NewGround Alumni Take Their Show on the Road
July 7, 2009
In the two years since I was a fellow in the NewGround dialogue program, our alumni group has worked hard to figure out how to take the dialogue to the larger Muslim and Jewish communities.
The answer came when Nicolas
Merkin (NewGround, '07) and Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky of Temple B'nai David hosted a
NewGround panel discussion at the home of one of their fellow congregants, Albie
Cohen, for their modern orthodox congregation in Los Angeles.
I
was anxious about talking freely regarding NewGround without knowing how it
might be received by the audience. I expected silent cynicism of the
entire dialogue effort masked by pleasantries. I could not have been more
wrong.
The audience engaged us completely. The attendees had
questions about how well the NewGround environment supported conversations about
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its repurcussions (the wall and suicide
bombings, for instance). They also had questions about aspects of Islam and how
we explored these issues during our sessions. The audience ignored the
myth of the monolithic Muslim world and acknowledged the Muslim experience
beyond the Middle East conflict.
After the discussion panel, I
realized promoting dialogue requires stepping outside our comfort zone. Thanks
to Mr. Cohen's gracious invitation, I learned sincere dialogue happens when
interfaith mingling occurs in the only other sacred space outside places of
worship - our homes.
-- Farah S. Khan
NewGround alum
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