Muslim and Jewish Students Bridge Two Faiths

March 30, 2007

Source: Beliefnet/Albuquerque Journal

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/214/story_21471_1.html

Samera Issa is Muslim. Sivan Gordon-Buxbaum is Jewish.

On Thursday, the two girls learned that despite belonging to different religions, they have a lot more in common than being fourth-grade Albuquerque students.

"We eat the same diet: kosher foods," Sivan, 9, said. "Muslim students also use cursive and print like Jewish students. Our language and writing in Hebrew and Arabic are very similar."

"I learned Jewish students pray before they eat, like us," Samera, 10, said. "They're not much different from us."

Samera was of about 20 third- and fourth-grade Muslim students from Albuquerque's Salam Academy who visited with more than 20 Jewish students at Solomon Schechter Day School.