A CALL to “redouble” efforts to rebuild interfaith relationships, made by the Home Secretary last month, had a tangible response on Sunday because the twentieth Mitvah Day got under way.
In the kitchen of Alyth, the North Western Reform Synagogue in Golders Green, Rabbi Josh Levy, co-lead of Progressive Judaism, might be found chopping onions next to the Bishop of Edmonton, Dr Anderson Jeremiah, while Fauzia Saeed, programme and partnerships lead for the Muslim World League London Office, operated the stove.
The mass production of soup — destined for the network of night-shelters run by local places of worship, and the refugee drop-in centre on the synagogue — concluded a day of social-action work across the UK involving 200 projects and 1000’s of individuals from different faiths.
For Laura Marks, the day marked the twentieth anniversary of her founding of Mitvah Day as a “Jewish-led-day social motion where we reach out to our neighbours and invite them to return and do good deeds with us” Interview, 8 May 2020). On Sunday, she paid tribute to the “tiny staff team” who had worked hard to bring the day together, and expressed hope that those gathered would “invite us to more of your things, and that friendships and relationships will proceed”.
In addition to Mitvah Day, she co-founded Nisa-Nashim, a national network which brings together Jewish and Muslim women to encourage and lead social change.
On Sunday, Ms Saeed, who described Ms Marks as a “dear friend”, said: “We at all times support one another in terms of community cohesion, interfaith work, and we adore it.”
Interfaith work had previously been male-dominated, she said, but this was now not the case. “There are many ladies who’re really leading the option to change narratives and work hand-in-hand with male colleagues,” she said. “Interfaith gives opportunities for people to know other communities and work together for the common good.”
Directing the soup production was Rabbi Hannah Kingston, who observed that Mitvzah Day had a selected resonance during a time of wider division within the country. Last month, the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, told MPs: “I believe everybody who has been involved in interfaith work within the last two years, myself included, will acknowledge that there have been real challenges and difficulties there. We must think more creatively, and redouble our efforts to rebuild relationships which were deeply strained.”
The Prime Minister has also expressed regret that a number of the interfaith work within the UK — “which all of us thought was stronger and more robust than it turned out to be”— had fallen away within the wake of the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel and subsequent war in Gaza. This followed a warning in 2024 by the previous Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, that interfaith dialogue had “almost collapsed”.
On Sunday, Rabbi Levy said: “It’s true that interfaith relationships have been difficult over the past two years, but where they’ve continued, and where they’ve remained strong, is where people have gotten really deep relationships already.
“One of the things about something like Mitzvah Day is, it’s one in all the places you form those relationships, where you have got those encounters with each other, where you get to do side-by-side interfaith, where you might be doing this work together.
“As well as 20 years of constructing those relationships, it’s a day that is constant to bring individuals who don’t know one another together to try this type of work. It’s a very necessary a part of our calendar due to that.”
“Mitzvah” meant “commandment”, he said, and the day was about “doing good things, fulfilling our religious responsibility. One day of real concentrate on being good on the earth.” Helping others remained really necessary, whatever happened politically, he said. “Real people wanting to do good things on the earth to make the world a rather higher place is de facto fundamental to our religious lives.”
On Tuesday, Dr Jeremiah said: “Against the backdrop of growing national and native polarisation, Mitzvah Day is an indispensable opportunity to fulfill, share, and renew our shared commitment and forge strong solidarity across faith lines that fosters stronger local relationships.
“We cannot allow divisive, external narratives to erode the trust in our neighbourhoods. My goal, as a bishop, is to see every member of this splendidly diverse city feel protected, thrive, and contribute to communities resilient enough for any challenge.”
