Educators
CJMR convened a meeting of Jewish and Muslim Educators from the Greater Boston area: Marjorie Berkowitz – Prozdor, Hebrew College, Rana Chudnofsky, Fayez Khwaja - Al Noor Academy/ MAS youth, Shabana Razvi - Al Hamra Academy, Aisha Shillingford - Al Noor Academy/ Islamic Academy of New England, Lucy Tannen - Jewish Community Day School, Arnee Winshall - Jewish Community Day School.
We shared personal background and why being an educator in our community is important to us. Participants felt that as two religious minorities, we are both trying to develop a “counter culture.” We are both considered as the “other” and are trying to develop an identity based on a religion in a largely different culture. We agreed that any engagement between the two communities needs to offer an answer to real needs of each of the communities. Based on this discussion we decided to organize a day of professional development for Jewish and Muslim Educators on “Dealing with the Religious Identity of Adolescents in the Muslim and Jewish Community” and follow-up working groups. We are currently in the process of raising funds for this initiative.