A Rabbi's Challenge of “Amen” at a YMCA Interfaith Service

STATE OF CONFORMATION 
By Rabbi Ari Saks

Last week I had the opportunity to take part in an interfaith prayer service to support my town's re-elected mayor who would be inaugurated the following day. One of the consequences of my profoundly Jewish upbringing (I have spent most of my life going to school and being surrounded by fellow Jews), is that I have developed a strong sensitivity to the usage of the name of Jesus Christ. Wedded throughout the Christian prayers were implicit and explicit calls for the congregation to say “Amen.” After certain phrases or stories the congregation would spontaneously say “yes,” or “amen,” or other sayings of agreement to what was being shared by the pastor. I do not know enough about how the term “Amen” functions in a Christian worship setting, but in a Jewish worship setting, the term “Amen” (or אמן) has a particular ritual function. When one says "Amen" to a Jewish blessing they have fulfilled their obligation to recite that blessing. [link]