Shalom, salaam, peace. Peace is a universally intangible idea, the concept of a world without war. Yet peace means so much more than the simple lack of war; it also means happiness, prosperity, and coexistence. It means working with your neighbor, instead of against him or her. In the pursuit of peace, this goal might seem impossible. After all, how do we achieve peace?

Through Abraham’s Vision, I have learned that the path to peace lies in understanding. Understand your enemy, acknowledge his or her point of view, and gradually your enemy becomes your friend. This has absolutely been true of my experience with the Unity Program.

I am a Jew. I was raised Jewish and attended Jewish day school through ninth grade. Though I learned about the basics of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, I did not learn the full story nor have any contact with the Muslim world until this program. When I heard about the goal of peace through dialogue and understanding, I jumped at the opportunity. Through the Unity Program, I learned about the many similarities between Islam and Judaism, and along the way, lost my fear and discomfort at seeing a hijab, or head covering, in the street. Instead, I feel like I can now connect with the Muslim woman under that hijab.

Though I learned about Islam as a religion in the classroom with Samantha and Yasmeen, most of my understanding of what it means to be a Muslim came through the discussions and dialogue with our friends at MCA. I learned to see both points of view, and I was able to contribute my knowledge and opinions into the group discussions. I have loved learning from my peers, be it a point of halacha from Morris or debating ethics with Faisal. I will miss our discussions and our continuing understanding of each other. This has been a truly amazing experience, and I will treasure and use all the things I have learned from this program as I go forward in life. Thank you to Yasmeen and Samantha, our co-educators; Huda and Aaron, our facilitators; and finally, last but not least, my fellow students in the Unity Program. You are all amazing, wonderful people, and it is an honor to know you. I sincerely hope you had as much fun as I did.

Salaam, shalom, peace. I think it’s closer than we might think.

-Jennifer Lopatin

I’m proud to have been involved in the first year of Abraham’s Vision in the Bay Area. This year was an unforgettable experience, and given the chance, I’d do it again. The Unity Program provided a unique experience to meet teens from other cultures in a safe and open environment. I am grateful to Samantha and Yasmin for their guidance and help providing a forum for us to develop friendships and shared experiences. Discovering the commonalities we share as Americans with Middle-Eastern origins and as religious minorities in California certainly helped build bridges between us.

I am thankful for the new friends I’ve made here. A few of us, including me, are seniors and will be attending college next year. I hope that through Facebook and the Internet we’ll keep in touch over time. The Unity Program has influenced my dreams for helping build a better future for all of us, and I know that the intelligent and kind people I’ve met through this program will have a bright future in whatever they decide to do. I look forward to seeing where we each end up.

Thank you each for reaching out across cultures and becoming my friend.

-Josh Magid

To communicate, interact with, learn from, and learn to get along with - all of these terms define an interfaith program. The interfaith program Abraham's Vision has offered has given us much. We have made friends, created experiences, and have been taught lessons worth remembering our entire lives. The only trick with everything we have learned is how to consistently apply it to our future lives. How to keep in mind everything we have learned. It is more than showing us we can get along. That is natural: we are all of the same human race and can put aside our differences in culture and religion, of course we can get along. But Abraham's Vision has taught me how it is not necessary to put aside my beliefs in order to get along with someone. That I can keep my religion as a part of who I am, it has given me a sort of guideline, a suggestion if you may, as to how to do that, and to not be intimidated by the differences, but rather to embrace them.

In a world so involved with itself, in a world so corrupt by the power high authorities have and often abuse, remember what we have learned. When we are given power, why do we find it necessary to prevail over others? Is it our fear to lose control, or is it the pleasure of knowing we have domination over others? It is not essential to make rules only we benefit from, rules that demean others so we may remain n power. If we are fair and equal, if we share and take advice of those around us, not only does our power grow, we feel stronger knowing we are pleasing those under our leadership, we receive the respect that the strength of power strives on. It is respect that makes us countries, unions, humans, that others find worth creating a future with.

If we want peace we must put aside the selfish thoughts only we benefit from. Without judgment and criticism towards those of different cultures and backgrounds than our own, remain open minded and willing to listen to opinions and change your own. Keep in mind the difference of results when we discuss and when we debate. Be mindful of the fact that before wars and the supreme selfishness to gain, we all got along, that we can always get along. Maintain a vested interest in the status quo.

In two years, I see myself still keen on the idea of interfaith and unity, on cultures and religions, on the possibilities of solving conflict and progressing our communities with those similar, and different than myself. I have this program to thank for that. Thank you for helping me recognize a big part of myself and my pastime, it is something I would like to further myself into when I am beginning to make a life for myself. I'd like to not only give my thanks to this program but to our advisors and teachers as well. Thank you Aaron, Huda, Samantha and Yasmeen, what you have given us, is greatly appreciated, you have all made a profound impression on me.

-Yasmin Ramezanzadeh

Abraham's Vision is such an astonishing program. This journey with the Muslims and Jews has been so wonderful and insightful. Throughout this program, I learned so many things. I learned so much about Judaism. My purpose for joining this program was to explore Judaism, look deeper into Islam, and to have a strong interfaith dialogue. I came into this program knowing so little about Judaism and Islam. Through conversations, interfaith field trips and meetings, I learned things that I would have never learned anywhere else. Being part of this program is truly a privilege and I'm not just saying that. It really has been a privilege to interact and communicate with such brilliant and talented people. I feel so grateful that Allah has given me this opportunity. Learning about Judaism inspired me to look deeper into the religion that I practice. Abraham's Vision has brought me closer to Islam and has given me an opportunity to explore a community that I've known. I am more aware of who I am and I feel like I have developed into a more understanding, aware, and stronger Muslim American. Abraham's Vision has provided me great knowledge that I was desperately in need of.

-Shakera Shoukat

Living in the Bay Area, it is easy to assume that we all live in the pinnacle of diversity. I certainly subscribed to this illusion prior to the Abraham’s Vision Unity Program. Then, on one of the first classes, I was challenged to name all the Muslims I know. After racking my brain, I could only come up with a couple—most of which had been brought expressly from Israel to my Jewish summer camp to expose us to other cultures. I realized in that moment that I was more sheltered than I thought. Even though Abraham’s Vision sometimes seems to be preaching to the choir, as the kids who would join in the first place are obviously interested in conflict resolution, we are all perhaps less exposed to other cultures than many of us would readily admit.

Moreover, I think I speak for more than myself when I say, few of us are as aware of our cultures—and, by extension, of ourselves—as we might claim. In the process of comparing and contrasting the Jewish and Muslim faiths, I learned about many Muslim practices and teachings and was forced to think about how my own religion views similar issues. For example, once we learned from the Muslim kids that the Qur’an teaches that Adam and Eve were equally responsible for eating the forbidden fruit that made them ashamed and expelled them from the Garden of Eden. I thought back to my Hebrew School days and realized that the Torah taught that it was Eve—and only Eve—that had been gulled into eating the forbidden fruit and, therefore, had been solely responsible for burdening mankind. The potential implications of this subtle difference in the similar stories are astounding: what did it say about the role of women in my religion? And, more important to dispelling stereotypes in our society, doesn’t this comparison of stories specifically refute the Western assumption that Muslim culture represses its women?

Of course, those implications are incredibly presumptuous. First of all, who is to say that it was wrong to eat the forbidden fruit; perhaps, emotions like shame prevent anarchy and, thus, are necessary for the world to function efficiently. Furthermore, Eve is not necessarily an archetype for all women. But it was the process of questioning my faith and the Muslim faith—not the actual questions— that made the Abraham’s Vision Unity Program incredibly valuable. I am extremely grateful that I had the opportunity to discuss religion, which is an extremely significant part of my life. I would like to thank all who made it possible.

-Samantha Strimling