Interfaith Thanksgiving service promotes understanding, mercy

For 27 years, the annual interfaith Thanksgiving celebration in the Buffalo Grove area has brought members of local Christian and Jewish congregations together in prayer.

This year's service drew a crowd of about 600 people Sunday night to Temple Chai in Long Grove.

The Northwest Suburban Interfaith Council was founded in 1990 with the aim of overcoming bigotry in the suburbs after anti-Semitic graffiti was discovered on the Northwest Suburban Jewish Community Center.

"We very much look forward to this celebration because it is a celebration of people of differing faiths but yet we look for the commonality and understanding of our faith," said Jay Jayapalan, president of the interfaith council. "I can only say, my faith in God has been very much complimented and supplemented by this participation for the past 10 years."

The interfaith council now represents 10 suburban faith communities: St. Mary Parish, Hope Lutheran, Kingswood Methodist, Congregation Beth Am and B'nai Shalom in Buffalo Grove; Shir Hadash Synagogue in Wheeling; Congregation Beth Judea and Temple Chai in Long Grove; and St. Alphonsus Church and the Lutheran Church of Good Shepherd in Prospect Heights.

"It is just one of the warmest, most amazing things to see the entire community and every faith come together and celebrate Thanksgiving," said Gail Wright of Buffalo Grove. "It pretty much bring me tears and it really is humbling."

Attendees were asked to bring nonperishable food donations for local pantries. The event included music and prayers. It was followed by light refreshments.

Joanne Dicker, past president of the council, wrote before the event about what it meant to her:

"In these troubling times, I find it comforting that our council of 10 churches and synagogues … gather together to celebrate. We don't share the same faiths, but we do share the same basic beliefs: to act justly, to have mercy, to protect the fallen and the weak, and to feed the hungry."