Teen shows why interfaith matters

Following the stabbing attacks on two Jewish men in Golders Green just two weeks later, Ben’s mum, Naomi Landau joined an interfaith women’s walk, organised to show solidarity with the Jewish community. There she got talking to the Reverend Catriona Laing – affectionately known as “Revd Trin” – the vicar of Emmanuel Church in West Hampstead, close to where Ben’s family live.

“I mentioned the idea of this interfaith project to Revd Trin and Ben wrote to her about it. We invited her over to discuss it, and she was very supportive,” said Naomi.

Revd Trin invited the group – called West Hampstead Youth Interfaith (WHY Interfaith) – to Emmanuel Church for the first meeting.

To drum up interest, Ben announced it in the church after a service in front of around 200 congregants. “The community was so warm,” said Naomi. “Lots of people came up to Ben to talk to him about it afterwards.”

The first event just after October 7 attracted around 17 young people, including Jews, Christians, Muslim, Hindu and some of no faith.

Ben Myers setting up games before the first WHY Interfaith meeting (Photo: courtesy)[Missing Credit]

Ben put out games – including air hockey, table tennis and chess – to break the ice, and the teenagers introduced themselves and shared their reasons for attending, before eating pizza together.

“It was really nice to hear that there are other young people who are interested in doing interfaith activities and learning more about different faiths,” said Ben.

Which were some of the reasons he decided to set up WHY Interfaith in the first place. “I also think the group can be a safe place to talk and is a way of doing social action.”

The next WHY Interfaith meeting is on November 22 for Mitzvah Day, when the group will be wrapping gifts for the JW3 foodbank and Sebby’s Corner, a local baby bank.

Ben, who is in Year 9 at Mill Hill County High School, said he was also inspired to start WHY Interfaith by his experience of being one of just a handful of Jewish boys in his year group.

“After the attempted arson attack on FRS, I really wanted to do a talk in assembly on antisemitism.

“I talked about my great-grandfather, who escaped from Poland just before the outbreak of World War Two and came here as a refugee. Lots of his family died during the Holocaust, which was really sad. I also talked about the attack on the synagogue. I decided to talk about things where there was a personal connection.”

The response from his classmates was really positive. “People came up to me afterwards, and it was really nice to know that other people cared about antisemitism as well and understood what it meant. This made me want to do something similar outside school too, as there is not much when it comes to interfaith gatherings for young people.”

Revd Trin, who has a long-standing interest in interfaith work and helped set up the Cambridge Interfaith Programme at the University of Cambridge, described Ben’s initiative as “a great idea”.

She told the JC: “I’ve been really inspired by him and his can-do attitude of: ‘Let’s just give it a go and see what happens.’ Adults tend to overthink this kind of stuff and worry about getting it wrong, rather than just trusting their instincts.”

Joining Emmanuel just before October 7, Revd Trin said it was the first time she had worked in a church with a big local Jewish community. “I’ve been so struck by how hard it is [for the Jewish community] and how painful it is. I hope my congregation is very aware of this. They want to reach out, but they don’t always know how to.”

In the past couple of years, as well as establishing friendships with the rabbis at Hampstead Synagogue down the road and taking some of her congregants to their succah, Revd Trin has also been leading Emmanuel in a silent vigil to mark October 7.

“But this year, I wanted to do something more proactive, connected to interfaith.” So, she said, she was delighted to be able to host WHY Interfaith around the third anniversary of the terrorist attacks. “When the teenagers were sitting in a circle, what struck me most was that several said: ‘I want to learn more about what other people believe.’ I was so pleasantly surprised by this real spirit of curiosity.”

WHY Interfaith, for  school years 7 to 11, will be holding their next event on Mitzvah Day, November 22. For more information, email: whyinterfaith@gmail.com