On May 30th 2012, participants, supporters, and friends of NewGround, led by Rabbi Sarah Bassin, gathered at the King Fahad Mosque to honor those who had been working so closely with the organization. The Mosque houses the third largest Muslim community in Los Angeles, and members of Temple Emanuel, where many of the Jewish participants had come from, is the second largest community of Jews in Los Angeles. The overwhelming feeling of closeness, community, and the shared experience that all of the participants went through was completely apparent in the room.

The night was filled with stories and anecdotes of people’s experiences and personal paths with Newground; how it had shaped and changed their experiences, lives, and personal thoughts and opinions. People spoke of their surprise at the similarities that they learned of, and one thought specifically stood out to me– that “even Jews have their disagreements, and aren’t we all interpreting and re-interpreting”? That one thought says so much, and really captures the core message of NewGround. We don’t have to pretend that we’re all the same, but we have to be able to talk peacefully, and without trying to convince the other person that we’re right.

This program is crucial in so many ways. None of the fellows began this journey by discussing their most heated issues, or by disagreeing. Instead, they began by learning to listen. Throughout the weeks that they met, they discussed, shared, and opened their selves up to really hearing what the other person was saying and feeling. Los Angeles is one of the most religiously diverse cities in the world, but this program acts as an “advancement of the city as a whole, not just within the religious community”. It begins to rise above religion, and enables people to see each other just as they are—as people who simply want to be good neighbors.

That is what these participants became. They are a community. As so many of the fellows stood to talk, they spoke not only of what they learned throughout their experience, but more of the friendships they formed. Despite age, race, religious or any other kind of background, there was one thing that was one thing that everyone could agree on, as well as “let’s hurry up and get to desert”. And during desert, they brought out a cake and sang to one of their members on his sixty-fifth birthday.

As I spoke with the people in the room that night, I was comfortable. One of the women from the mosque helped me to wrap a scarf around my hair and keep it on correctly, and another’s face lit up with excitement when I discussed my own interest in becoming part of a future fellowship. As one woman said to me, “this should not be a well-kept secret. It should be a household story.” And everyone’s chief complaint of the program? That it wasn’t long enough.

-Chelsea Price, A Night to Inspire attendee