Nisa-Nashim launched a new local group in Golders Green in November last year, co-chaired by a Jewish and Muslim woman, who, although they live in the same neighbourhood, had never met until Nisa-Nashim introduced them. Below, the group’s Jewish co-chair, Rebecca, writes about hosting their launch meeting.
“It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why or how, when a group of women get together, something magical happens, but this is exactly how I would describe our first Nisa-Nashim meeting in Golders Green.
After a few false starts when Sahar, my Muslim co-chair and I got stumped by logistics, we finally got our first meet-up in the diary for mid-November. Given certain recent hostile reactions to the new Shia Muslim cultural centre that has recently opened in Golders Green, we were even more committed to getting our group off the ground. So guests invited, table booked at Head Room Café, a local kosher café, and “Nisa-Nashim royal” speaker bagged (Julie Siddiqi, Nisa-Nashim Co-founder ) we were all set.
As our group of around ten friends joined us round the table, there was this wonderful feeling of good will and camaraderie that was established immediately. We went for the ‘speed-dating’ seating arrangement, so did alternate Muslim then Jewish woman side-by-side, to ensure maximum opportunities for exchange.
After some great chit-chat and introductions – and the arrival of enticing wedges of cake and steaming mugs of tea at our table – we got going. Sahar and I briefly spoke, welcoming everyone and giving a bit of background about ourselves. Julie Siddiqi then inspired us with her galvanising words as well as giving us a useful history of how Nisa-Nashim came about, and the current development of the organisation. And then it was on to our main activity of the evening. We had invited each of our friends to bring with them an object that represented in some way their faith, whether Judaism or Islam. We went round the table and each woman introduced herself, giving a brief account of why she was there, and then talking about the object, what its function was, and what it represented for her.
These discussions were immediately engaging and extremely meaningful. Each object had its own history, and often a deeply personal meaning, for its owner. One highlight was when one Jewish woman, a talented musician, whose “object” was a traditional Yiddish song, actually sang for us right there and then in the cafe. At the end of her soulful rendition of her song, everyone around us in the cafe clapped along with us! This led on to an interesting discussion of the origins of the Yiddish language and how it is a separate language entirely to Hebrew.
There were also some delicious edible objects brought along – which were a great hit – such as some delicious, and precious, dates provided by one Muslim woman that a family member had brought back from their Hajj pilgrimage. Along with the personal story, she talked about the significance of dates for Muslims for breaking their daily fasts during Ramadan and their nutritional content.
We all got a bit lost in the discussion, asking questions, learning about the other religion and hearing everyone’s family stories. Together with the other Jewish women, I learned a lot about Islam – for example, two Muslim women brought along Tasbih beads, which are traditional Islamic prayer beads. We learned that these contain 99 beads, representing the names of God in Islam, and how they are used by Muslims to focus their minds on God.
The meeting totally overran but no one seemed to mind, we were all too involved in our discussions. It was also funny when some of the Jewish and Muslim women round the table discovered they had some unexpected connections. I joked that this always happens when Jews play ‘Jewish geography’ together, working out quickly who they have in common.
When we finally said our goodbyes, I walked home on a bit of a high. With our second meeting in the pipeline for the New Year, the Golders Green Nisa-Nashim group has definitely put itself on the map, and we are excited to see where this takes us. As Sahar put it, “we are definitely on to a good thing”.”
Rebecca Schischa, Jewish co-chair of the Nisa-Nashim Golders Green group, works as a freelance writer and editor.