Jeff Williams:
Welcome to Community Voices, a production of NPR Illinois. I'm your co-host, Jeff Williams, in the studio with me today, who's back, Meleah Berkowitz. Meleah, how's it going?
Meleah Berkowitz:
Excellent. How are you?
Jeff Williams:
It's good to see you again. Also, Mahnaz Habib. Mahnaz, did I say your name correctly? Mahnaz Habib:
Yes, you did.
Jeff Williams:
I did?
Mahnaz Habib:
Very good.
Jeff Williams:
Thank you very much. I don't know what your title is.
Mahnaz Habib:
I'm just part of the planning committee of Children of Abraham, and I am part of the Islamic Society of Greater Springfield.
Meleah Berkowitz:
That sounds good to me. The brains of the outfit!
Jeff Williams:
And Meleah, you wear a couple hats, right? You're with Westminster Presbyterian Church, you're the Director of Children's Ministry, and you're also the Director of Westminster's Cooperative Preschool.
Meleah Berkowitz:
That is correct.
Jeff Williams:
Along with Sam, Meleah's daughter Sam is also here right now.
Meleah Berkowitz:
We thought we would come and talk a little bit more about the Children of Abraham. It's a really cool gathering here in Springfield of kids across lots of different faith traditions. We meet several times a year. And we do charity projects, but we also learn more about each other and spend time together, getting to know each other. And it's a lot of fun.
Jeff Williams:
Right on. So how long ago did this start?
Mahnaz Habib:
Children of Abraham was started by Umbreen Jabbar, an educator and a member of the Islamic Society way back in 2016.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, okay. It's been going on for a little while, like 10 years there.
Mahnaz Habib:
Yes, this is our 11th year.
Jeff Williams:
11th, okay, cool.
Mahnaz Habib:
And this was in response to a wave of attacks on houses of worship and religious communities. And those of us who are lucky enough to know Umbreen know that she's a bridge builder. So, she flexed her solution muscles and came up with the idea of starting Children of Abraham. The goal was to give children the experience of visiting houses of worship to view them as familiar, safe places, places to always be respected. And she also wanted to foster a deep understanding and mutual respect and to create that interfaith familiarity at a younger age.
Jeff Williams:
Well, and you know, people… you have to reach out and understand. If you come from a point where you don't understand or a place of fear, whatever it is, your background, certain things (in your past), it's so much better to reach out and get to know any other group, whatever it is, versus just thinking that, let's say if you have some sort of a fear or you're like, “Oh, I'm not sure.” If you reach out and you just are able to cross… just reach other people… just to communicate… talk. (Anyhow) thank you both for doing this. Sorry, I don't need to give my own commentary on this.
Meleah Berkowitz:
It's especially true, especially with children. We always say, you know, we teach the children so that we don't have to teach the adults. And that's kind of one of the founding understandings of this is that kids already look for those connections. And that's kind of the fun thing is that they find kids that they know from school or dance or soccer and all those places and realize that (we) actually have a whole lot in common, even if it looks different from the outside. If you teach them early to respect and love those differences and commonalities, then you don't have to teach them again when they're grownups. Hopefully.
Jeff Williams:
They don't see it necessarily as differences; or not (like the) differences …. to somehow think that the difference is not….
Meleah Berkowitz:
Yeah, it's not insurmountable.
Jeff Williams:
It's not insurmountable, exactly.
Meleah Berkowitz:
We find a friend.
Jeff Williams:
Right on, love it. So, what are some of the things that you do, activities.
Mahnaz Habib:
We usually try to do a service project at every gathering. So, this year, the Islamic Society service project is with Compass for Kids. We're very excited about that. And sometimes we have a field trip, like one of the congregations this year is considering a visit to Motherland Gardens.
Jeff Williams:
Okay, yeah for sure.
Mahnaz Habib:
This year is rooted in faith. And so that is what our programming will revolve around.
Jeff Williams:
Okay, nice…. Yeah.
Mahnaz Habib:
I have been involved with it for the last 10 years and I have learned so much. I who grew up in Pakistan, went to Catholic schools my entire life in Pakistan. Still, I have learned so much. And I see the children, the pride they feel when they host their peers in their house of worship. It gives them this confidence. And it's just the most beautiful thing. You just see the biases and the prejudices melt away because all these children are accompanied by their parents. And it's a very safe happy gathering whenever we meet. It's very relaxing and it's very fulfilling.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah.
Meleah Berkowitz:
I came to it as a parent. So, I think 2020 was my first time when my kiddo was finally old enough to go. And I come from a very small town. I'm from Taylorville. And so, for me, there were very limited opportunities to meet kids of other faiths. I was really excited about that in Springfield for my kids to experience other faith communities. And Children of Abraham is just such an open and positive group. There are no requirements, kids of any faith background, (or) no faith background, are always welcome. And the idea is just again, like find those things that we have in common to be kids together and play and be a little silly. And we always have the service project, which helps connect us back to the community. And then we also share a meal together, which is always really important. And so, kind of that importance of sitting down together and again, finding those commonalities and sharing a meal really kind of builds that sense of community across the kids. It's really fun to watch. And I've definitely met a lot of parents that I now consider very close friends through children of Abraham and have been really grateful for it.
Mahnaz Habib:
And I know of children from our community who have mentioned the impact this has happened in their lives in their college essays. The benefits are huge and they continue throughout the children's lives.
Jeff Williams:
You mentioned the meals. So how does that come about? Like where's the meals come from? I'm always wondering about food! (laughter)
Meleah Berkowitz:
We take turns hosting and so part of our organizing is kind of figuring out who's taking which month and then we determine kind of what the theme is. We have an overarching theme for the year but then each group kind of comes up with their own theme and they kind of plan their service and all of that around that. And we kind of take turns. We try to do vegetarian meals so that everyone can partake. And so, the kids kind of get used to like, oh, well, this is the place where we get mac and cheese. So, this is the place where we get the Subway sandwiches, or a cheese pizza. It's fun that kind of becomes their thing that their church or their religious place or their home provides these things. And it's really neat to see.
Jeff Williams:
So, the food is like amongst everybody kind of takes turns preparing in different styles and everything.
Meleah Berkowitz:
Generally, the faith community that's hosting kind of provides the whole evening. And so, they'll bring usually kind of the activity. They'll arrange the philanthropy project, any educational pieces. And that's done directly at the house of worship, which is really cool too. And so that children who maybe have grown up in the Islamic Society get a chance to go into a synagogue or a church or another place of worship that they haven't been before. And we found that really being in that space is really a fun thing too, because then if they go back, they're invited as a friend and they decide that that's the place they want to go for their faith, they feel so much more comfortable because they've been there and they know, this is the place where I take my shoes off or this is the place where I cover my head or the different, different.
Jeff Williams:
Absolutely.
Meleah Berkowitz:
Yeah, it's neat to see.
Jeff Williams:
I wasn't sure if I understood that correctly. This happens about once a month then, correct.
Meleah Berkowitz:
It's 4 to 5 times per year. So generally quarterly is kind of what we call it. Yeah, kind of depending on what we've got as far as availability of hosting congregations and hosting communities. But this year we have 5 gatherings, which are very exciting. That started out as five gatherings. as well, kind of each different area of worship and then kind of a communal philanthropy event.
Jeff Williams:
Is it okay to name the different places?
Meleah Berkowitz:
Sure. So, we participate as Westminster Presbyterian. There's also the Islamic Society, Temple B'rith Sholom, First Presbyterian, and then Grace United Methodist as well. And then Temple Israel. That's right. Yeah. Since it's the children of Abraham, it's all what we consider like the Abrahamic religion. So, faiths that kind of have Abraham at the center of it. Exactly. And it's really neat. I grew up, like I said, kind of with no knowledge of other religious traditions. I have learned a ton and seeing that we have a lot of these stories in common and songs and faith traditions. At the end of each gathering, we sing a song called Father Abraham has many kids. And it's fun. Like it's just really neat to have that connection. But again, everyone is welcome. And so we have kids that don't go to any sort of faith background or they have other, you know, polytheistic faiths. We love having as many kids as possible. It's a lot of fun.
Mahnaz Habib:
Everyone is welcome.
Jeff Williams:
Absolutely. Love it. I can't remember if last time when Meleah and you were in here, (I mentioned) you know, no matter how you believe, everybody should be striving to be a better person in this realm. or, if this is the only realm or not, it's always better to strive to be a better person. So, no matter what the path, it's the same peak, it's the same top that you're trying to get to, regardless of your personal path to get there, you're always trying to move up. That's a beautiful thing. So anyhow, here again, rambling.
Mahnaz Habib:
Thank you for that.
Jeff Williams:
So, are there ways to get a hold of you?
Meleah Berkowitz:
So probably the easiest way would be to message one of the coordinating congregations. We will be gathering our first one is going to be September 30th at the Islamic Society. And so we'll meet that evening and we will have Compass for Kids come out to tell us a little bit about what they do every day. We'll have some fun icebreaker activities. We'll have some music and we would love to have people. You don't have to necessarily sign up ahead of time. We do send out like an RSVP so that we can get a general idea of who is coming. But if you find yourself that evening… looking for something to do, we would love to have you anytime. And then we'll meet kind of throughout the year at the different organizations and gather. And like I said, you can come to one, you can come to all of them. We would love to have you.
Mahnaz Habib:
Jeff, do you have a place where we can put some information, like an e-mail address?
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, oh yeah, for sure. We can leave that here. Also if you want to, if there's an e-mail address you want to give right now or anything too.
Meleah Berkowitz:
You can use mine. It's mberkowitz@wpcspi.org Again, If you look up Meleah at Westminster, it's going to get you there as well. But be more than happy to get you in connection. Or you can reach out to Grace United Methodist, the Islamic Society, Temple B'rith Sholom, Temple Israel. Any of us would be more than happy to get you connected and bring you in as part of the team.
Mahnaz Habib:
And we can add you to our e-vite list, so you will get an invitation every time a gathering is planned.
Jeff Williams:
Okay, that's cool. Yeah, and Compass for Kids is always good to work with too.
Meleah Berkowitz:
That's the other neat thing. We've met so many organizations throughout the community that we've partnered with throughout my time here at, seeing what they do over at, the food pantry or through Scion or Intricate Mines or Habitat and all the different places that kind of help in Springfield. And that's really cool too, because people get to kind of leverage and say, well, I know somebody who works here. I'll bring them in to take me to the animal shelter and the kids all made like toys for the dogs and cats to use. Heartland Housed came, yes, and that was really cool. Josh Szabo came and gave a great talk and activity for the kids that got them excited and engaged. We brought in beans and rice and bottles of oil. And the kids love, they kind of pile up the stuff that we collect and then they get to carry it out to their car. Her Ronald McDonald House we did last year. And so, it really is another connection for them. And that's kind of the fun part when they come to because the kids questions are always kind of like, well, what can I do? I'm 7 years old. What can I do to help my community? And they always have ideas for them and ways that they can help out and kind of empower them to make a difference. And that's really cool to see.
Jeff Williams:
Love it. Sam, did you want to say anything on the mic?
Meleah Berkowitz:
What do you like about Children of Abraham?
Sam:
I like that like everyone can come. So, like a lot of my friends from like school came. Not really anyone from like dance, but I like to invite them and stuff. And I like the food.
Jeff Williams:
The food, yeah, the food will do it! (laughter)
Meleah Berkowitz:
Mac and cheese from Westminster. We also go to the Liturgical Arts Festival is happening at the Art Association, we meet there. And that's really cool because they help us do a communal art project together and the kids get to really look at the kind of artistic representation of the different faiths and that's really neat to see. And then last year we did like a whole group project where throughout the year the kids made little puzzle pieces with their picture and they could decorate them and then we put them all together and that will travel with the kids throughout the year this year so they can look back and see, you know, I remember when I made that or that's my friend. just kind of re-emphasizing that we're all part of the same community.
Mahnaz Habib:
The collaboration with the Liturgical Arts Festival was the brainchild of Tarfa Khan, who was the president that year for the festival. And it has turned out to be our most enjoyable, fun, memorable gathering every two years.
Jeff Williams:
Liturgical.
Mahnaz Habib:
Yes, the collaboration with the Liturgical Arts Festival. So Great big thanks to Tarfa for that.
Meleah Berkowitz:
And the Art Association, they provide docents who kind of walk the kids through and explain some of the art pieces or help them to ask questions and find connections. It's really nice.
Mahnaz Habib:
Betsy Dollar is always amazing.
Jeff Williams:
Betsy Dollar, yeah, she's been with it too, for sure.
Mahnaz Habib:
And the children walk through all these amazing art pieces, and they have discussions about it and Betsy is guiding the discussions. It is just a very beautiful experience.
Meleah Berkowitz:
It is kind of the highlight of the year. I think usually kind of caps us off as kind of our celebration.
Mahnaz Habib:
It's pretty unbeatable.
Meleah Berkowitz:
Yeah, wonderful.
Jeff Williams:
Well, once again, we are in the studio with Malia Berkowitz, the director of Children's Ministry at Westminster Presbyterian Church, also a director of Westminster Cooperative Preschool. Also in the studio, Mahnaz Habib, who's a member of the Islamic Society of Greater Springfield, also on the planning committee for Children of Abraham. Well, you both are, right? You're both on the planning committee for that. Anything else either of you wanted to add?
Meleah Berkowitz:
I would just say to give it a try. If you're not sure, this is a great way to kind of dip your toe in and see what the faith communities of Springfield are all about. It's a very low effort, lots of fun way for kids to get involved. I'm 100% sure they will find a friend by the end of the evening to play with and have a lot of fun. We would love to see you anytime.
Mahnaz Habib:
So please reach out to Meleah at Westminster and she will e-mail details to you. We can add you to our e-mail list. And we would love to see as many people as possible attend.
Jeff Williams:
And what's Westminster's website?
Meleah Berkowitz:
Yeah, Westminster is the WPCSPI.org. But again, if you just look up Meleah at Westminster, I'm pretty sure I'm the only Meleah in Springfield, especially the only Westminster one. (laughter) So it's a good way to get a hold of me. I'm also always available on Facebook and we're very excited to see anybody here with us. It's a great chance to meet some other families and have a lot of fun.
Mahnaz Habib:
Malia, how do you spell your name?
Meleah Berkowitz:
Yeah, it's M-E-L-E-A-H.
Jeff Williams:
That's a good point. That's very impressive. Yeah, that's it. Meleah, Mahnaz, Sam, thank you all for coming in and giving us the great information for sure.
Mahnaz Habib:
Thank you for having us over. This was wonderful.
Jeff Williams:
Absolutely. Until next time. Thank you.
Community voices are events you might have missed and conversations with neighbors. artists and area businesspeople. You can suggest a guest or comment at communityvoices@nprillinois.org. Get to know your neighbors with Community Voices; weekdays at noon and 10 p.m. Saturdays at 5pm, and on demand at nprillinois.org.
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