Rabbi Michael Feinberg, Executive Director of the Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition spoke to the Al-Iman students about his work with the Muslim School Holidays Coalition, his committment to inter-faith work, and the Palestine/Israel conflict. He also answered many questions about Judaism and what inspired him to become ordained as a Rabbi.

During the third interschool meeting, students from both schools watched the movie documentary "Promises". It was a great way to get the students to speak about the Middle East Conflict and share with each other their perceptions and beliefs that revolve around it.




Seffi from the Schechter School speaks to the group about his views about the realities on the ground concerning the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and how he thinks it should be solved.




After students watched the movie, they formed a big circle so they can discuss what they thought about the documentary. Both groups of students had very interesting things to share with the other group. The discussions were thought provoking and honest.



Female students from both schools respond to each others' questions in a very honest way and both groups share how they personally relate to the conflict and what it means to them. They reflected on the differences of opinions that arose in the meeting and what it really means when we relate it to Muslim and Jewish relations.



Students speak casually to each other before leaving to their respective schools and share contact information.

This semester students at Al-Iman and Solomon Schechter created their own Photo/Powerpoint Project as a way to introduce the other to their own religious life and its many aspects including prayer, food, and community life. As a part of the Unity Program curriculum on Islam and Judaism, this project allows participants to introduce the other to a personal look at the traditions through a combination of photos and video compiled by the students themselves in their own communities. For each photo/slide, students gave an in-depth explanation of the photo, as well as explain its personal meaning to them. Students were recorded presenting these projects, and this video along with the project was shown at each school.

To see two of the presentations click on the links below:

Shazib Syed from Al Iman
Arielle Herzberg from Solomon Schechter Day School

I greatly enjoyed our field trip with the MAS students. I learned a great deal about Islam and its customs from the girls that we met, and I am eager to see them again on our next field trip.

It was very interesting to answer the girls' questions about Judaism and its traditions. They posed questions to me that I hadn't really considered before, and I had to ponder them for a while before answering. The questions that they asked brought up things that I had never really thought of questioning, things that I did out of habit and custom. I found that even when I was supposed to be the expert in the synagogue, I was learning, too.

While we were in the Islamic center, I was highly impressed by Brother Ali and by everything that I learned while there. It was very interesting for me to put on a makeshift Hijab, as I've wondered about the feeling of having one on since I've known about them. For me, being in the presence of Muslims without any conflict being invloved was a new and enlightening experience. I felt that here, there was a chance that we all might just get along.

On all of the drives (to, from and in between our two destinations) had the chance to freely discuss anything we chose to, with no relation to religion or conflicts of any type. For me to get a chance to just banter and laugh with my new friends was amazing to me. When I first arrived and met the students, I was worried that there would be awkwardness between the two groups- that we wouldn't know what to say. But what happened is the exact opposite. We quickly bonded and talked as if there were no differences between us. I wish that it was easy for Israelis and Palestinians to talk to each other. Then, the problem that exists today could be resolved much faster.

I am very excited for our next field trip!

-Dana Yovel

Though I have lived in the vastly diverse Bay Area for all 18 years of my life, I could count the number of Jewish people I knew on my hand. I'm not sure why I didn't know any Jews when there is such a large community in the Bay Area, yet I think the main reason, though I never openly admitted it, was because I felt Muslims and Jews just couldn't get along. Its not that we disliked each other, but I always felt that there was too much political animosity that would get in our way, forcing us to fight and argue about Palestine and Israel, since thats the only thing in common between Muslims and Jews, right?
Two weeks ago when I went on the Unity Program feel trip, I was excited to go to a Synagogue for the first time in my life, yet that skepticism about a Muslim-Jewish relationship that I secretly carried made me a little wary and afraid of how things would turn out. When I met the other Jewish students, I put on a friendly smile, yet to me they were still "the other," in this case "the Jewish kids." But when we all sat down in the train and started talking, religion completely slipped my mind. Everyone was so friendly and we had so much in common in movies, books, and music that the fear of us not getting along because of our beliefs disappeared.
But yet again, the skepticism within me surfaced, and I remember thinking that we were getting along very well, but that was only because we hadn't talked about any of the serious issues facing Muslims and Jews today. However, when we all sat down for lunch in the Mosque, a conversation about Israeli food started, which of course, led to Israel and Palestine. When Dana expressed her confusion about why so many people in the Middle East dislike the Israelis, I felt a little frustrated at first, yet as she went on, I learned a lot of new things from the Israeli perspective that I had never known before. I also told her where the Palestinian frustration stemmed from, and I left that conversation with more questions than skepticism. There is so much I wanted to find out about being a Jew and living in Israel, and though I will always be passionate about the Palestinian strife, for the first time in my life I learned about the difficulties faced by Israelis as well.
As I made my way home later that day, I thought back on what a wonderful day it had been, about the new things I learned and the new friends I made. No longer will I doubt in Muslim-Jewish relationships, as I had just proved to myself that myth completely untrue. The skepticism that was within me is long gone, only to be replaced by hope to create more relationships and increase my knowledge about others, to get a step closer to understanding and peace in the world.

-Daniah Din