Bar-Ilan University’s Pioneering Interfaith Academic Program
The Jewish-Arab Inter-Religious Dialogue course promotes a change in perception of other cultures and religions, transforming views and opinions while creating tolerance and building relationships.
It is one of the many popular courses in the Bar-Ilan International School’s undergraduate degrees in Communications, which are taught entirely in English. This successful course enters its third year in the 2020-2021 academic year, and is run in cooperation with the national Interfaith Encounter Association.
“The impact this program has had on our students has been extremely positive and very inspirational,” said Dr. Ben Mollov, the creator of the Jewish-Arab Inter-Religious Dialogue course. “Witnessing how the students’ attitudes have changed during the past two years has been rewarding, and the feedback we have received is encouraging.”
The first course, which was launched in the 2018-2019 academic year, attracted 30 students from the School of Communication’s International Program. The class was made up of about 50% Jews, 30% Arabs (all Muslims with the exception of one Christian Arab student), 20% Christians primarily from Europe and Asia, and two Chinese Confucian students.
(The Jewish students were either visiting students from abroad, or had become permanent residents and/or Israeli citizens, with some having completed service in the Israeli Army; the Arab students were all residents or Israeli citizens.)
Dr. Mollov asserts that the first year of this pioneering program could not have been as successful as it was if not for the dedicated involvement of the students, and particularly his two student assistants, Sariba Feinstein and Fatma Amer, whose innovation in starting the Bar-Ilan branch of the IEA sparked the idea, which has become such a success.
“The experiences we’ve had over the past two years has proven how effective inter-religious dialogue as a means of changing people’s perception, building relationships, and transforming attitudes across the Arab-Jewish divide can be,” Dr. Mollov said. “By discovering commonalties between groups, we open their eyes to all kinds of possibilities.”
This is why the course was developed around common religious themes in Judaism and Islam, based on the knowledge that both Judaism and Islam are the most similar of the monotheistic faiths in terms of structure and practice, while Christianity’s similarities also link it to the other religions.
Each of the 23 sessions in the course was constructed around student presentations on common themes in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity such as dietary laws, Halacha (Jewish Law) and Shariah (Islamic Law), prayer, main festivals and observances, and value-oriented themes such as charity and proper interpersonal relations.
Particularly significant was a session devoted to pilgrimages in the three faiths, with Muslim students describing the powerful experience of the Haj to Mecca, including the sense of solidarity with Muslims the world-over, and Jewish participants describing the pilgrimages to the Temple in Jerusalem, while Christian students spoke of the Tomb of Christ within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and Bethlehem, Jesus’ birthplace.
In addition, students shared a number of joint holiday celebrations, including a Chanukah candle-lighting ceremony, packing ‘Mishloach Manot’ (gift bags) for Purim, and a joint Iftar dinner (breaking of the fast during Ramadan), which was hosted by a Jewish religious student).
Students visited a synagogue and a mosque, and discussed topics relating to practice, tradition, culture, and religious life, which included prayer, dietary laws, fasting, charity, marriage, family, and life from an inter-religious perspective.
“Initially, some students experienced anxiety about their participation as they were worried about disagreements, political views, and conflict; however, the relationships that were developed during the year proved their anxieties unfounded,” said Dr. Mollov.
“They all recognized that the enormous amount of knowledge of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity they had acquired, along with an understanding of their commonalties and the impact on their perceptions of the ‘other’, was worthwhile and rewarding.
“One student, Daniel Zargari, who had served in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and proudly identified as a politically-conservative religious Zionist, came to believe that ‘peace is an option’. I’d call this a huge success,” he said.
Daniel Zargari’s Journey of Change
Daniel Zargari, a Jewish immigrant (oleh) from the US, is proud of the fact that the Jewish-Arab Inter-Religious Dialogue course taught him so much about tolerance, openness, and inclusion. The enormous impact it had on him is clear through his words.
As a Modern Orthodox American Jew who made Aliyah (immigrated) due to Zionist ideology, signing up for the Jewish-Arab Inter-Religious Dialogue course was a big step for me, and a skeptical one as well. I served in the IDF; I served in the Golani Brigade, 51st Battalion. I played a big part in the last war, Operation Protective Edge, in Gaza in 2014.
Having this background and coming into a class where you need to sit down and have a face-to-face conversation with ‘the other side’ was a life-changing opportunity for me. I think the mere fact that Jews and Arabs were able to sit down and have conversations about life, religion, and aspirations, while learning about the culture of the other, is something inspirational.
We were able to sit down and drink black coffee with sweets at Fatima’s (Amer, a fellow student) house, talk about Easter in Nazareth, light Chanukah candles, and so much more. It was incredible to see how pure humanity can be if all the noise can be pushed aside. It’s almost naïve, but in a great way. I think that this course is a testimony to the possibility of a positive and bright future of co-existence in peace and harmony.
I definitely think that my opinions and mindset broadened due to this course, and I thank Dr. Mollov for that every day. I think the openness to other cultures or religions was something I had, but built on more because of this course.
The real factor that changed for me was to be able to sit with Arab students and talk, laugh, share a snack – because these things do not usually happen on campus. The social groups you see on campus usually consist of people with similar backgrounds.
Dr. Mollov led and taught this class as a first time course at Bar-Ilan as if it were the 20th. The classes were organized, with a goal and understanding every time we left the classroom. We learned so much about Islam, Christianity, and Judaism that many have not been able to encounter before on such an intimate level. Dr. Mollov ensured that the class would be this way, in order for us to really take value from this course.
Because of him, we were able to learn and understand what it means to have an open mind, and an open heart for peace, and for a future of harmony with our neighbors. The compassion, understanding, and flexibility he portrays shows us exactly how we are expected to be as well. I appreciate the role model Dr. Mollov has been for me and for our class, an absolute asset.
This course changed the students in it, and they can now change and influence so many others. Hopefully with many more joining this course in the coming years, this notion will be implemented for a lifetime!
Daniel Zargari graduated last year with a B.A. in Communications and Media Studies. He is currently working towards his International M.B.A. in English at Bar-Ilan University.
