I grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland in a very non-Jewish neighborhood and I was always the only Jewish child in my elementary school classroom.  Every morning I would bow my head with my classmates and recite The Lord's Prayer - "Our Father Who Art in Heaven, Hallowed Be Thy Name, etc."  Prayer was quite legal in the 1950s when I was a child.  And then there was always the December dilemma!  I was always part of the Christmas pageants where my class would sing the Christmas Carols in the assembly hall - Oh Come all Ye Faithful, Joy to the World and Silent Night - all the songs with the name of Jesus in them. I knew they were not my songs, but I did not want to be singled out as the only one not singing with the rest of the school.  My teachers always pointed to me, the Jewish kid, to explain the meaning of that "Jewish Christmas" called Chanukah, and I had to bring in the menorah and stand in the front of the class and talk about what it was, underscoring how different I was from everyone else.

 

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Religious Diversity Media Contest 

Young people ages 10 - 18 years of age are encouraged to enter this video competition! 

  

Join us as we gather to honor some of our community's exceptional activists, raise funds for our community outreach, religious literacy and conciliation efforts, and enjoy an evening with our interfaith friends. 

 IFLC annual dinner 

October 14th 

Shriners Silver Garden in Southfield.  

Pre-dinner interfaith reception 5:30 pm

Dinner program 6:30 pm. 

 

Discount dinner tickets on sale for $50 until July 31.

 

Click here  to read about this year's nominees

 

Click here to register for tickets, tables or to become a sponsor

 

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