Religions in Barbados May 1 - Judaism

The story of Barbados is hardly ever told without mention being made of the contribution of sugar to the country’s economic development. Rarely, however, is credit given to the Jews who were instrumental in the establishment and development of the sugar industry.

Having fled the Portuguese inquisition and settled in Dutch-run Recife, in northeastern Brazil, the Jews were again forced to leave when the Portuguese gained control of this area.

Several Jews received permission to settle in Barbados and brought with them the knowledge of the sugar cane industry which they gained in Brazil.From as early as 1628, Sephardic Jews (those of Portuguese or Spanish descent) settled in Barbados and by the mid-1700s, Jews represented ten per cent of the population.

Local Jewish businessman Paul Altman, who was instrumental in the restoration of the Nidhe Israel Synagogue in Bridgetown, estimated that there are 16 Jewish families here totalling about 60 people.

The majority of these are of European origin and are known as Ashkenazi Jews.

Altman explained that the decline in the Sephardic Jew population was due to several factors. Among them were the devastating hurricanes in the 1830s and 1890s which destroyed the sugar crop. 

Secondly, many gravitated towards North America as prospects there increased. Also, many of the Jewish families gradually became assimilated.

“That assimilation was mainly through inter-marriage. [It] was even more interesting because it was inter-racial in lot of cases which in those days was not nearly as common.

“Today in Barbados, you have all of their names slightly Anglicized – Bynoe, who were the Spanish Buenos, [and] Baruch, which is now Barrow,” he said in an interview with the SUNDAY SUN.

Altman added that Daniel, Messiah, Dacosta and Brandon were also among original Jewish surnames.

“Barbados is one of the islands [with] a very long and deep Jewish history. That long history is what makes everything interesting,” he said. 

The Jewish settlers also made their mark on the names of local places. 

“In Barbados, you had Jerusalem Plantation, you have Brandons, Mount Tabor, Bathsheba . . . . Those are all Biblical Jewish names. 

“In Bridgetown, you have the Montefiore Fountain [opposite the Coleridge Street Library]. [The Montefiores] were a very philanthropic family,” Altman added. He explained that, given the small number of Jews in Barbados now, there were not many young people within the faith but for the most part they stuck to tradition.

“When there are few, in order to have a religious service you need to have a higher percentage responding. “In the Jewish religion, the requirement is that to have a service, they normally say you need to have ten [people]. In the more conservative part of the religion, the old style is you had to have ten men over the age of 13 years old, but in a small community you can’t be picking and choosing,” he said.

The realtor noted that the Jewish religion has three different levels of commitment. 

“The highest degree of commitment is the Orthodox. The Orthodox are the ones that are ultra-religious. Then you have Conservatives who maintain a tradition . . . like we just finished our Passover holiday which is about the exodus from Egypt.”

More popular

The third degree is referred to as Reform, and Altman said this was becoming more popular because it was more in keeping with the times. A

ltman recalled that when he was a schoolboy, he was often told by his classmates that he “can’t be a Jew” since he’s Barbadian. 

“Many people interpret Judaism as a nationality as opposed to a religion.”

He added that people liked to “create mystique about different things”. 

“There’s always a mysticism about being something different,” he said, noting that part of the reason for the restoration of the synagogue in Bridgetown and the building of the Jewish museum was “to let people come and see”. 

“Everybody can come to synagogue. You don’t have to be a Jew to come to synagogue.”

He said Jews believed in one God who inspired Moses to give the Ten Commandments. 

“Of course, we have the five books of Moses which are the Old Testament,” he added.

“We are an observant people generally, observant, meaning that we are attached to this religion. You’re attached to the traditions, so for the Passover service, we used the unleavened bread. 

“It’s not because you have to do anything. You do it as a means of remembering your ancestors and the important thing is continuity. 

Sense of connectivity

“I don’t believe that if I eat the unleavened bread I’m better than the fellow that doesn’t, but I do it because it gives me that sense of connectivity to the past. The connectivity from one generation to the next through this tradition is what it’s all about.” 

Altman noted that it was also important to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. 

“Nobody teaches you that when you go into the synagogue but the religion is all about understanding your fellow human beings,” he said.

In keeping with tradition, he noted that Jews continued to observe Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement which is most religious day and main day of worship.

“That’s the day when we fast. My interpretation of what that one day of fasting is all about [is that] you don’t satisfy your needs. You become more in touch with the world around you, with the sense of a God, a sense of what life is all about. Not focusing on your pleasures but spending a day in the synagogue thinking about religion and reciting all the different prayers that are traditional prayers for that one holiday.”

Altman added that Jews celebrated Hanukah, the festival of lights, instead of Christmas, along with the feast of the harvest.  

“The Christian religion and the Jewish religion . . . there isn’t much difference. Christ was a Jew. I think that is the main thing that we have to be conscious of in a society like this. We are not far apart. We’re not apart at all.

“My father used to say we all came here on different boats but we’re all in the same boat now,” Altman said.

http://www.nationnews.com/index.php/articles/view/religions-in-barbados-jew-respect/

Religions in Barbados May 8 - Buddhism

It is not often that one encounters a Buddhist in Barbados.

So it is expected that many would be intrigued when they see Kelsang Oden out and about in her maroon and yellow robes.

Oden, a Barbadian, is the resident teacher at the Tara Kadampa Buddhist Centre in Harts Gap, Hastings, Christ Church and she is responsible for bringing the Kadampa Buddhist tradition to the island.

She sat down with the SUNDAY SUN last week to discuss the non-theistic religion which is among the smallest recognized faiths in Barbados and which has reincarnation as a theme.

“I was living in Canada but I was doing some work in Barbados before I retired and before I was ordained,” she pointed out. “I was a Buddhist in Canada so I said to my teacher: ‘Why don’t you come some time when I’m going down and see if there’s any interest at all?’

“She gave a public talk and it went from there. Some people showed an interest and then they wanted to get more teachings but there was no teacher,” she said.

That was about seven years ago. Today there are nine people in the centre’s foundation programme which is for people who have committed to a Buddhist way of life. This programme features systematic study sessions which participants commit to attending regularly.

There are also more than 50 people who have been attending classes at the centre for a long time,  although they have not made a commitment, Oden said,  

“They come when they want particular classes that interest them or to [take part in] particular day courses,” Oden reported, noting that topics discussed included anger management, death and dying and mindfulness, all from a Buddhist perspective.

The Buddha, who was born in what is now called Nepal, is not considered a deity.

“We don’t believe he’s a creator,” Oden said.

“We believe he’s omniscient, not omnipotent. He doesn’t have the power to enlighten us. We have to do the work.

“There are many levels at which we think about Buddha. One is as a historical Buddha – he turned away from a very wealthy family and a pleasure palace, so to speak, to follow a spiritual life. In doing that he came to certain conclusions – that we suffer and the origin of suffering is these distorted minds.  

“We also believe there is not just one Buddha in the world, that anyone who awakens to those same truths is a Buddha. Buddha is a representation of our own potential so when we have an image of Buddha, it’s not that we worship it,” she said.

Oden noted that, at its simplest, Buddhism is about looking inwardly for the source of happiness.

“Buddha taught that everybody has this in common, that they’re looking to be happy and to avoid suffering,” she remarked.

“He taught that this will deliver temporarily but sooner or later we’re separated from whatever we thought it was that made us happy, whether by death or some other reason. It’s not a reliable form of happiness,” she said.

Oden explained that inner peace was what allowed people to be truly happy facing different circumstances.

“We train in this. One of the things about Buddhism is that it’s very methodical. It doesn’t just say love everyone. It actually says if you want to improve the quality of your love, you meditate on this; this is how you practise in daily life.

According to Buddha’s teachings, people are essentially good, pure and loving but their minds are confused by exaggerating the good qualities of the things they seek and the negative qualities of what they want to avoid.

Oden said that while there were various vows people could take as they deepened their practice, only five precepts were mandatory: there is to be no killing, lying, stealing, sexual misconduct or use of intoxicants.

“Ultimately the aim is to help yourself calm your mind, develop wisdom and compassion so you can help others,” she explained.

The law of karma is key in the everyday lives of Buddhists. It states that actions, whether negative or positive, manifest themselves in a future life.

It follows naturally that Buddhists believe in rebirth.

“We believe that the mind is a continuum of awareness. One moment gives rise to the next. Death is really just another moment but it is the moment at which this body separates from this mind, so when we take rebirth this same mental continuum inhabits another body. What kind of a body that is depends on our karma,” Oden explained.

The Buddhist nun stressed that no attempts are made to convert others.

“Traditionally, Buddhists go where they are requested to teach. They may give a teaching somewhere and if there is no interest they leave. People have to say: ‘Would you come back?’

Oden noted that people were often curious about her maroon and yellow robes.

“You get a bit of curiosity but I find that in Barbados people on the whole respect that which is religious instinctively,” she said.

“People do ask. Sometimes people don’t even think it’s religious. They think I’m just a tourist wearing whatever. Sometimes people think it’s a uniform. Sometimes when they ask and I say I’m a Buddhist nun, they’ve never heard of Buddha and they’ll ask who that is . . . .

Other times, however, people have had some experience with the religion if they’ve travelled abroad or they know about meditation.

“I haven’t had any overtly negative reactions,” she admitted.
http://www.nationnews.com/index.php/articles/view/buddhist-tradition/

Religions in Barbados April 24 - Christian observance of Easter

Today marks the end of what many consider the most important season of the Christian calendar – Lent. 

Easter Sunday, as it is commonly called, is the day when Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This day of celebration marks the culmination of the 40-day period during which Christians traditionally pray and fast or abstain from various activities or foods.

Lent commemorates the 40 days and nights Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness where He endured temptation by Satan before the beginning of His public ministry.

Easter Sunday comes on the heels of Holy Week, which began with Palm Sunday and included Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

The period saw Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper and the Crucifixion. 

Easter represents the fulfilment of Christian faith since the Apostle Paul wrote that unless Christ rose from the dead faith is in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:17)

It is generally accepted that through His death, Christ saved mankind from bondage to sin and destroyed the hold that death had on all people.

However, His Resurrection gives the promise of new life, both in this world and the next, according to the Christian faith.

Although Christian denominations approach Holy Week in slightly different ways, Good Friday is always a day of solemnity and reflection while Easter Sunday is one of celebration.

Father Clement Paul of the Roman Catholic church said Easter was the most important festival or season in his church’s calendar. He stressed it was a season and not a day.

“In fact, it doesn’t end until the evening of Pentecost or Whitsunday [which is seven weeks after Easter Sunday]. 

“Easter is so important that every Sunday is considered an Easter day. If you count from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before Easter Sunday, you get more than 40 days but if you take out the Sundays then you get 40,” he said.

“We celebrate the victory that Jesus Christ won in the battle between sin or death and life. Jesus is alive and we will all live one day.”

Paul said the observation of the Easter Tridduum, or three days, began on Thursday night with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, continued on Friday with the solemn observance of the Crucifixion and finished with the celebration of His Resurrection today. 

Dean of St Michael & All Angels Cathedral Dr Frank Marshall said these three days “represent the central, crucial period in Christian thought and bring us to focus on the life of Christ in centrality”.

He reported that Thursday night the Anglican community, like the Roman Catholic Church from which it was derived, focused on the period before Jesus was betrayed, when He offered His body and blood in the form of bread and wine for the life of humanity.

As such, it represented the power of good over evil, he added.

Dr Marshall said some churches on Saturday also had an Easter vigil which featured readings that reflected God’s workof salvation.

He explained that Easter demonstrated Jesus’ life of righteousness and faith in God which could not be broken, even in death. 

However, he noted that the observance of Lent had tended to decline in terms of how people viewed it. “People are more materialistic so they don’t value the opportunity to examine and reflect on spirituality,” he said.

God’s gift

Marshall, however, urged people to “remember life is not your own but God’s gift and when you have stewardship or ownership of it for a while, do for God and not for self”.

For Spiritual Baptists in Barbados, Good Friday worship has always been carried out and demonstrated on the streets of Bridgetown and other areas of St Michael.

Patriarch Granville Williams of the Sons of God Apostolic Spiritual Baptist Church said this year’s traditional re-enactment of the 14 Stations of The Cross began and ended at the Zion Apostolic Temple in Richmond Gap, St Michael.

The “stations” consist of the 14 trials or events Jesus encountered on His journey to Calvary, where He was crucified.

“At each of the stations we stop and tell you what happened,” Archbishop Williams said, noting that some stations take a lot longer than others to be completed.

Today Spiritual Baptists will gather at the Jerusalem Apostolic Spiritual Baptist Church in Ealing Grove, Christ church for a celebratory service.

President of the Barbados Evangelical Association Reverend Dr Nigel Taylor said that for many churches in that organisation the observance of Easter starts with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem with a celebration of palms. 

For some, Maundy Thursday is celebrated with a foot-washing ceremony.

On Friday, Reverend Taylor said, some churches re-enact the “seven words” of the Cross – the last seven statements Jesus made while on the Cross, according to Scripture. Some churches also hold services between noon and 3 p.m. to mark the last three hours leading up to the Crucifixion.

“This is a great period of solemnity as they [Christians] think about the final moments,” Taylor noted.

As for today, he said there was a “real and meaningful observation of the Resurrection”. 

Taylor noted that for churches which had a cemetery attached, there was an early morning procession which began in the burial place, with those present singing the hymn Up From the Grave He Arose.

Those churches that do not have a cemetery might have a more traditional service at sunrise. According to Taylor, this was a celebration of the fact that “He who died has conquered death”.

Taylor noted that many families were expected to gather for today’s service, including some which did not usually attend.

“The passion of Christ still impacts on the Christian community. Christianity hinges on the Resurrection. If there’s no Resurrection, Christianity goes out the window,”he said.

http://www.nationnews.com/index.php/articles/view/religions-in-barbados-season-of-trials/

Religions in Barbados April 17 - Hinduism

There is a building nestled at the end of a cul-de-sac within a quiet residential community. Its understated exterior does not hint at the grandeur within where colourful paintings and garlands adorn the walls and figurines of deities feature prominently.

However, it is in this Welches, St Michael temple that some members of the Hindu community – those who adhere to Sanathan Dharma or Hinduism in its original form – gather regularly for worship. The temple is also used on rare occasions by the two other groups of Hindus who follow prophets Guru Nanack and Sai Baba.

Thakoor Prashad, the Guyanese priest in charge of the temple, estimated that there were more than 1 000 Hindus in Barbados and about half of them follow Sanathan Dharma. These devotees are mainly Guyanese but also include some Barbadians, Trinidadians and a few Indians.

Prashad noted that the number of people who worshipped at the temple has dropped since 2009 when several Guyanese left the country after Government toughened its stance on undocumented migrants.

Of those who currently attend services at the temple, Prashad said: “Some are born here, some have status and some are on work permit.” It is in this temple where several puja or rituals dedicated to various gods are performed. The priest stressed that rituals were critical to Hinduism.

“Rituals are very important because the first four books that were written said that to communicate spiritually with God we have these rituals where we offer various articles which include honey, fruits and sweets. 

“We worship every week, sometimes once, sometimes many times, depending on the seasons,” he said.

In a separate interview, president of the Sindhi Association of Barbados, Mahesh Mahtani, said Sindhis, who are descendants of Hindus from the north of India, tend to practise their religion privately. 

“Most Hindus have a small room in their house that they convert to sort of a prayer room or temple. Ordinarily, we don’t go to the temple every day or every week on a fixed schedule. On bigger occasions, like the birth of a god, we go to the temple,” he said.

Mahtani stressed that the religion is monotheistic.“We have all these different gods, that’s true, and we worship them at different times for different reasons, but in the end, we do know all of it comes back to [the belief] that there is only one God. In fact, going further than that, we believe there is only one God in the entire universe, that the same God that we are praying to, the Christians, the Muslims, the Buddhists and everyone in the world, prays to,” he said.

Mahtani noted that the different gods represented different aspects of life, including money, health and power and while Hinduism contains hundreds of sub-religions, he said there were about six gods to whom all Hindus pray.

He detailed the central beliefs of the religion. “In the Hindu religion, we believe that every living thing has a soul called the ‘atma’. This soul gives life to the body and so leaves the body when death occurs. The soul, however, never dies; it is eternal and goes from one birth to another for all time,” he said. “All living things, including plants, animals and, of course, humans, have a soul. When our soul is finally born in a human body, we now have a chance to break this cycle of birth and death.”

Mahtani noted that only humans have the ability to unite with God and break the cycle of life and death.

Good life

“Living a morally good life, worshipping God, doing your duty and helping the less fortunate are some of the main factors that will determine whether you will reunite with God at the end or be reborn again to go through the cycle once more,” he said.

This leads to the concept of Karma, which means that your deeds in previous lives have consequences in this life, he added.

“This explains the different circumstances people find themselves in, including suffering, pain, riches, even winning the lottery. All the actions of the present are predicated by our actions in our past life. Therefore, the human form is a blessing and an opportunity that God gives us to reunite with Him and become part of God ourselves.”

As Prashad summarized it: “According to our good or bad works, so we will be rewarded whenever we come back. We were here before. That is why we are back to continue that journey –  to reap the consequences of the bad or the good that we have done before.”

As with many other religions, Hindu children tend to become less interested in the traditional practices of the religion as they grow up, Mahtani said.

“The younger people are not interested in rituals and in many cases, religion is just a set of rituals, things that you do every day or every month. They don’t believe in religion in that sense. 

Big challenge

“They would say they believe in God and they are spiritual, but they don’t want to perform these rituals that a religion tells them that they should do. They don’t believe that it will benefit them. That’s a very big challenge that I think every religion faces,” he added.

Mahtani suggested that the only way to combat this problem was to teach children the importance and meaning of rituals from a young age.

He added that another challenge was to convince children to learn and speak Hindi or Sindhi, which is a dialect.

“We’re quickly losing our language in Barbados. The number of young people who speak Hindi or Sindhi is diminishing very rapidly. I believe within the next generation we’ll have less than ten per cent actually speaking the language,” he said, while suggesting that many Hindus who were born in Barbados do not speak Hindi.

“Many of these prayers are in a language that is foreign to them and they memorize them because they do them all the time, but sometimes they don’t even know what they are saying,” he said.

To tackle this situation, he said the Sindhi Association was trying to set up classes for children.

Both Prashad and Mahtani said Hindus integrated easily into Barbadian society, with the latter noting that Hindus were increasingly marrying outside of their religion.

“It’s been happening more and more often nowadays as the people that were born in Barbados mingle with the local Bajans, fall in love and decide to get married. Parents have their preferences but it’s not against the religion. Hinduism is very tolerant,” he stated.

He added: “Most of my children’s friends are Bajans. My own sister married a Bajan and my cousin married a Bajan as well.” Mahtani noted that the Hindu community has never noticed any animosity towards them or “any people interested in joining”.

“I think we’re pretty much left alone and accepted,” Mahtani said.

http://www.nationnews.com/index.php/articles/view/hindu-rituals-vital/

Religions in Barbados April 10 - The Baha'i Faith

Attainment of universal peace, brotherhood and religious unity may seem like an idealistic dream if not an impossible task. 

But for six million people worldwide, including several in Barbados, their everyday lives are fashioned around the attainment of this goal. They are the members of the Baha’i faith – the youngest of the major world religions which was founded by the prophet Baha’u’llah in 19th century Persia (now Iran). 

The Baha’i faith emphasises the spiritual unity of all people regardless of race, class or religion. For Baha’is, religious history is believed to have unfolded through a series of divine messengers, each of whom established a religion that was suited to the needs of the time and the capacity of the people.These messengers include Abraham, Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad, and most recently, the Báb and Baha’u’llah. 

Public information officer for the Baha’is of Barbados, Marcille Haynes, met with the SUNDAY SUN recently at the headquarters of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Barbados in 2nd Avenue, Belleville, St Michael.

She discussed the fundamental beliefs of the religion and gave some insight into members’ way of life.

Haynes noted that Baha’i faith was brought to Barbados in 1958 by an American and since then the number of believers had steadily increased.

“What we have on record is the number of people who have joined the Baha’i faith, so I would say it’s between 300 and 400, but the actual persons that we see on a regular basis, like most organizations, we see about 120.”

She noted, however, that members could be “active but not be seen”.

While the Baha’i community would welcome an increase in its numbers, Haynes said they “don’t proselytize or say come and join the faith”. 

“What we do is share the principles and the practices of the faith and it’s up to the individual to decide. One of the principles of the faith is that there’s individual search for truth so a person has to be seeking independently for a religion and then become a Baha’i.”

The faith is based on inclusion.“We have community projects where we work with people who aren’t Baha’i. People can come here, worship here and not necessarily join. There’s no pressure for anyone to join the faith. They can freely come and examine and expose themselves to the teachings.”

For Baha’is, worship and service are closely intertwined and form a critical part of being “active members”. In fact, worship takes place every day.

“We worship when we’re working because one of the statements by Baha’ullah is work is worship if done in the spirit of service,” Haynes noted.

She explained that most of their worship was done within private homes but they meet at the headquarters for congregational worship once per month.

On occasion, they rent a location that can hold larger numbers. 

As part of their service to humanity, the Baha’is host devotional meetings which include both Baha’i and non-Baha’i families. They also conduct classes for children which are geared towards moral development through service and the arts.

In addition, there is a junior youth programme for those between 12 and 14 which seeks to empower young people and help them to develop their artistic talents.

Haynes said members do not receive negative reactions from Barbadians. In fact, non-Baha’is look forward to celebrating their holy days with them, she added. 

She suggested that the Baha’is belief in inclusion comes across when they interact with non-members.

“To be Baha’i, I have to believe in the teachings of Mohammed, Krishna, Buddha, Christ, all the other religions that were brought by God, so it gives me confirmation of the oneness of mankind. You don’t look at anybody’s religion and see it negatively,” she said.

One distinctive aspect of the Baha’i faith is the absence of either a clergy or a single individual at the helm.

“There’s no one person in charge, but like any organisation you have to have an administration so we have an administrative body which makes decisions on what happens in the Baha’i faith.

“It’s a nine-member body and it’s unique in that they are elected by the believers every year at our convention but there is no electioneering. We prayerfully select the people to serve. So you just write down nine names, then they’re all added up and the top nine become the national spiritual assembly of Barbados,” Haynes explained.

The Baha’is also abstain from partisan politics. 

“We don’t take sides because we believe in the government of the country. We can’t promote unity if we’re picking sides,” she said.

This emphasis on unity is one of the major elements of the faith and it is so critical that unlike other social, political or religious movements, no sects have developed.

Haynes also shared her personal experience which perhaps summarises the Baha’i faith.

She said: “I didn’t give up being a Christian. I added to it. Most people think when you join another religion that you have to throw the other one aside, but I didn’t have to do that.”

http://www.nationnews.com/index.php/articles/view/bahai-way-to-peace/