My Multicultural Life, Part 1

 By Nate Feldman

As a person who has a father from a Jewish family in New York City and a mother from a Pennsylvania Dutch one from the bucolic Northwestern section of Lehigh County, PA, it should be no surprise that I have a fascination for how people from different cultures interact with one another.  

Growing up, I had no particular allegiance to either of my parent's backgrounds, although I was much closer with my Mother's relatives and was more likely to celebrate Christian holidays, such as Christmas and Easter than the Jewish high holidays or Passover, things my father had pretty much moved away from in his adult years.  I never had a bar mitzvah, and I was not a member of any synagogue growing up.  With that in mind, because of my name, Nathaniel Feldman, I was always identified as Jewish in most social settings, so I grew a sort of affinity for Jews although I had very little understand of the religion and its traditions.  

Spending my childhood in the mostly affluent Main Line suburbs of Philadelphia, I imagined myself with a white suburban girl (Christian or Jewish).  Those were predominantly the girls I had crushes from elementary school to high school.  For a variety of reasons, I never really had a girlfriend growing up, however.  I had at times severe emotional issues that probably didn't help, but in general, I was just never a good fit for people in my area.  

When I was a college student, I became interested in people of other cultures.  In the beginning, I was especially interested in South Asian culture.  When I was 19, I met a Pakistani woman online who was living in a suburb of Atlanta.  I took an Amtrak to Georgia over spring break, and we began a short relationship.

American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat Al Salam's Spring Newsletter

 By Nate Feldman

The American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat Al-Salam, a village in Israel where the inhabitants are both Jewish and Palestinian discussed different activities and initiatives taking place right now.

The letter mentioned a program called Youth Building Ties, which will invite 120 youth to take part in workshops to encourage dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians.  The workshops will teach these youth how to create positive dialogue and interaction and give them the chance to bring these skills back to their respective communities.  

Jerusalem Youth Chorus Performs in Boston

 By Nate Feldman

On Sunday afternoon, I watched a livestream performance of the Jerusalem Youth Chorus, a group of Palestinian and Israeli singers, as well as individuals from other backgrounds, from East and West Jerusalem, at an event in Boston, Massachusetts.  The event was a joint collaboration between the Emmanuel Church and the Central Reform Temple in Boston. 

The group of singers is currently touring the United States and Canada as a part of “A Different Song” Tour.  The purpose of the tour, and of the organization as a whole, is to, as they put it, sing “for peace, justice, inclusion and equality.”  The singers were accompanied by the Acapella group of Northeastern University.

In spite of the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza since October 7 of last year in which tens of thousands have been killed, the singers have continued meeting and performing with one another.  Members of the choir mentioned how their friendship and care for each other have helped them through difficult times.

The songs at the event, sung in English, Arabic, and Hebrew, focused on themes, such as love, togetherness, and ending conflict.    

If you are interested in learning more about the Jerusalem Youth Chorus, visit their website at: www.jerusalemyouthchorus.org.

 

Interfaith Iftar between Muslims and Jews in the UK

 By Nate Feldman

A recent article in The Guardian, a British newspaper, talked about an interfaith iftar, or breaking of the fast in the Islamic month of Ramadan, that was put together by the local Muslim and Jewish community in Bradford, England.  (See "We Stand Together": Bradford Muslim and Jewish leaders join forces for Ramadan Event by Morgan Ofori)  This joint initiative was meant to bring the two religious communities together, especially at a time of heightened tension due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of people.  

The article mentioned that Bradford has both a large Muslim community and a Jewish community that dates back many years.  The participants of the iftar stressed the commonalities between the faiths and the history of the communities working together through different issues.