Jews & Muslims Unite
By Yasmine Regester, Staff Writer / December 18, 2015
Muslim and Jewish students Amber Khan, Megan Sappenfield, Corie Hampton, and Hannah Henza enjoy the evening together. Photo courtesy of Ivan Cutler
Ellie Aronson, an American Hebrew Academy student, kindles Hanukkah lights in the Temple Emanuel chapel, as peers participate, and Muslim students observe. Photo courtesy of Ivan Cutler
As part of a celebration on National Human Rights Day, more than 30 area high schol seniors and juniors gathered at Temple Emanuel of Greensboro to dine together, share experiences and build lanterns to ignite a light of solidarity together.
“This is the stage in life where young people begin to solidify their ideas, beliefs and biases. It’s really through dialogue, interaction and experiece that we bring more light to the world,” said Rabbi Andy Koren of Temple Emanuel.
Students saw that there were Similarities between the two religions such as setting aside time each day for prayer and attending religious school every week.
Wasif Qureshi, president of NC Outreach, an organization dedicated to being inclusive of all religions, noted that Greensboro has laid the groundwork for peaceful protests regarding human and civil rights movements.
“Our hope is that this continues as a yearly event. The light we have, it’s our duty to bring our lights together that lead towards positive discussion and promotes solidarity,” said Wasif Qureshi.
