Tantur publishes September-October newsletter
Bimonthly newsletter from the Tantur Ecumenical Institute
The morning air is crisp, clouds are once again in the sky, the days are pleasantly warm, and the olive harvesters are in the fields: autumn is once again here at Tantur. It’s been a busy autumn as well, for besides all of the Jewish feasts in the months of September and October, Eid al Adha continues to work its way into the Roman calendar year, and thus coincided with Yom Kippur for the first time in decades.
We’ve had our own festivities at Tantur to contend with as well. Besides the start of our annual Three Month Sabbatical program this September, we held a reception for our new rector, Fr. Russ McDougall, C.S.C., who began work in the late summer months. After nearly a year without a rector, we felt a celebration was in order, and were happy to discover that we were not alone in this thought, given that well over a hundred people attended the event! Indeed, this autumn it truly does feel that we are celebrating the New Year along with our Jewish friends and neighbors as an atmosphere of new beginnings has permeated throughout our community.
Tantur is ultimately a community of transition; of permanent comings and goings. While the goings are often present with mixed emotions, the comings are generally happy ones. Such has been our autumn so far: a new year with new people, new communities, and new possibilities for our mission and vision.