Cooking up friendships
THE Jewish Board of Deputies (JBD) and the Olive Tree Women’s Network are building bridges between the Muslim and Jewish communities, one cooking session at a time.
THE Jewish Board of Deputies (JBD) and the Olive Tree Women’s Network are building bridges between the Muslim and Jewish communities, one cooking session at a time.
The culinary interfaith initiative, which had its second session last week, is an eight-week pilot program that’s intended to create connections and foster cultural dialogue on an ongoing basis.
JBD’s non-government organisation relations manager Lynda Ben-Menashe said that the once-a-week event has already exceeded expectations.
“We wanted to bring together communities to learn more and get to know each other on a human level while working together and moving forward for the greater good,” Ben-Menashe explained.
“The focus is on doing, not just talking, and through that we learn about each other’s cultures, families and practices.”
The 20 women gather every week at a community kitchen in Bondi or Punchbowl to cook a culturally inspired meal. Last week’s meal was based on traditional Shabbat recipes.
“After just two sessions, the women already feel a strong bond and there’s a real sense of friendships developing,” Ben-Menashe said.
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