Invitation to Xavier’s marathon public reading of the Bible

Xavier University’s Back to the Bible is a marathon public reading of the Bible and it is also, in the words of Rabbi Abie Ingber, a "chance to slow down and come together." Beginning at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, November 5, Xavier students, faculty, staff and members of the Greater Cincinnati community will begin reading the Book of Genesis aloud, and will not stop until they reach the end of the Hebrew Scriptures (II Chronicles). Back to the Bible will take place in the Clocktower Lounge of the Gallagher Student Center on Xavier’s Evanston campus.

Individuals are asked to sign up to read publicly for 15 minutes in the language of their choice and from the Bible of their choice. Organizers of Back to the Bible hope to hear as many as thirty different languages reading the selections. To register as a reader, go online to www.b2b.genbook.com, to reserve 15-minute shifts and for additional information.

Ingber is founding director of Xavier’s Office for Interfaith Community Engagement. The Office’s mission is to create and strengthen a sense of community among individuals of diverse faiths on campus, in Cincinnati and on regional and national levels. Four leaders from the new initiative on campus will serve as co-chairs of the program, expected to last 60-65 hours. The four, all Xavier students, are Kevin Contrera, Maggie Prosser, Jana Dykas, and Lauren Boxell.

“For more than 175 years Xavier has so brilliantly and lovingly discharged its mission to provide exceptional academics in a Jesuit environs,” said Ingber, “and for the first time in its history the words of the Bible will be heard aloud night and day and in the languages of the world community.”