Jews and Muslims share college dining hall
JULIE WIENER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
A few weeks ago, Sharon Adams, a Jewish student at Mount Holyoke College, sat down with a Muslim student and got into a conversation about the challenges of remaining religious in college.
An outgoing, newly Orthodox exchange student from London, Adams might have started the discussion anyway. But it was a little easier because the two women could share a meal - one that was both kosher and halal - while they chatted.
At a time when Jewish-Muslim relations in America are strained, many Jewish students find themselves on the defensive from anti-Israel rhetoric and Muslims are fearful of being lumped together with Osama bin Laden, this elite New England women's college is a rare haven of relative harmony.
Two days after the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Mount Holyoke opened what is believed to be the first kosher-halal dining hall at an American college.
"This was just the best thing that could have happened at that time," says Nadia Rahim, a Muslim senior from Bangladesh. "There was such a feeling of cooperation and partnership."
The centrally located dining hall serves 80 to 100 students per meal, the majority of whom are neither Jewish nor Muslim but simply live in the nearby dorm.
With its relatively small Jewish and Muslim populations - Jews make up about 6 percent of the school's 2,000 students, and Muslims about 4 percent - Mount Holyoke might seem an unlikely spot for the country's first kosher-halal student dining hall.
The project took off last year when Muslim and Jewish students approached the administration, complaining that they were outgrowing the small student-run kitchen they shared in the religious life building.
Even before plans for the dining hall emerged, Jews and Muslims here enjoyed good relations, leaders of both communities say. The Muslim and Jewish chaplains have adjoining offices, the two communities used to share a small kitchen in the religious life building and they came together for an ecumenical celebration each winter called "The Festival of Lights."
Even in the aftermath of Sept. 11, when many American Jews draw comparisons between Palestinian terrorists and bin Laden's network and when many Muslims blame the attacks on U.S. support for Israel, the topic of Israel seems to come up little in campus discussions.
Conversations about the war are focusing on opposition to the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan.
Muslim students, at least when interviewed by a Jewish reporter, were reluctant to broach the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Several Jewish students said they generally avoid talking about Israel for fear of creating conflicts.
"In general, it's a very accepting community, but yes, obviously there are subjects we don't talk about," says Naomi Gates-Monasch, a Jewish sophomore from the San Francisco area.
Farrah Hamid, a Muslim freshman from New Hampshire, says Jewish and Muslim students "definitely mix," despite "some differences of opinion."
Efraim Eisen, the Jewish chaplain at Mount Holyoke, says he hopes to increase awareness on campus about Israel's history.
There is also talk of creating a formal Muslim-Jewish dialogue group at Mount Holyoke, though some students are wary of the idea.
Rachel Hammerman, a sophomore from New York, says she is "kind of hesitant" about formal discussions on the Middle East.
"It's nice to talk about, but unless you really know what's going on it's not helpful to discuss it," she says.
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