By Arielle Adler

As a student living on a college campus, I have become increasingly aware of the discrimination faced by all types of students. Specifically, as a Jewish student, the issues I am most concerned and passionate about relate to antisemitism on campus and Israel advocacy.

Today, college campuses serve as a breeding ground for many types of anti-Israel groups, such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), the global boycott of Israeli goods. These movements ostensibly try to increase the rights and safety of Palestinians. However, as these groups have grown and gained prominence on their respective college campuses, they have become increasingly violent, to the point that Jewish students no longer feel safe on their campuses.

Although no school is immune to the issues of antisemitism or Islamophobia, I am lucky to attend Towson University in Maryland, a school known for not being political. This is not to say that incidents of hate do not occur, because they do. However, we are one of very few campuses that does not have anti-Israel or anti-Palestinian groups. Instead, we have a group called JAM, which stands for “Jews and Muslims.”

Two years ago, in my freshman year, our campus Hillel and Muslim Student Association joined together to host an Avi Shabbat — an interfaith Shabbat dinner. Sponsored by the Avi Schaeffer fund, Avi Shabbat is a Shabbat dinner held on campuses around the world, geared towards promoting positive interfaith dialogue, specifically between Jews and Muslims.

Avi Schaeffer was an American who volunteered to serve as a combat soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces. Upon his return to the U.S., he studied at Brown University, where he was very passionate about Jewish-Muslim dialogue and relations. Tragically, Avi was killed by a drunk driver in February 2010. To continue his work and his legacy, his parents created The Avi Schaeffer Fund which, according to its mission statement, “is dedicated to nurturing Avi’s values of mutual respect and understanding through cultivating opportunities for informed dialogue and by empowering young people to be change-makers in the world.”

After two highly successful Avi Shabbat programs at Towson, JAM was created.

JAM is comprised of a group of students who are passionate about creating a new vision of how Muslims and Jews can collaborate, while providing a safe space for students to engage in respectful dialogue. To begin building relationships between Jewish and Muslim students, JAM programming began with social events, then moved on to events that focused on differences and similarities in culture and religious beliefs. As trust and friendships grew, the nature of our conversations began to change. Students became comfortable expressing personal views, while understanding that it is okay to respectfully disagree. We are learning about one another through our conversations.

To my mind, the most important measure of JAM’s progress is how Towson students are approaching campus programs or happenings that are not sensitive to a student’s religion or culture. Towson prides itself on being open and diverse. But not all programming choices please everyone. One such example occurred last year, when Muslim Student Organizations on many campuses, including the nearby University of Maryland, erupted in protests in reaction to campus screenings of the movie “American Sniper.”

When Towson’s student government announced plans to show the film there were those who expected a protest. At the time, those of us at JAM were promoting the idea that change comes through educating others; and we were exploring the idea of positive and productive dialogue. Though Towson’s Muslim Student Association was upset by the idea of the film screening, those involved in JAM suggested that students have the right to see the movie. The Muslim Student Association did not stop the screening, but it did provide a follow-up program to educate the Towson community and demonstrate why the movie is offensive to Muslims. They were successful in holding a panel discussion and engaging in a dialogue with students and university officials to work towards finding a solution that pleased all parties.

Communication is the key to positive and productive relationships. This is the most important lesson that I have learned in my time working with JAM. As individuals, Jews and Muslims hold varying beliefs and adhere to different customs but the conversations in which we engage help us learn more about one another and the world around us.

In Parshat Shemot, which we read recently, we find the verse: “But Moshe said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should take the children of Israel out of Egypt?’” God answers Moshe by giving him the courage and the resources to complete this task. This teaches us not to ask why, but rather to ask why not. If, like Moshe, college students ask why they should be tasked with creating positive relations between different religious and cultural groups, we cannot progress.

I encourage students on college campuses, as well as individuals within their communities, to be confident in their ability to begin the dialogue between different cultural groups.

Arielle Adler is a junior at Towson University in Maryland, where she is actively involved in Hillel and is passionate about her work promoting positive dialogue between Jews and Muslims. The daughter of Ben and Marcia Adler of West Hartford, she is a graduate of the Bess & Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy of Greater Hartford and the Hebrew High School of New England.

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CAP: This past fall, Towson University’s JAM hosted an evening dedicated to learning about the traditions surrounding food in both the Jewish and Muslim cultures. While the group talked, they baked challah and enjoyed a potluck dinner of traditional foods. “As the challah was baking we sat down and opened the floor so that we could discuss current events in Israel, and around the world,” recounted Arielle Adler. “Everyone felt comfortable in expressing his or her thoughts and feelings without being hurt or judged.”