On Friday, February 8, Hillel and the Muslim Student Association (MSA) co-hosted Union College’s ninth annual Avi Schaefer Muslim-Jewish Dialogue. Avi Schaefer is an American Jew who served in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and was tragically struck by a drunk driver while he was a student at Brown University. Every year, the Avi Schaefer fund sponsors Shabbat dinners with a Muslim-Jewish dialogue theme in his honor.

As written on the Avi Schaefer fund website, “Avi was committed to the pursuit of peace in the Middle East and actively sought to change the atmosphere towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on campus. [He was] motivated by his father’s words that “an enemy is someone whose story you have not yet heard.’”

With 35 people in attendance from all different backgrounds, the discussion reigned respectful and inquisitive. Attendees engaged in discussion on topics that affected both Jewish and Muslim cultures, such as rising hate due to polarization of the political climate, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, feeling “othered” and Justice and Activism within religious identities.

The facilitators, which included Hannah Ellen ’19 and Uma Kalsoom ’19, were both recognized for their efforts in facilitating Avi Schaefer Shabbats with an inaugural Avi Schaefer Seek Peace and Pursue It Awards sponsored by the Avi Schaefer Fund.

Attendees were provided with hate crime statistics as a background and were given definitions of words such as “Zionism” and “intergenerational trauma” so that they could understand the context of any complex questions.

A quick overview of the statistics informed attendees that of all religious hate crimes in America, nearly 80 percent were committed against Jews or Muslims – 60 percent anti-Semitic and 17 percent Islamophobic.

Discussions started with the overarching question: “Do you feel that any of your political opinions are influenced by your religion, culture or ethnic identity?” and branched off from there. Attendees were encouraged to examine their own biases, privileges and beliefs through the lens of discussion and respectful disagreement.

Abbie Vogel ’21 said that she felt that “while there were many times people disagreed, everyone was always respectful of other people’s opinions and challenged them in ways where both parties could learn from their disagreement.”

Director of Hillel Bonnie Cramer said she felt that the dinner was a success because “conversations got deeper than ever.” According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, in America, there are 113 anti-Muslim groups, 10 Holocaust-Denial groups, 122 Neo-Nazi Groups, 71 “racist skinhead” groups and 100 white nationalist groups.

By facilitating discussion between two groups with a contentious past, Hillel and MSA hoped to encourage these difficult conversations to foster a better understanding of each other and their cultural, religious and political experiences in the face of discrimination against Jews and Muslims.