During a working visit to Britain a few months ago, International staff member Lydia Aisenberg was invited by London Daniel Silverstein (pictured above at the Givat Haviva Peace Tree) to speak at Moishe House in Willesden, London.
For the last decade Daniel has been involved in inter-faith dialogue and when at university participated in an International Department seminar at Givat Haviva and also returned for a second seminar when he was a madrich of fellow Brits on study tour of the country a few years ago.
During a recent visit to Israel Daniel came to meet up with Lydia and fellow staff member David Mendelsohn at Givat Haviva and was taken around the Arts Center, Peace Gallery and the Yad Yaari exhibition hall where he met with Yuval Danieli who explained about the Hashomer Hatzair movement, past and present.
Following Daniel's visit, connections were made with Moishe Houses in Los Angeles and Boston and during his forthcoming visit to America to garner students for the MASA Intensive Arabic Semester and support for Givat Haviva in general, David Mendelsohn has had a few new venues added to his already crowded itinerary.
Moishe House is an organization concentrating on Jewish life after college. Founded in 2006 in the States by Morris B. Squire and David Cygielman, one can find 24 Moishe Houses in 7 countries – the majority being situated across the United States.
The philosophy behind Moishe House is the creating of grassroots community centers that cater toward the twenty-something post-college Jewish population. The young folk living in the centers are offered a rent subsidy and a monthly program budget – hence Lydia's visit to Moishe House in Willesden!
The Moishe House residents are also expected to contribute to their local community and although the main objective is for young Jews to feel part of a Jewish community, a welcoming hand is extended to non-Jews for their cultural events.
An observant Jew, Daniel is also a rapper and appears in Britain with a Muslim partner in a unique and very impressive performance where they also rap around Tanach and Koran connected topics and issues.
"I am a Jew, born and living in London and I have spent a lot of my adult life working in Muslim-Jewish-Middle Eastern dialogue," explains Daniel who set up two Muslim-Jewish bands and a not-for-profit organization, Psychosemitic (psychosemitic.com) dedicated to events, education and social action that bring those communities together in a transformative way.
Daniel's current focus is on planning a tour of the UK campuses for Lines of Faith, a Muslim-Jewish poetry and hip hop collective (myspace.com/linesoffaith).
"I didn't really know that much about Givat Haviva before this present visit and have enjoyed being shown around and being introduced to some of the people who make the place what it is," Daniel commented after his visit to Givat Haviva.
Daniel Silverstein and David Mendelsohn of the International Department get bookish during Daniel's visit to Givat Haviva
"I was struck by the size and beauty of the campus, the high quality and creativity of the people and the projects I encountered, the breadth and depth of programs running, and the determination of everyone to persist in their work despite, or perhaps even because of, the war that was happening in Gaza and southern Israel at the time.
"I hope very much to return to Givat Haviva in the coming months and to find it thriving and continuing to push the boundaries of dialogue, peace and reconciliation work," he concluded.
Hopefully we will be seeing Daniel once more on campus in the not too distant future – and possibly other residents of Moishe Houses from around the world when they come to visit Israel.
Photos and text: Lydia Aisenberg
February 2009
