One of the most valuable things about organized religion can be the way it brings people together.

We pray foot to foot and shoulder to shoulder.

For Muslims like Imam Muhammad Herbert and Tulsa Oklahoma,

that closeness was missing during Ramadan the last couple of years.

For Jews at Passover, a key part of the celebration is joining in a shared meal.

Ruth Zlatnik is a rabbi in Seattle.

Part of our Passover celebration, we say, let all who are hungry come and eat.

There's a recognition it's in fact considered, you know, a wonderful act to invite non-Jewish

folks to the satir table in a recognition that the plate for freedom is a human plate,

a universal plate.

One of the uncomfortable lessons everybody learned during the pandemic is how to practice organized

religion without that central practice of togetherness. Zoom, christening, bar mitzvahs, and funerals

became routine. Reverend Marshall Hatcher, Chicago, had more Zoom funerals than he'd like to recall.

It was just bizarre when we got the news that my sister passed and we couldn't embrace family

members. We couldn't touch each other, we couldn't hold hands and pray.

And that makes holiday celebrations this year extra special.

You know, we're all, you know, right there, right next to each other.

And it's a big part of the prayer when we pray as Muslims, that ability to line up one person

next to another person. It doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter how rich, how poor,

and it really breaks down these barriers that we tend to put up around us, especially in a hyper

individualistic society. Consider this, there is a rare alignment this weekend. Followers of three

major religions will celebrate holidays, many gathering together for the first time in years.

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