Peter Eckstein, our Education and Program Director, has a great article in the new Southeast Council of the Union or Reform Judaism Tirdof Tzedek Social Action Newsletter.

It's posted below with some pictures from his Koleynu article last Thanksgiving.
Temple Israel Jewish-Muslim Dialogue
How do we teach tolerance? How do we smash the preconceptions that can divide people of different faiths who may be living next door to one another? That was our challenge and mission at Temple Israel in West Palm Beach, when we decided to begin building bridges with the Muslim community. We chose the American holiday of Thanksgiving to be the main tool in this construction project.

In June, I contacted Farah Javed, the Sunday school headmaster at our local mosque (“The Muslim Community of Palm Beach”). Farah was very enthusiastic about the idea of getting the children together. She presented the idea to her school committee who also supported it.
The program took place on the Sunday morning before Thanksgiving. Fifteen young people from the mosque arrived at our synagogue and were welcomed by our seventh graders. The young teens joined together in the synagogue library, participated in an ice breaker activity, and then, with the help of Temple Israel’s Rabbi Howard Shapiro and Farah (the mosque’s school master), they went on to explore the Muslim ideas of Zakat and Sadaqa; and the Jewish concept of Tzedaka. These words all mean justice, righteousness and charity.
Later in the morning we visited Temple Israel’s sanctuary. Our seventh graders served as docents, showing our guests the Ark, the Sefrei Torah, and explaining our worship customs. The highlight was when one of our teens, who was celebrating his Bar Mitzvah the following Shabbat, read his Torah portion, surrounded by Muslim boys and girls, some of them wearing traditional head coverings.
The morning ended with all the young people cooking a Thanksgiving feast that was later delivered to an elder care facility. By joining together to perform this act of Sadaqa, of Tzedakah, the teens collaborated in creating a recipe for a more peaceful world in the future, experiencing shared values that can strengthen the bonds between Islam and Judaism, at least in West Palm Beach.

Fast forward five months. A group of teens and adults from Temple Israel were invited to visit the mosque. There, the Muslim religious leader, the Imam, talked to us about Islam. The women in our group were very surprised (and disconcerted) when they were asked to ascend to the women’s section, upstairs. They could hear the Imam, but couldn’t see him. As they went upstairs, I couldn’t help but say to myself, “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” Interestingly enough, halfway through the Imam’s talk, the women descended to the main room, albeit it in the back. In the words of our hosts, “the women revolted”. This was fine, because the Muslim women seemed to have initiated the move.

Everyone was friendly and welcoming. We spoke of having our kids visit one another again. We talked about picnics, and of creating dialogue groups between adults. We all expressed the hope that we could find common ground as we built this bridge between the Muslim and Jewish community in our own backyard. We learned that despite differences, there are ideas we share. In both Islam and Judaism, God does not forgive a person when he or she hurts another. Only through asking forgiveness from the wronged party can a person repent. The Arabic and Hebrew words for “read” are similar – they share the same etymology - KRA - which happens to be the root for the Arabic word Quran, and the Hebrew word Mikra, which is a synonym for the Torah. The word Islam is rooted in the Arabic word Salaam, which means peace. Like the Hebrew Shalom.

There are obvious differences regarding certain political issues that divide the Muslim and Jewish communities. I think the only way our communities can resolve the issues that separate us is by first focusing on what unites us. I believe that by concentrating on the positive, we may be able to create real links between the Muslim and Jewish communities. For more information contact peter@temple-israel.com