East Cobb interfaith service stresses unity for Holy Week, Passover

Rabbi Albert Slomowitz, East Cobb interfaith service — *Rabbi Albert Slomowitz, Jewish Christian Discovery Center*

Local Jewish and Christian leaders will hold an interfaith service at the Catholic Church of St. Ann Monday as their religions mark high and holy observances.

Rabbi Albert Slomowitz of the Jewish Christian Discovery Center will lead the service, along with Father Ray Cadran of St. Ann and Pastor Michael Tutterow of Heritage Baptist Church in Cartersville.

The service, entitled “Breaking Badness Choosing Greatness,” starts at 10:30 a.m. at St. Ann (4905 Roswell Road) and is free and open to the public.

Christian Holy Week begins on Monday, and Passover in the Jewish faith begins Wednesday.

“In a time of increasing antisemitism and intolerance, the three interfaith clergy believe it is vital to show religious unity and peace,” according to a release from the Atlanta-based JCDC.

Each worshipper will be given a piece of matzah, which Jews eat during Passover to commemorate their exodus from Egypt.

The matzah will be broken into smaller pieces as participants pledge a commitment “to reject hate and embrace love of one’s neighbor regardless of religious belief.”

Congregants will burn the smaller pieces in an outdoor firepit, symbolizing the eradication of religious intolerance, and will have group discussions on the subject.

Slomovitz, who met with Christian leaders at St. Ann and Mt. Bethel Church over the Christmas holidays, said that “we are living in unprecedented and sad times with age-old stereotypes and hatred against Jews reemerging. It is vital that we come together as Jews and Christians and embrace God’s commandment that we love one another.”

This special service, he added, “will bring strangers together from many faiths and give them an opportunity to share in the symbolic act of rejecting hatred through the breaking of a large piece of matzah and then commit themselves and their families to ‘love they neighbor.’ ”

For more information, visit the JCDC website.

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!