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A small revolution took place in Saratoga last month. The Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Saratoga Avenue loaned out its church facility to the Shir Hadash Jewish Community of Los Gatos for its high holy days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. They have been doing so for several years.
But an interesting twist was added to this story of religious integration this year. Yom Kippur was on Saturday, the day when the Catholic Church has its evening Mass at the same facility.
So what did the church do? The church's parish council asked the Episcopal Church of St. Andrews across the street if it would let Sacred Heart use its facility for the Mass.
And the Episcopal Church agreed.
It was an informal coming together of different faiths, a sort of bridge building even before the formal Building Bridges event in the city got under way.
"We have a large turnout for the high holy days. We do not have a synagogue to accommodate so many people," said Jonathan Weinberg, who is part of the Shir Hadash Jewish Community. "We want an environment conducive to Jewish prayer. The church has a very soothing environment."
Elizabeth Lilly, the pastoral associate at the Sacred Heart Church, said that the church's size was right for the services of the Jewish congregation. "The basis for our hospitality is respect for all faiths. We support and appreciate the freedom to worship. We value the diversity of our community," said Lilly.
Art Scher of Shir Hadash said that the church even allowed Shir Hadash to store some religious objects in the days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. "We had multiple torahs, sound equipment and ritual objects. We had a truckload of things," said Scher.
About 1,000 people from the local Jewish community showed up for the event.
"We feel very fortunate that we are able to hold our service in a place of worship," said Rabbi Melanie Aron. She said that holding services in a church was much better than holding it in a rental hall with no religious significance.
The Rev. Portia Mather-Hempler of the St. Andrews Episcopal Church said that her church always liked to help out the community. "We participate in a community Thanksgiving service. We are here to help," she said.
Many relished the idea of visiting another church.
Don Campagna, who belongs to the Sacred Heart Church, said that he really liked visiting the other church. "It was a great opportunity for three faiths to come together; we shared a common bond. We would like to see that happen again," said Campagna.
Weinberg said that he liked to think of the event as a joint venture of religion.
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