Celebration of Abraham Raises Over $2300 for Joshua House Hospice

(From press release) On February 1, 2026, the more than 130 members of the interfaith community of Yolo County were welcomed by Khalid Saeed to the beautiful new Woodland Mosque & Islamic Center for the annual Celebration of Abraham. This year’s theme was Returning to Abraham: Reflections in Courage. Abraham is a major character is all three Abrahamic traditions: Jewish, Christian and Islamic.

The theme also reflected the site of the first Celebration of Abraham 2003 was at Holy Rosary Church in Woodland. Father John Boll (retired), who hosted the first Celebration in 2003, was this year’s first speaker and he presented the biblical story of Abraham beginning God’s call for him to leave his birthplace in Ur “into a land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1, HBFV)—the promised land. Rabbi Leah Julian, Director of Education and Youth at Congregation Bet Haverim then spoke. She said the ancient Rabbis saw Abraham as a man of great faith and courage and she cited stories of Abraham’s stand against prevailing idol worship, his courage to do the unpopular thing (smashing idols) and on some occasions, Abraham even stood up to the ultimate authority for what he believed was right. The Rabbi ended her speech with a heartfelt appeal for community unity through caring with courage. The third speaker was Imam Riaz Ahmed Quadri who leads the Woodland Mosque congregation. He noted that Prophet Ibrahim, as he is known in the Islamic faith, was one of 124,000 prophets that have been sent to mankind. In Islam, Ibrahim is called God’s friend and he was known for turning away from falsehood which took great courage at the time. He is a true example to follow where he turned to faith over fear.   After their prepared remarks, the Micheal Hirsh moderated the speakers responding to questions from the audience.

As every year, the community participated I a ritual of washing each other’s hands and sharing bread and an all-community chorus of Children of Abraham led by, the composer, Randy Ferris. Each year the Celebration collects a free will offering for a local justice program. This year the collection was for a program of Yolo Cares, Joshua House, a first of its kind hospice home for dying unhoused patients from across the region. Chris Erdman, the director of Joshua House explained the importance of this service and that Joshua House invests heavily in bedside care, psychosocial support, and alternative therapies for the unhoused. This year our generous community gave $2,342.00 to further the work of this important service.