Social Media erzählen. Rev Mirko Lipski-ReinhardtRev Mirko Lipski-Reinhardt is the pastor of the Protestant Church in Hünxe, Germany. Originally from the Western part of Germany, he studied theology in Wuppertal, Oslo, and Berlin. Being a pastor is not unusual in Mirko’s family as his mother started that tradition. Mirko attributes his faith and his belief to his grandmother and grandfather. He has developed a project on Instagram focusing on religion, society, and everyday life, which was recognized with a special media award. In addition to his general work in the congregation, Mirko is also responsible for the public relation and social media work of his church. My name is Mirko Lipski-Reinhardt. I am 32 years old and a Protestant pastor in the Hünxe parish on the Lower Rhine. This year’s JCM topic is incredibly exciting because for the first time in our generation, we are confronted with the phenomenon that the whole of humankind – regardless of location, regardless of religious affiliation – is faced with the same challenge. Since March 2020, the fact that life cannot be controlled has become a global experience, has taken possession of our daily life, including our religious communities. We had to worship differently, we had to spend our feasts differently, we had to live with disappointments. So I want to try to give a Christian response to the question. I want to tell something of my past year as a pastor in a “normal” parish and as pastor in the social media.
Kübra Böler Kübra Böler was born 1993 in Rendsburg, a town in Northern Germany. She is a religious scholar, presently doing her Masters in Religious Studies within the Academy of World Religions at the University of Hamburg on ‘Religions, Dialogue and Education.’ She has been writing poetry passionately for the last ten years and coordinates a project ‘KursivDenker’ which invites youth and young people to develop their personality through creative means. They’re planning to publish a magazine this coming year. Nobody would have thought that we would be confronted with a pandemic for the greater part of 2020. Many of us had great plans for the year, and so did I. The Master’s degree study course, new possibility for jobs and the development and unfolding of my personality. Well, one must have dreams.
Then it was suddenly quite close - the Corona Virus. From an epidemic to a pandemic. Suddenly everybody had to stay home. Already after the last JCM in February, I had started to use only the car for transport. Then, I still had my fear under control. Dr. Joshua EdelmanJosh is senior lecturer at the Manchester School of Theatre, Manchester Metropolitan University. Though his original training is in the anthropology of religion, he has worked for over a decade as a theatre director, largely in Dublin and New York. His research looks at both theatre and religion as fields of social performance, especially in the contemporary West. Josh is the principal investigator for BRIC-19, a research project examining how British religious communities have adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions it has imposed. The project aims to document, analyse, and understand the new ways that religious communities are coming together, and to use those findings to help make religious communities stronger and more resilient for the future. For me, Yom Kippur is always the day of the year when I feel most personally connected to the Jewish community. This might seem a bit odd, because at least from the outside, Yom Kippur looks intensely private and personal. It’s the most solemn day in the Jewish year, spent entirely in prayer, fasting, contemplation and repentance. The teaching is that on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year which falls ten days earlier, the Book of Life is opened, and for ten days, each of us has our deeds from the past year examined and our fortunes for the next year written. What we can do, during this time is to ask forgiveness, both of God and of our sisters and brothers, do deeds of charity and goodwill, and pray, because God is the source of mercy, of course, and will be merciful if we ask. Yom Kippur is, in a sense, our last chance to do this work of repentance.
by Rabbi Lea Mühlstein |
Authors - AutorenAll our speakers and contributors are past participants of JCM. They are asked to focus on their personal views on the topic. The idea is not to give a purely academic presentation but rather present a personal reflection. Tags
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