Daughters of Abraham model mutual respect

On Tuesday during DEJI Flex time, all students had the opportunity to hear from a panel of women from the “Daughters of Abraham” organization. This group is an interfaith book group that consists of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim women. Their mission is to overcome stereotypes and foster mutual respect and understanding between women of all faiths. 

Guests included Diana Dvora Falchuk, Dr. DeAnza (Spaulding) Sekou, and Akeelah Afzali, Esq. representing the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths respectively. Each guest spoke about their own faith tradition and shared things they love about it. Falchuk shared how Jews are both a religious group and a people group who have been spread out to different areas of the world making them a diasporic people. Sekou shared about the church where she is a pastor and talked about the three main values of her congregation, Deep Listening, Creative Liberation,  and Radical Hospitality. You can read more about those values here on their website. Afzali shared her love for the commonality between Islam, Christianity, Judaism. “We may not all be the same but we have so much in common,” she says. She also pointed out that their diversity is something that makes the group and all people special referencing a passage in the Koran where is states that God could have made all people the same but he didn’t, and it’s the diversity that makes humans beautiful. 

They also took time to answer questions from students about how their group works and gets along so well. The passion they had for their friendship with each other was on clear display  as they all commented that they focus on their common beliefs rather than their differences and lead with love and mutual respect. 

Learn more about the Daughters of Abraham here.