Faith In Diversity

Religious leaders and public schools come
together for a day of cross-cultural learning.

JULIE WIENER STAFF WRITER

wo-hundred fifty people,
many of them Jews, took
their shoes off and were wel-
comed into the Bharatiya
Temple in Bloomfield Hills on
Wednesday, March 19.
Mass conversion? No, these
community leaders, parents and
public-school personnel from over
15 districts in Oakland County
had converged upon the Hindu
place of worship for a symposium
on "Religion and Schools: The Op-
portunities and Challenges of Re-
ligious Diversity in Public
Schools."
Sponsored by the Jewish Com-
munity Council, the Greater De-
troit Interfaith Round Table and
the Oakland Schools Superin-
tendents Association, the sym-
posium featured sessions on
Buddhists, Chaldeans, Hindus,
Jews and Muslims led by repre-
sentatives of each faith. In addi-
tion, students representing each
faith participated in panel dis-
cussions, and organizations and
school districts shared their ex-

periences in launching diversity
programs.
In the keynote address, Daniel
Krichbaum, executive director of
the Greater Detroit Interfaith
Round Table, spoke of the grow-
ing importance of learning about
other cultures, pointing out that
only 30 percent of the global pop-
ulation is Christian and, by the
year 2020, minorities will com-
prise over one-third of the U.S.
population.
In a crash course on Judaism,
Rabbi David Nelson of Congre-
gation Beth Shalom gave
an overview of Jewish holidays
and beliefs. Rabbi Marla Feld-
man, assistant director for do-
mestic concerns at the Jewish
Community Council, spoke of the
diversity within the Jewish com-
munity, the scheduling conflicts
caused by Shabbat and Jewish
holidays and the issues raised by
Christmas celebrations at school.
She urged educators to make re-
ligious minorities feel more com-
fortable in the classroom by

removing Christmas from the crimination from students who teacher from Novi, who attended
"think all Chaldeans are rich and panels by the Jewish communi-
curriculum.
ty and the Chaldean community.
Dr. Jerry Blanchard, director own party stores."
"We need more symposiums Although she is Jewish, Ms. Stein-
of secondary education for the Wa-
terford school district, said he at- like this," said Julie Abrams, a way wanted to hear the Jewish
tended the session on Judaism school-board member from Novi, perspective so she could "repre-
because there is a growing Jew- who attended the student panel sent it to my district."
"We're just thrilled," said Rab-
ish population in his district. and the session on Hinduism. She
Gregg Cleveland, a choral teacher added that the symposium made bi Feldman at the end of the day,
at Walled Lake High School,
said he is always looking for
ways to make his curriculum
more inclusive to Jewish stu-
dents.
In a student panel, high-
school and college students
representing minority reli-
gions shared their experiences
in schools. "Simply learning
about festivals and foods is not
enough," said Rajeshri Gand-
hi, a Hindu student enrolled
in the University of Michigan
School of Education, who en-
couraged teachers and stu-
dents to learn about the
beliefs and values of other re-
ligions.
Alissia Kass, a Jewish stu-
dent at Berkley High School,
spoke of the difficulties of
keeping kosher on school field
trips and of having to choose Josh Hearshen of Berkley High talked about being Jewish.
between observing Shabbat
with her family and participating her "realize how little I know adding that the symposium may
become a regular event in the fu-
about other cultures."
in weekend school events.
"I came because I thought my ture. `The general feedback [from
Saifee Oraha, a Chaldean stu-
dent at Walled Lake Western district would benefit," said Deb- the symposium] is that this defi-
High School, said he faces dis- bie Steinway, a special-education nitely meets a need," she said. ❑

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