7th Grade + Modern Technology = An Endless World of Learning

by Manya

It was just a normal morning in March. I walked through the school doors ready for my daily classes: Hebrew, math, science, English, and history. Today, though, I learned so much more than those subjects. At 10:00 A.M., we dived into the beliefs and traditions of a different religion, Islam…via our modern technology, Skype. I had never had a true encounter with a Muslim my age, or truly any Muslim. I had seen them walking around a store or around town, but this was an extremely unique, one-of-a-kind experience. We asked questions, the students answered; they asked questions, more answers…To some this may have been repetitive, but I felt that it was very educational and informative. They explained about their beliefs, prayers, prophets, and many other aspects of their culture in (surprising to me) very good English. We also told of our religion, Judaism, and what we believe in and do.
One girl explained that, “Some people are crazy, like the man behind 9-11.” Certain people think that all Muslims are dangerous, but that is not true. Interestingly, we discovered that Muslim and Jewish beliefs are very similar in certain ways. We both have certain times to pray, traditional articles of clothing, forbidden foods, as well as so much more.
It is important to learn about other religions, to realize the similarities between all cultures around the world. We have to set aside our differences and look at the ways that we are all alike. Over all, this was a fantastic experience that many people would probably never get to have. We shared information about ourselves and learned about a different religion. Hopefully, one friendly interaction at a time, more and more people will begin to realize the similarities connecting people around the world.