Initiative builds Jewish-Muslim ties

On a warm Sunday, members of Congregation Tehillah gathered for their spring barbecue at the Riverdale-Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture at 4450 Fieldston Road.

A group of students were outside in the garden, trying to dig holes with shovels much too big for them. One of them was 11-year-old Haqq Colulibaly, who attends the Islamic Leadership School and the Masjid Al-Imam mosque in the Bronx.

Haqq was at Tehillah as part of the Interfaith Teen Initiative, a collaboration between his school, Congregation Tehillah and The Riverdale Y that creates a space for young people of different faiths to learn about each other. This is Haqq’s first year with the initiative; he said he has been coming to the monthly events since January. 

“We learned we have similar stuff, like the Quran and Torah. We learned have similar rules in our religions. We learned we have differences,” he said. “Like we use books for the Quran — we don’t really use scrolls — but they use scrolls for some Torahs.”

Haqq said he would not have learned all of this without the initiative.

“I have other friends who aren’t Muslim and we wouldn’t have talked about it,” he said.

The Interfaith Teen Initiative began three years ago, after the leader of the Masjid Al-Imam mosque made headlines by renting part of the facility to a Jewish congregation that could no longer afford its synagogue. In an effort to bridge the gap between Muslims and Jews in the community, the leaders of Masjid Al-Imam and Congregation Tehillah brought their teen members together for a viewing of “Arranged” at The Riverdale Y. The movie follows a Muslim woman and a Jewish woman as they navigate their arranged marriages.

After the movie, the rabbi, the imam and former Riverdale Y Director Marti Michael were all standing together. 

“One of the young Muslim boys came up to me and said, ‘What’s next?’” Ms. Michael recalled. 

She went on to help found the Interfaith Teen Initiative, with help from a grant from the United Jewish Appeal Federation.