Catholic, Jewish kids celebrate together

Sometimes, grownups can take a lesson from school children.
Demonstrating their commitment to religious harmony and respect, students from the Aquinas Honor Society of the Immaculate Conception School of Jamaica Estates and 8th-graders from the Solomon Schechter Day School in Nassau joined for a Freedom Seder recently.
The event took place on April 1 at the Immaculate Conception School, located at 179-14 Dalny Road in Jamaica. City Councilmember James F. Gennaro offered the keynote address.
The Freedom Seder takes place a week before Passover, the Biblical festival in which Jews retell their story of the Biblical exodus from slavery in Egypt, is an innovative program that recognizes the universal bonds of oppression and slavery that are shared by many races, religions and cultures.
The Hebrew word ‘Seder’ means ‘order,’ and by coming together, these two schools seek to return a measure of order to our chaotic world.
Coming together for a day to share stories about the history of oppression and slavery felt across races and religions, students and teachers from both schools acquire a much deeper appreciation for each other’s past, establish common ground, and make positive connections for the future, according to organizers.
“This event was both educational and beneficial for Christian-Jewish relations,” said Rabbi Moshe Schwartz, Director of Jewish Life at Solomon Schechter. “Bringing Jewish and Christian students together for last year’s Freedom Seder was deeply moving,” he continued.
Students actively collaborated and participated in both the design of the program, and the event itself. The Immaculate Conception Choir provided the entertainment and sang a number of rousing songs during the Seder, under the leadership of Ed Burkard.
Aquinas Society students created a PowerPoint presentation illustrating the horrors of persecution, slavery and genocide, that left a lasting impression on all who saw it.
According to Carl Ballenas, Aquinas Honor Society Moderator, “The Freedom Seder is an eye opening experience for everyone. The students from both schools greeted each other with warmth and respect and learned the valuable lesson that even though we have differences we are basically the same underneath.”
In a testament to the groundbreaking nature of the program, the New York Chapter of the Anti-Defamation League partnered with both schools for the event and paid for the entire Seder meal.
Maple Grove Cemetery of Kew Gardens helped cosponsor the event. Sharon Banfield, the Maple Grove representative, supplied some of the student-selected items for the Seder table - licorice sticks as a reminder of the sting of slavery and jelly beans to teach “That people come in all shades of color on the outside but on the inside we are all the same.”
Monsignor Guy Massie, the chairman for the Ecumenical and Interfaith Commission, Brooklyn Diocese attended and provided a copy of the children’s book “Friday Night with the Pope” by Jacques Shore for each of the students.
Principal of the Immaculate Conception School Ms. Breen, as well as the Head Rabbi Lev Herrnson of the Solomon Schechter School participated in the Seder and sat with the students.
The Aquinas honor students presented Rabbi Herrnson and Rabbi Schwartz with a gift for their school, an ancient Jewish coin mounted in a frame. Monsignor Massie was given an ancient Roman coin on which was printed the name of Emperor Nero.
The final part of the meal ended with the students walking in a huge circle with a paper chain representing the bondage of slavery - but changed it to represent the bonds of a new friendship between the two schools.
Some students placed their wrists though the links when some of them broke and held hands, to keep the chain intact.