Seattle 64, or Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

I spend Sunday mornings at church. Actually, I spend Sunday mornings beneath church, taking care of cute babies while their parents and older siblings have church. Before church is brunch - this baffled me a little bit at first, because Jews don't typically do this. We eat after services.

I became the church babysitter because several members of the church saw the article in the Seattle times this past June and invited any interested Kibbutznikim out for drinks so they could pick our brains about living communally. They're interested in doing something similar.

Since they mentioned that there are a lot of kids in the church, I mentioned that I babysit, and they offered me the Sunday morning gig almost instantly. I found all the church members to be warm, friendly, kind and full of questions - what brought me to Seattle? What's it like living in a Jewish community? Do I pray? Do I go to synagogue? How do I reconcile the whole messiah thing?

I invited them to dinner. Not just any dinner - a special interfaith Shabbat dinner at the kibbutz.

About ten members of the church came, with a few more kibbutzniks and guests, which meant we kept having to add tables and chairs as the night went on. There were dozens of potluck dishes - quinoa and peas, pasta salads, pesto, casseroles, Israeli couscous, even vegetarian sushi and dumplings. The tables were long and narrow. Most of the churchgoers sat on one side, and the kibbutzniks on the other, but that turned out to be less confrontational than it sounds because it made for easier cross-conversation.

Everyone introduced themselves by saying "My name is______, and I come from_______, and the thing I like most about my religion/culture is ________" which is an exercise I picked up from Abby in college. It's a great one, because it lays some common ground (and grounds for passionate discussion) right away. Also, it gives some insight into the people at the table.

To say "My favorite thing about being Jewish" is not the same as "My favorite thing about Judaism" is not the same as "My favorite thing about being a Christian" is not the same as "My favorite thing about being a follower of Jesus" - see? It was neat to hear the variety of ways people identify.

I have to say, my favorite part of the night was also probably the most cheesy or hokey: I had everyone sing a quick grace-after-meals to the tune of Amazing Grace. I did it on purpose: so the churchgoers would have something familiar to sing, and so the kibbutzniks wouldn't feel like they were being coerced into doing the long version of grace-after-meals (which some folks really don't like to do.) Here's the thing: while the kibbutz has a lot of good, tuneful singers, the churchgoers really love to sing together. I knew they'd add some beautiful basslines and harmonies, and they didn't disappoint.

All in all: a highly successful, well-attended event (the six year old counted 84 people; I counted 26. Probably somewhere in the middle.) The six year old made me a thank-you card during dessert, which is now stuck to my refridgerator. And I'll see him Sunday morning, see if he remembers his night at the kibbutz, when the Jews and the Christians sang around the same table.