From St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Jerry Hochsztein and Sophie Malik
It has been a traumatic few months for the St. Louis region. In the wake of the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, it is apparent that we have a lot of work to do. And we need to find ways that people in our community can collaborate successfully to make a positive difference.
One example of a successful collaboration that has touched many lives is the Christmas volunteer day organized by the region’s Jewish and Muslim communities. This year will be the fourth annual Jewish and Muslim Day of Community Service, co-sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis. This event brings together people who might otherwise never have met as they volunteer side by side at area nursing homes, crisis nurseries, soup kitchens, houses of worship and food pantries. Volunteers deliver cookies to police and firefighters, serve meals at a youth emergency shelter, and provide hot meals to homebound seniors. Volunteers also assemble soup mix packages, pack school supplies and make no-sew blankets.
Jewish and Muslim leaders jointly plan the event, providing another way for people of different religious beliefs to develop relationships and learn the many things they have in common. Many friendships have developed among Jewish and Muslim volunteers, some of whom ask to be assigned with their new friends when they sign up the following year.
It is particularly significant this year that Jewish and Muslim St. Louisans are working together on joint social action projects. Given the recent conflict in Gaza, member of both faiths in good will demonstrate to themselves and, really, to the whole world, that they can surmount what might divide them to work for the common good.
Although this day of community service is organized by the Jewish and Muslim communities, people of all backgrounds participate on Christmas Day. Many volunteers come year after year because this event has a special meaning for them. One volunteer, a single mother who receives food stamps, volunteers every year because she wants to teach her daughter that there are others in need and that they have a duty to help others. Another volunteer described it this way: “The Day of Community Service was a truly sacred experience, one I will long treasure.
