In Seattle, a Jewish college turned mosque is bringing Jews and Muslims collectively

(The Cholent via JTA) – Almost 100 years after the first Jewish school opened in Seattle, attempts are being made to restore the crumbling building – as a multi-faith center that can unite Jews and Muslims in the city.

To date, more than $ 40,000 has been spent on a new roof on the building that once housed the Seattle Talmud Torah. But that’s a drop in the bucket for what a growing collective of Seat leaders are hoping to generate to turn the Cherry Street collective into a reality.

“We have many plans,” said Koloud “Kay” Tarapolsi, Cherry Street Village project manager. “The only thing holding us back are our ideas.”

The building’s history begins in 1928 when the President of the Seattle Talmud Torah, Fred Bergman, implored readers of the Jewish Transcript, then the Jewish newspaper in Seattle, to invest in Jewish education.

“Together we will build a new Talmud Torah dedicated to God and Israel,” wrote Bergman. “From these portals will emerge healthy, upright and loyal Jews who are proud of their inheritance, Jews of conscience.”

By 1929, money had been raised – $ 1,000 for a piece of land in Columbia and the 25th in the Central District of Seattle – and the respected Scottish Jewish architect B. Marcus Priteca was on board to build a Jewish learning institution. The Seattle Talmud Torah was born.

Over time, the educational needs of the Jewish community changed and the Talmud Torah dissolved in 1962. In 1980 the building was sold to the Islamic School of Seattle. The school disbanded in 2012 and the space was redesigned as the Cherry Street Mosque.

Almost 100 years later, the building that initially gathered the Jewish community is falling into disrepair. The roof leaks, rooms flood and black mold plagues the interior. The mosque community could have gone and probably sold the entire property to an avid developer.

Instead, the community decided to save it.

But repairing the roof and just getting rid of the mold turned out to be too big a project for the small group. In November, a coalition called Cherry Street Village started a fundraiser to repair the building and use the space as a multi-faith collective.

“It started as a group of friends and now it’s growing,” said Tarapolsi.

The group now includes the Salaam Cultural Museum, Dunya Theater Productions, the Kadima Reconstructionist Community, and the Middle East Peace Camp.

Jonathan Rosenblum has been associated with Kadima for 20 years and is the Kadima connection to the village. Aware that the Jewish group is growing out of its space (a church she rents in Madrona, less than a mile away), Rosenblum turned to Cherry Street leaders, with whom Kadima already had a relationship.

“We found out that there is this beautiful architecture, a cavernous hall … you can imagine what it would be like to be together in community,” said Rosenblum. “We are committed to working together to get the roof repaired. There was a lot of support, which was amazing. “

Tarapolsi dreams big for Cherry Street Village – Artists in Residence, Social Services and Food Trucks. She envisions an apartment for artists, rooms to rent, a place for social services. A sculpture garden. A community garden. And religious events for both religions – B’nai Mitzvah, Ramadan nights, prayer services and beyond.

Jews and Muslims under one roof? It has happened before: in a neighborhood in Paris, a school in London, a synagogue in New York City.

In the context of what is happening in Seattle, the sharing of spaces is particularly easy to imagine. Both Kadima and Cherry Street Mosques are at the progressive end of their respective religious traditions. Kadima prides itself on an agenda for social justice and solidarity with the plight of the Palestinians that it sometimes brings “outside the tent” of the mainstream Jewish community.

Cherry Street is also unique among Muslims. The Islamic School of Seattle was founded by five American women who wanted a progressive Montessori-style Muslim school.

“We had children from all different families,” said Laila Kabani, a student of the school’s founder, Ann El-Moslimany. “It was really an interfaith school.”

El-Moslimany died in January but is revered as an educational pioneer. (Read Kabani’s heartfelt memorial to her mentor here.) The mosque is a rarity in that it has a female imam.

“Around 99.99% of the other mosques have no women on their boards,” said Tarapolsi. “It’s very, very progressive. We are very unique and open to everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, skin color, etc. “

Kadima leaders say the mosque’s unique orientation is critical to their relationship.

“This aspect of the progressive mindset is an important connector,” said Doug Brown of Kadima. “I think most of us share the perspective that when we talk to people from other traditions, we grow and understand our traditions better. … The issues that we want to address require broad coalitions. “

Brown’s wife Sandy Silberstein was instrumental in building bridges to Muslim communities and the Middle East peace camp allied with Kadima. The camp brings children from Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Israeli, and Christian backgrounds together each summer to build relationships and understanding.

“We know that we turn our backs on each other when Islamophobia and anti-Semitism arise,” said Silberstein.

The collective held an event, a virtual cooking demo with a Palestinian chef. Date cookie baking is pretty minor, but what if there is conflict between partners in the future?

“There will be conflict in any relationship. Here’s how you can do it, ”said Rosenblum. “We’re wrestling with this stuff. We are wrestlers with God. We work with people through this conflict. When you look at the conflict that is going on not just in Seattle but around the world, the most important thing we can do for the younger generation is the model of how we should relate to one another. “

But first things first. And that’s the roof.

“The first step is to stop the rain from coming in,” said Rosenblum.

For Kabani, Cherry Street Village is a continuation of El-Moslimany’s legacy.

“She died, but her spirit lives on,” she said. “Cherry Street Village wants to continue the joy and diverse beliefs under one roof.”

A version of this story was originally published in The Cholent, an independent newsletter about the Seattle Jewish community.