Boston Jewish Music Festival to include sacred Hindu songs

In a remarkable interfaith gesture, renowned “Boston Jewish Music Festival” this year will include “Sacred Songs of Hindus”.

The 2015 Festival from February 27 to March 15 in Massachusetts; besides Kabbalat Shabbats, Sacred Hebrew Chants, Shabbat Songs, Jewish choral music, Jazz Shabbat, songs of Purim, Yiddish folk songs, etc; will also include sacred songs of Hindus containing Hindu music. The Hindu songs will be delivered in Temple Ohabei Shalom, a Jewish synagogue in Brookline, on March one.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, welcoming inclusion of sacred Hindu songs in a well-known Jewish festival, stressed that despite our seriously different traditions in the world, we should learn to live together in mutual trust and peace. Dialogue would bring us mutual enrichment and help us overcome prejudices passed on to us by previous generations, Zed added.

Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out that religion was a complex component of our lives and its broader and more inclusive understanding was needed.

“Boston Jewish Music Festival is dedicated to presenting innovative programs that demonstrate the many ways Jewish experiences, beliefs, and values are expressed through music”, its mission states. This year’s Festival, whose tagline is "Music Builds Bridges", is “dedicated to music’s unmatched power to build bridges between people and create a path to a more harmonious future.” Joey Baron is its Executive Director.