Interfaith Tu'Bishvat Celebration in Berlin

10 February 2017, Berlin - In recognition of the World Interfaith Harmony Week 2017, Faiths In Tune invited youth from a local Jewish High School as well as Unaccompanied Minor Refugees from Muslim and other faith backgrounds to jointly celebrate the Jewish holiday of Tu'Bishvat in Berlin.

Joined by a Jewish rabbinical student as well as a Muslim Imam, the youth planted some herbs and flowers together and then baked vegetarian pizza using the ingredients and fruits traditionally eaten for Tu'Bishvat. This was followed by live music offered by Jewish-Russian artist Alexey "Aletchko" Kochetkov, for which various people from the local neighbourhood joined the group.

For all of the young refugees, who originated from countries including Afghanistan, Albania, Ethiopia and Eritrea, this was the first time they had come into contact with people of Jewish faith, and they were all impressed with the positive interaction between the Rabbi and Imam, and quickly befriended the Jewish youth during the joint activities. Tu'Bishvat, the Jewish new year of trees, offers itself as an ideal holiday for an interfaith celebration, given its theme of nature, agriculture and environment which can be appreciated by people of all faith backgrounds.

This activity was presented as part of the global ACWAY campaign for WIHW under the motto "Celebrating Diversity", with Faiths In Tune's Director Anja Fahlenkamp being an active member of ACWAY. The activity was conducted by Faiths In Tune in cooperation with ACWAY, RAA Berlin and Forum Dialog, and was kindly hosted at the DIVAN intercultural neighbourhood centre in Berlin Charlottenburg.

Editorial remarks

Source: Faiths in Tune.