"Children of Abraham" Promotes Dialogue

The student group, "Children of Abraham," has lead several interfaith programs over the course of the past semester. The Children of Abraham representatives from Hillel are David Micley('11C) and Jessie Ginsberg('13C). The group, which aims to bring Jewish and Muslim students together through dialogue, shared values, and social action projects, kicked the year off with an Interfaith Iftar held at the Marcus Hillel Center. The event brought together more than 100 students - Jewish and Muslim - who enjoyed a delicious meal and engaged in discussion that centered on the theme of repentance and drew from classical texts from Talmud and Koran.

During Sukkot, Children of Abraham brought together 47 students for the second annual interfaith Sukkot celebration in the Emory sukkah. Titled "Shake and Shake," the program incorporated two parts: making and enjoying delicious milkshakes and engaging in the customary practice of shaking the lulav. In order to receive a milkshake, students had to answer ten questions on a sheet of paper: 5 questions on Islam and 5 questions on Judaism. The Sukkah was buzzing with Jewish-Muslim interaction, as people from both faiths interacted with one another as they sought answers to learn more about the other religion as well as their own.

For the Weekend of Twinning, an international movement that bringing synagogues and mosques together, Emory's Children of Abraham group joined up with high school aged kids from the Roswell Masjid and Congregation Or Hadash. After engaging in a series of dialogue exercises in which they reflected on and shared personal thoughts and experiences as members of their respective faiths, they went out to a preservation park called "Big Trees." With shovels in hand, they dug a nice, deep hole in the soil and planted a tree, a symbol of their desire to grow together as a common community.