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Reviews |
December 14,
2005 | vol. XXXIX | No. 3 |
Diversity
Club explores cultures
by Catherine Nash and Caroline Leffert,
Ms Staff
Writers
The Middle School Diversity Club kicked
off the year by exploring Jewish and
Muslim traditions. Claudia Loewenstein,
eighth grade Modern and Classical
Languages teacher and Middle School
multi-cultural programs coordinator,
plans the club’s cultural expeditions.
“The meetings reflect who is in the
Middle School,” said Ms. Loewenstein.
The first meeting featured many
speakers, including eighth graders Tarek
Chehabi, Josh Goldberg, and Elif Yucel;
sixth grader Myra Noshahi; and fifth
graders Amna Kaiser and Hebah Khan.
 Elif
began by talking about Ramadan, a
month-long tradition that Muslims
celebrate. Ramadan is a festival that
begins on Oct. 5, and during the daytime
participants fast. The point of Ramadan
is to learn self-control. For example,
you are not allowed to watch television
or listen to music from sun up to sun
down. “It is against Ramadan spirit to
watch TV or listen to music,” fifth
grader Hebah Khan said.
Members also heard Myra, Amna and Hebah
chant the Qu’ran while wearing
traditional outfits. “I enjoyed sharing
Islam with everyone,” said Amna.
Josh explained some Jewish traditions to
the students. He blew the Shofar, a horn
that is only used at Rosh Hashanah and
Yom Kippur. Josh also displayed the
Torah, which is a collection of the five
books of the Hebrew bible. He chanted a
part of the Torah, which is the
traditional way of reading it. At the
end Josh sang the Israeli national
anthem, as he has sung at the Jewish
Olympics. “Singing the anthem was the
best part,” said Josh.
Since it is the decade of languages, the
speakers all taught the members to say
“hello” and “goodbye” in four different
languages: Urdu, Punjabi, Hebrew and
Turkish. Afterward the students were
free to eat and explore the cultural
items brought in by the speakers. Some
of the food was from the Shines
Mediterranean Café. “I liked the food.
It was really good,” Hebah said.
One food that not every one was familiar
with was the Turkish delight. It is
powdered sugar on the outside and jelly
on the inside. The club also served a
traditional Jewish food, challah bread.
It is a traditionally eaten on Shabbat
and holidays. “I think it’s cool to see
all cultures, because there are so many
of them at Greenhill,” Josh said.
Ms. Loewenstein loves sharing cultural
experiences with her students. She
remembers coming from Santiago, Chile,
and not being able to speak English. She
knows how important these cultural
differences are. At this particular
meeting, Ms. Loewenstein said she also
learned things that she never would have
known. “After seeing the presentations,
music, dance, and food have really
opened up for me. Now I know the
difference between classical Indian
dance and modern Indian dance” Ms.
Loewenstein said. The next meeting will
feature Hindu students and the Festival
of Lights as well as Christian students
discussing Christmas traditions.
The third meeting will be about
African-Cuban, African-American and
Latino cultures. The final meeting this
year will be Asian/Pacific cultures.
“It is an all inclusive club. We want to
celebrate and highlight who we are and
the arts and foods of our heritage,”
Ms.Lowenstein said.
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