Eman and Shira answer questions from the SAR students about their experience this summer in The Balkans on the Vision Program.

Eman and Shira, fellows on the Vision Program in the summer of 2006, come to speak to the SAR students about their experience in group process. They spoke about the challenges of working in group process in Conflict Resolution.

With regards to the class with Ibrahim, his account of the Umrah, and the discussions that followed, I have only positive feelings and good things to say. First of all, the environment in the class was of curious interactive nature which enabled meaningful discussions and dialogue to take place. By the end of the class, people had shared personal things about themselves, expressed opinions, articulated intelligent questions, and most importantly confronted certain questions and ideas with honesty. Some of the questions that were raised were interesting and relevant questions. For example, the question of what Jews feel in Jerusalem or Israel and what Muslims feel in Mecca was asked. This then led to the question of why Jews, Muslims, and people in general feel different in holy places than in the daily places that they reside in. Are Mecca and Jerusalem inherently holy places or are they deemed holy because of the conditioning and learning that occurs in Judaism and Islam regarding these holy sites. From a religious Jewish point of view, one would have to say that Jerusalem is a holy city. However, whether this means that its holiness is contained within itself or if man assigns it and gives it its holiness is a completely separate question.

The most meaningful moment which I experienced during the class was when Ibrahim spoke about how he felt like he was a sinner and turned to G-d for help. He said that he cried a lot and asked G-d to let him change. However, while he was asking G-d for the ability to change, he knew at the same time that he was a human being and that he would not truly be able to change. I was able to relate to this experience of Ibrahim’s in a very meaningful way. Often, I feel so strongly the desire to change, to become more compassionate and caring. Sometimes, I even call out to G-d. However, thus far I have only experienced the harsh realization that change is beyond the horizon and not in my control.

Ibrahim Abdelbaky, a New Yorker orginally from Egypt, spoke with the SAR students about his experience in Mecca for the voluntary pilgrimage called Umrah. He began his talk by asking the students about their feelings when visiting Jerusalem. This was an excellant segway for Ibrahim to explain his experience in Mecca on this holy pilgrimage. (For more information about Umrah, click on, http://www.islamonline.com/cgi-bin/news ... ce_id=1125)
Ibrahim worked as a history teacher and tour guide for Italians in Cairo before moving to New York City four years ago.

Part of attending a Jewish High School is missing class to hear a speaker. Usually the speakers are either a Rabbi or a soldier in the Israeli Army, our speakers most of the time are really righteous and brave Jews. The Rabbi gives a lecture relating to the Torah portion of the week or something we are learning in school. He incorporates a story about a miracle that occurred because of what a great Jew and Rabbi he is. The soldier tells us a story how he almost died, but because of some miracle from God he survived, God wanted that soldier to live because of some good deed he had done in the past. These speakers are all interesting speakers and speeches, however, they seem unrealistic. Even if they are real they make me wonder why nothing like this has ever happened to me. I am also a pretty good Jew, I try and follow all the commandments, obviously not all of them I am a teenage girl, we are not perfect people, but why have I never witnessed a miracle first hand? It makes me realize that I am not as good of a Jew that I think or wish to be. For this reason I find these types of speakers interesting but also frustrating.

However, I really enjoyed Ibrahim’s visit. Partially because he wasn’t anyone famous or extremely righteous or brave, he was a regular human being who tries his best to follow the entire Qu’ran and to best the best Muslim he can be but again he is only human and like me he makes mistakes. He was an interesting person to listen to and even though I didn’t really relate to him, his story and his life was very realistic to me.