The sentence “When Ahmet & Fatma meet Aaron and Shoshana” meant a lot to the teens from Pacifica Institute and Beth David. It was the theme of their first encounter hosted at the Pacifica Institute on Saturday March 12th .
Pacifica Institute Silicon Valley in collaboration with Beth David organized a Teen Encounter program between Muslim and Jewish teens.
The program started with dinner prepared by Pacifica volunteers. During teen encounter, Muslim and Jewish teens had chance to get to know each other in a warm and positive environment where they tried to find out their common grounds through “ice-breaking questions” prepared for this event. Teens were grouped alternatingly so that in every table each faith can be expressed.
After dinner, brief information about Islam and Judaism as well as Pacifica Institute and Beth David was shared with the participants.
The evening continued with Yad B’Yad art activity (which means “hand in hand” in English) where teens expressed themselves and their peaceful thoughts on a hand-shaped papers together. It was so fun and meaningful that teens’ smiling faces were brightening the conference room at the Pacifica Institute.
The last activity of the night was a little game among teens where they have competed against each other as a team. From the beginning to the end the whole competition was contentious. Such bright and smart teens!
The time has flied so fast and everyone had a great time together. Once again we have seen the importance of dialogue among various cultures and faiths. Teens proved that living together peacefully under one roof (the world) is possible and it can be fun.
We look forward to more gatherings like this in the future and we’ve already started planning our next encounter!
