‘BMindful’ of recognition, inclusion and respect

I vividly recall an article in the New York Times about a group of Muslim parents meeting with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to discuss the addition of their major holy days to the school calendar. They said: 'It's a matter of recognition, inclusion and respect.”

I could relate. It reminded me of an incident a few years ago. While writing a check for the local Democrats' annual fundraiser, I noticed it was scheduled on Yom Kippur. In this age of embracing diversity, I would have thought most people would know about Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, two major Jewish holy days in autumn. Was I being overly sensitive? I really wanted to support the Democrats, but it looked like 'the party of the big tent” didn't include me this time.

Over the years I've noticed all sorts of things scheduled on the Jewish holy days: a University Symphony Orchestra concert and the City High homecoming parade were held on Rosh Hashana. Summer of the Arts and Diversity Focus scheduled the inaugural Soul Fest on Yom Kippur. And a year later, the headline author for the Iowa City Book Festival, sponsored by the UNESCO City of Literature, read on Yom Kippur.

Should these public events be scheduled on the major Jewish holy days? As I explained to my non-Jewish friends, these holy days aren't like Columbus Day or Arbor Day. These are big deal religious days. As we talked about how difficult it is to accommodate everybody's special days, a friend said, 'The real issue in the fall is the Hawkeyes. When they're playing away, everyone jumps on those days to have an event.”

This is not anti-Semitism, Islamophobia or anti-Buddhism. I understand that. Let's call it 'hard-to-schedulism” and 'Oh-gosh-I-didn't-know-that-ism.” People just don't know which non-Christian religious holidays are the really important ones - when people might not go to work and they might not send their children to school. The fact that these holy days fall on different dates every year doesn't make matters any easier.

So a light bulb came on for me. I had never thought about how other non-Christians feel when major community events are scheduled on their holy days. I knew it was an issue for me, a Jew, but the story about the Muslims brought home the fact that this is an issue for many other faith communities.

As Yom Kippur is about atonement and forgiveness, and explicitly trying to repair those relationships that over the course of the year have been strained, I wanted to do something to repair this unfortunate situation.

Here's something that will help. Years ago Rabbi Jeff Portman and one of his congregants, the late Alan Widiss, created a listing of major Jewish holy days for schools, non-profits and other organizations in the hope they would avoid scheduling events on those days. It didn't help much then, but times change and sensibilities ripen. It's time to try again. Picking up where they left off, I've made a listing of the major holy days of local faith communities through 2018, available online at iowacitycoralville.org/BMindful.

I'm thankful that many others have contributed to this effort:

' The Consultation for Religious Communities of Johnson County and the Inter-Religious Council of Linn County have reviewed the Holy Days BMindful listing.

' The Iowa City Coralville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau has generously agreed to host 'BMindful” on its website and update it annually.

' Robyn Hepker not only came up with the name 'BMindful,” but also designed the web listing and a printable version of the list.

' Diversity Focus of Cedar Rapids, the Iowa City Chamber of Commerce, the Iowa City Downtown Association and the CVB have provided financial support to produce 'BMindful” magnets that we are offering to festival and event-planning organizations.

' Quinn Pettifer and Kiran Sood of The Gazette Company provided invaluable planning and organizational ideas to give this effort a clear focus and a timely shot in the arm.

' Steve Parrott, formerly of the Summer of the Arts board of directors, has contributed his time and his energy throughout this effort.

You can help too. If you're part of an organization planning a major public event, before picking a date, please check the 'BMindful” listing. By choosing a date when everyone can attend, you may find a larger and more diverse turnout for your event, truly a win-win for all.

Most important, although it may not be possible to avoid all scheduling conflicts, my hope is that knowledge of these holy days will get us closer to a time when we recognize, include and respect all of the diverse religious affiliations in our communities. In other words, we can truly 'BMindful.”

' Carrie Z. Norton, a resident of Iowa City since 1971, enjoys community projects and drawing. Comments: czn46@hotmail.com