Building a different kind of bridge...
When a divide needs to be crossed, resourceful communities build bridges. Employing a similar bridge-building principle among faith groups almost three years ago, Rabbi Jeffrey Arnowitz and Dr. Antipas Harris co-founded Hands United Building Bridges, known to many as HUBB.
Living in a region that is divided in many ways, Hampton Roads has civic divides between cities and counties, racial divides between neighborhoods, economic divides, education divides and faith divides.
The diversity that enriches the region too often consigns citizens to silos in one aspect of life or another. Just as cooperation and collaboration in a region is stifled when land masses are divided by water, so too divisions among people in a community can cause negative outcomes.
When a community has no bridges, it negatively affects everyone’s holistic prosperity, breeds misunderstanding and fosters fear and anxiety. Hampton Roads' future depends on the bridges we build now.
People of faith and faith communities, when acting courageously for the good of neighbors and neighborhoods, are ideally suited to build bridges through honest and earnest dialogue.
Born out of the unrest around the country and violence in the regions' localities, HUBB exists to build such bridges in Hampton Roads by creating a safe place for listening and learning from an eclectic group of faith leaders. Through the civility of honest dialogue, citizens are challenged to live with others who do not share the same views, while also celebrating the points of commonality. Today, HUBB is made up of more than 50 women and men representing various faiths and denominations from across the region.
From discussions on challenging topics like race, education, faith perspectives, poverty, criminal justice, and more, members learn how not to be disagreeable even when they do not agree. As community leaders, it is important to model living together with people who are different. After a few years of dialogue, there are several bridges that have been built among the variety of represented clergy. HUBB continues to engage more faith leaders and hopes to extend the richness of dialogue to the broader community, as well.
Civil discourse has been a core component of the human experience for thousands of years. HUBB aims to bridge the divides within Hampton Roads through honest and respectful public dialogue. HUBB recognizes that there are similar efforts often limited to one locality or another. HUBB hopes to bring them together as well, fostering a robust outcome across the region.
Building bridges means sharing information, extending services, understanding differences and exploring cultures. HUBB will overcome much hate, bigotry, animosity and violence when communities learn to live in peace by learning about each other. HUBB hopes that these efforts to build bridges positively impacts Hampton Roads' neighborhoods and not just the sacred spaces of its' members.
In the spring, the Jews celebrate Passover. During the Passover rituals, Jews remember how God parted the waters of the Red Sea allowing the Israelites to travel through on dry land. What does it look like for us to experience such miracles today? What does it look like for us to walk on the water with Jesus? Perhaps, these miracles of crossing the Red Sea and walking on the Sea of Galilee show how crucial it is to take a risk to actively build bridges. The Citizens of Hampton Roads do not have the luxury of expecting miracles to bring people together. Through respectful curiosity and honest sharing, the people of Hampton Roads can make their own miracles.
The work is not always easy. Each person has to risk opening up to another, in ways that perhaps they have not done in the past. Jesus taught love and compassion for the “other.”
In Luke 10:25, he surprised his interlocutors when he qualifies the “other” as any respectable neighbor. The great Jewish Chasidic master Rebbe Nachman of Breslov said, “All the world is a very narrow bridge and the main thing is not to be at all afraid.”
Let us overcome fear and awkwardness to build and traverse this narrow bridge, expand our dialogue, respect our neighbors, and together make this region a better, safer and more prosperous place for us all.
Living in a region that is divided in many ways, Hampton Roads has civic divides between cities and counties, racial divides between neighborhoods, economic divides, education divides and faith divides.
The diversity that enriches the region too often consigns citizens to silos in one aspect of life or another. Just as cooperation and collaboration in a region is stifled when land masses are divided by water, so too divisions among people in a community can cause negative outcomes.
When a community has no bridges, it negatively affects everyone’s holistic prosperity, breeds misunderstanding and fosters fear and anxiety. Hampton Roads' future depends on the bridges we build now.
People of faith and faith communities, when acting courageously for the good of neighbors and neighborhoods, are ideally suited to build bridges through honest and earnest dialogue.
Born out of the unrest around the country and violence in the regions' localities, HUBB exists to build such bridges in Hampton Roads by creating a safe place for listening and learning from an eclectic group of faith leaders. Through the civility of honest dialogue, citizens are challenged to live with others who do not share the same views, while also celebrating the points of commonality. Today, HUBB is made up of more than 50 women and men representing various faiths and denominations from across the region.
From discussions on challenging topics like race, education, faith perspectives, poverty, criminal justice, and more, members learn how not to be disagreeable even when they do not agree. As community leaders, it is important to model living together with people who are different. After a few years of dialogue, there are several bridges that have been built among the variety of represented clergy. HUBB continues to engage more faith leaders and hopes to extend the richness of dialogue to the broader community, as well.
Civil discourse has been a core component of the human experience for thousands of years. HUBB aims to bridge the divides within Hampton Roads through honest and respectful public dialogue. HUBB recognizes that there are similar efforts often limited to one locality or another. HUBB hopes to bring them together as well, fostering a robust outcome across the region.
Building bridges means sharing information, extending services, understanding differences and exploring cultures. HUBB will overcome much hate, bigotry, animosity and violence when communities learn to live in peace by learning about each other. HUBB hopes that these efforts to build bridges positively impacts Hampton Roads' neighborhoods and not just the sacred spaces of its' members.
In the spring, the Jews celebrate Passover. During the Passover rituals, Jews remember how God parted the waters of the Red Sea allowing the Israelites to travel through on dry land. What does it look like for us to experience such miracles today? What does it look like for us to walk on the water with Jesus? Perhaps, these miracles of crossing the Red Sea and walking on the Sea of Galilee show how crucial it is to take a risk to actively build bridges. The Citizens of Hampton Roads do not have the luxury of expecting miracles to bring people together. Through respectful curiosity and honest sharing, the people of Hampton Roads can make their own miracles.
The work is not always easy. Each person has to risk opening up to another, in ways that perhaps they have not done in the past. Jesus taught love and compassion for the “other.”
In Luke 10:25, he surprised his interlocutors when he qualifies the “other” as any respectable neighbor. The great Jewish Chasidic master Rebbe Nachman of Breslov said, “All the world is a very narrow bridge and the main thing is not to be at all afraid.”
Let us overcome fear and awkwardness to build and traverse this narrow bridge, expand our dialogue, respect our neighbors, and together make this region a better, safer and more prosperous place for us all.
For almost three years, more than 50 different faith leaders involved in HUBB have been tackling difficult issues related to race and faith in the setting of a respectful dialogue. Today, HUBB is thrilled to sponsor a week of programming all over the community to give people opportunities to be a part of the meaningful conversation and bring our community closer together.