Started at the Museum in 2006, the Interfaith Living Museum (IFLM) program brings together fifth graders from area Jewish and Muslim day schools. Over the course of a semester, the students work together to learn how artifacts teach about heritage. They bring in artifacts from their own homes to teach each other. They visit the Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a mosque, a synagogue, and each other’s schools. The program culminates in an exhibition of their family artifacts, arranged thematically (“How We Pray,” “Food and Faith,” etc.).
On Thursday, May 10, the culminating exhibition was held in the Museum’s Events Hall. Three students spoke about their experience with the Interfaith Living Museum program. Click their names to watch their full speeches.
“My favorite part of IFLM was that during this program we focused less on differences and more on connections. This is a lesson I hope we all carry with us beyond this program. I hope we share with others to make our world a more connected and accepting place.” – Ella Chalamish, Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan
“Over the past few months, we have been introduced to new, wonderful people, learned about another faith and its artifacts, and made new friends. This experience was insightful in many ways. We especially enjoyed working together with kids from another religious background, as well as discovering that even though our faiths are different, we share similarities.” – Jibril Dupass, Al-Ihsan Academy
“At the end, I made a few more friends and I hope to stay friends. In a way, it is family. We all come from the same father: Abraham, or Ibrahim.” – Aviv Kotok, Kinneret Day School
Scroll through the photos below from the IFLM exhibition. All photos taken by Melanie Einzig.