Temple sets table for Jewish-Muslim conciliation

Rabbi Mara Young of Woodlands Community Temple greeted Muslim and Jewish guests, many hoisting platters and serving utensils, into the synagogue’s sanctuary for an annual interfaith fellowship dinner on June 14. 

“Jews and Muslims are pitted as enemies in the media, basically anywhere you turn,” she told the Dispatch as participants trickled in. “We are living proof that is not the truth for everyday people.”

For the past decade, Woodlands and the Peace Islands Institute (PII), a regional nonprofit promoting interfaith dialogue, have hosted a meal for Jews and Muslims to help build friendships and connections. Emre Celik, the executive director of PII New York, told the Dispatch that the nonprofit's mission is “to bring together people, not to wait for difficult circumstances.”