If any member of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation at first appeared to be subdued during the joint service with First Mount Olive Free Will Baptist Church, Senior Rabbi Rex D. Perlmeter offered an explanation.
"You lift your hands in prayer, and by tradition we have sat on our hands in worship," Perlmeter said of his Reform congregation's custom of relatively reserved services.
But the stillness was short-lived yesterday as both the Baptist and Jewish congregations in Baltimore took to their feet with cheers praising God at the sprawling Park Heights Avenue temple. They united for more than two hours in a song-filled, tear-soaked, dancing-in-the-aisles service for the first time this weekend to celebrate the birth of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
In recent years, local Reform synagogues and African-American churches have held joint activities around the holiday for the slain civil rights leader in an effort to foster understanding between African-Americans and Jews, two communities that have had somewhat strained relations in the past.
The communal celebrations were also the first since First Mount Olive began to hold Sunday services at the temple last fall. The Baptist congregation relocated after a fire in July destroyed their West Baltimore church.
Jill Petschek attended the joint weekend services at Baltimore Hebrew that also included a Shabbat Shira on Friday evening with a talk by the bishop from First Mount Olive. She hopes the experience will lead to more interaction between the two faith communities.
"My 11-year-old son asked why I was crying Friday night, and I told him that it's just so joyful that we're together. Their music is so uplifting and I was happy to hear that our music touched them in the same way," she said. "We just need to get to know each other more."
First Mount Olive congregants responded enthusiastically to yesterday's service, singing hymns in both English and Hebrew, shouting spontaneous praise and often physically embracing their Jewish brethren through the lively service. Though devastated when fire destroyed their church, many Baptists said they now see the tragedy as a divine opportunity for interfaith dialogue and a chance to learn more about Jewish traditions.
"It's like we're going to Thanksgiving at your mama's house," Kesheia Hill, 29, of West Baltimore said of Baptist services at Baltimore Hebrew. "It's not your house, but it always feels like home."
