January 03, 2008
JCC MetroWest is providing a dozen teenagers — some from Newark neighborhoods, others from the Jewish communities of MetroWest — with a living laboratory for exploring tolerance.
Since November, young Jews and people of color have been meeting on weekends and after school in programs as part of Project Kavod.
The project has included or will include workshops on racism and anti-Semitism, visits to churches and synagogues, a trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, participation in a Stamp Out Hate Conference, and joint work on social action projects.
Project Kavod — the Hebrew word means “honor” — is operated jointly by JCC MetroWest and the Newark-based All Stars Project and was made possible through a grant from the Esther and Paul Rosenberg Family.
The activities are based in West Orange, Whippany, and Newark. According to JCC MetroWest executive director Michael Hopkins, the key objective is to “promote good relations among MetroWest Jewish youth and inner-city youth.”
Other aims, said Carly Freidel, the JCC’s director of children, youth, and teen services, in an e-mail, are “to create awareness and acceptance and break down barriers between Jewish teens and inner-city teens and to educate Jewish and inner-city teens in the similarities of being teenagers.”
Hopkins said the program will run for the school year and then be evaluated to determine whether it will be extended.
The Newark-based All Stars Project is a nonprofit organization that offers educational and performing arts activities for poor and minority young people.
Esther Rosenberg and her late husband, Paul, a prominent real estate attorney and philanthropist who died in 2001, were the founders and longtime benefactors of the JCC’s Insight Speakers Series, a forum for lectures by world-class authors and experts. The series was an effort to encourage wide-ranging dialogue in politics, medicine, literature, and the arts.
The chance to break down barriers, this time between Jewish and inner-city teens, overcame concerns about the sometimes controversial background of the All Stars Project.
In a Dec. 21 letter to parents of participants, the JCC explained that one of the founders of the All Stars Project was Lenora Fulani, a New York political activist who “unfortunately has had a history of making troubling statements towards Jews.” The JCC letter went on to say that it had researched the matter with the assistance of the Anti-Defamation League. The JCC learned that Fulani severed relations with the All Stars Project in 2001 and that she recently apologized for an article the ADL considered anti-Semitic.
“Moreover,” wrote the JCC, “several individuals from our MetroWest community sit on the board of directors and several committees for the NJ All Stars.”
In a statement sent to the JCC and NJ Jewish News, which the JCC shared with parents, ADL New Jersey regional director Etzion Neuer said Fulani’s apology was a “good start, even though there are other issues in her past that she has not addressed that remain of concern to us.”
“As far as the All Stars Project goes,” continued Neuer, “based on what I’ve heard from the JCC, it appears as if this is a very positive initiative that is building important bridges between the black and Jewish communities. The young people involved are visiting their respective communities, learning about each other and, in the process, challenging perceptions and stereotypes. If successful, this program could improve inter-group relations, leading to kids who will ultimately combat racism, anti-Semitism and all forms of prejudice and bigotry.”
Hopkins, who signed the JCC letter, agreed.
“We collectively believe there is merit and value in bringing the Jewish and the African American communities together to create positive dialogue about other races and cultures in a safe environment,” he wrote.
People wishing more information can contact Carly Freidel or by calling 973-530-3431.