Often students groups look for ways to build long-lasting relationships with other student groups on campus. These leaders work towards bridging together the gap between these different groups by tackling questions that both hinder cultural differences and religious views.
For a couple years now multiple University of Oregon student representatives from various student organizations, have continued a series of student-created and student-facilitated campus conversations, Manzil Midrash, which is Hebrew for house of study.
The purpose of Manzil Midrash is to connect both interfaith understanding and cross cultural encounters, while promoting an open and respectful discourse within the Jewish and campus community, specifically surrounding conflict.
“Since this program students have immeasurably grown from this experience,” Oregon Hill Executive Director Andy Gitelson said. “They have built relationships between these different groups and deepen the student leadership. Students are able to engage in conversations where they may not agree on certain issues, but respect each other regardless of their views.”
The series is co-sponsored by various groups on campus that include: the Avi Schaefer Fund, Oregon Hillel, the Jewish Student Union, the Arab Student Union, the Muslim Student Association. Oregon Hillel Foundation’s Director of Jewish Leadership and Learning oversees the program.
“In previous years I couldn’t get in touch with some of these groups because of the leadership,” JSU president Erin Horwitz said. “But new leadership came in and since many groups have gotten closer. I love making new friends, and learning more about these different cultures. Especially for me growing up in a very Jewish background.”
Topics for Manzil Midrash are created and facilitated by student leaders, and are held on a biweekly basis. It will be alternated with Conflict Conversations. Together the leadership team is working towards creating a curriculum, that can be implemented to other student leaders across the nation.
“Before this program students didn’t know a Jewish student on campus or had a Muslim friend,” Oregon Hillel Director of Jewish Leadership and Learning, Amanda K. Weis said. “It’s been a great opportunity for students to connect with a new group of people at a large university and make that connection even greater.”
In previous years students covered important issues that mattered to them like: medical ethics, relationships, similarities and differences in religions, legal ethics and the effect of assimilation on university religious practice.
“We’ve had a lot of good conversations so it’s hard to name a favorite one,” MSU president Drew Williams said. “We had this one discussion where we went over the time and it just embodied the goal of this program.”
An upcoming Conflict Conversation will be held April 21 at 7:00 p.m. in Straub 253. The conversation will focus on the history of the State of Israel and historical narratives of Israeli and Palestinian peoples. On April 28, a Manzil Midrash session will be held in Mills International Center at 7:00 p.m. This session will dive into the national and international relationships between Muslim and Jewish religions.
“For these sessions each facilitators meets a week before to sits down and go over key parts they want to talk about,” Horwitz said. “We go over different topics and list issues that students can relate on a personal level and research information what we don’t know much about.”