Muslim and Jewish girls learn about each other’s cultures through project.

UNION CITY, N.J. (AP) – What started out as a modest effort to raise money for a homeless shelter has blossomed into a learning experience full of good will for a group of 10 Muslim and 10 Jewish girls.

The girls have been meeting since May on the shelter project, but the teenagers got much more than they bargained for: a genuine understanding of each other’s culture and religion, and the realization of things they never knew about themselves.

“Project Provide A Home” was launched by the Palisades Emergency Residence Corporation, a 40-bed shelter for single, homeless people. It planned to open a shelter next door for families, and was looking for help.

The shelter hosted a group of Jewish volunteers one week, and another group of Muslims shortly afterward. The symbolism – and the possibilities – were not lost on the executive director, Matt Kamin, a Jew, and Amal Abdallah, a Palestinian who helps line up volunteers to serve meals. While American Jews and Muslims in a few cities engage in interfaith dialogue, most members of the two faiths have little significant contact.

“We were trying to figure out why our communities didn’t get along,” Kamin said. “We started talking and said, “Why can’t we get these two groups together and do something?’ It was that easy.”

They put out the word to local synagogues, mosques and religious schools, seeking young girls to work on the family shelter. Added bonuses included meeting people of other faiths, learning about each other and helping the less fortunate.

The first meeting was somewhat awkward, with all the Jewish girls sitting on one side, and all the Muslim girls sitting on the other – each side eyeing the other curiously, if not warily.

“One of the girls asked me, “How do you pray?’ and I was so surprised at the question,” said Aviva Bannerman, a 17-year-old from Montclair. “I thought everybody knew that Jews pray in groups and we sing our songs aloud, but no one had ever taught her that. I asked her how she prayed, and they use a prayer mat and it’s more subdued and quiet. I go to a Jewish school and I’m surrounded by Jews 24/7, so I was delighted to be able to share about my religion and share in theirs.”

Nour Singer, 17, from Fort Lee, was just as surprised at what she discovered about her Jewish counterparts.

“I had expected them to be the type that wore long skirts and hats, but I soon learned that there were different types of Jews,” she wrote in an essay describing her experience in the program, adding she learned that Muslims and Jews share many of the same practices, including eating religiously prepared food.

The girls quickly found themselves focusing on similarities, not differences like the centuries-old dispute between the two peoples over land in the Middle East. The one and only rule for the program: No talking politics.

“That was a rule we agreed on coming into this project, and I’m glad it exists,” wrote Liliane Winograd, a 17-year-old West Orange resident. “As much as I am interested in seeing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict from another perspective, I like that we are able to talk comfortably without the possibility of an argument breaking out.”

Or as Rebecca Heller, 16, of Cranford added, “We could all just sit together, eating pizza and laughing, without a thought to our feuding ancestors or political tensions.”

They got down to work, forming committees: one to cook food, one to raise money, another to help publicize the fundraising dinner. So far, the girls have raised about $12,000 for the family shelter that’s set to open next door to the existing facility next spring.

The dinner itself extended the intermingling to the girls’ parents and guests.

“The tables were completely integrated soon after everyone got there, and that happened totally on its own,” said Annie Rose London, 16, from Hoboken. “Everyone was talking to each other, these people who had never been encouraged to talk to each other before and the parents were saying how proud they were of their kids. It was so cool to see all these new connections being made.”

There’s already a waiting list of volunteers to serve on the next interfaith project at a homeless shelter in Englewood starting in February, Kamin said.

“I made new friends and was able to interact with other people and do something good for society,” said 14-year-old Rana Abdallah of Lyndhurst, whose mother helps run the program. “It’s easier for us to do this because we’re younger and listen to each other more.”

AP-ES-01-11-06 1206EST

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