Hindus and Jews in Chicago to jointly celebrate festival of lights

WASHINGTON: Hindu and Jewish communities in Chicago are set to make interfaith history this Sunday when they jointly celebrate their festivals of lights — Diwali and Chanukah respectively.

According to the organisers, the plan is to start the joint celebrations with a Hindu priest and a Jewish Rabbi lighting a ‘diya’ and a ‘chanukah’ (candle). It will be followed by speeches and a snack session and a dance event involving the participants.

Hindus will introduce the ‘Garba’, a dance style typical to Gujarat in India but now popular among all Indian-descent immigrants around the world, alongside Punjabi ‘Bhangra’. Jews will bring ‘Horah’, a special dance style created to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the independence of the Jewish state of Israel.

For those still not stirred enough, there will be Samson ‘Mahatma Moses’ Koletkar, who is said to be the world’s only Indian-Jewish stand-up comedian.

“The idea is to have fun as we learn about each other, and each other’s cultures,” said Prasad Yalamanchi, whose Global Hindu Heritage Foundation is one of the organisers. He moved to the US from Andhra Pradesh in 1961, when, he added, “There were no Indians here then.”

Peggy Shapiro of the Jewish co-organiser StandWithUs said, “The purpose is to introduce our communities, establish friendships and help make the world a better place.”

Around 300 guests are expected at the event, which has the endorsement of the governments of both India and Israel. The consul-generals of the Indian and Israeli diplomatic missions in Chicago are expected to attend.