If you are free Sunday, Julie Hochstadter asked me to post this very cool event that she is helping coordinate at Depaul (and my wife has a piece in)

Café Finjan, a series of cultural events designed to foster community and common ground between the Jewish and Muslim populations of the Chicago area, is kicking off a new round of events for 2009!
The Café Finjan event will take place on Sunday, March 15th, 2009 from 4- 9pm at There is a $5-$10 suggested donation.

It will be an art exhibit dedicated to visual displays of spiritual identity for Muslims and Jews. We intend to serve refreshments, have live music, and also play small video clips of short films around the theme of spiritual identity.

The goal of Café Finjan is to nurture greater understanding and points of contact between Jews and Muslims of Chicago by providing a common forum for the Jewish and Muslim communities, in this area and beyond. The goals of the organizers are to explore our experiences as minorities, immigrants, and/or people of faith, and to develop a shared agenda of pluralism, respect, and civil rights in a domestic context. We believe that our communities and the relationships between them are shaped by much more than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We encourage activities that creatively engage the Jewish and Muslim communities in Chicago and North America to foster greater relationship building.

Café Finjan is sponsored by JCUA, the Chicago chapter of the Council for the Advancement of Muslim Professionals, Mitziut Jewish Community, the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, KFAR Jewish Arts Center, New Israel Fund, American Muslims for Activism and Learning, United Muslims Moving Ahead, Interfaith Youth Core, Inner-City Muslim Action Network and Hebrew Meetup.

Program Schedule

4:00p.m. Networking Hour
5:00p.m. Welcome
5:10p.m. Short Film: JCUA and IMAN Teen Production
5:30 p.m. Art Discussion
6:00p.m. Short Film: The Tribe
7:00p.m. Break for Muslim Evening Prayer
7:15p.m. Art Discussion
7:30p.m. Short Film: Land of Paradise and Forbidden Love
8:00p.m. Musical Performance by Lamajamal
9:00p.m. Conclude