Interfaith and Diversity in Teaneck

Voice of America produced a documentary of interfaith and religious diversity in Teaneck. They emphasize how the Jewish community supports the Muslim mayor. It shows the diversity of the community and the dialogue group. It also offers a better sense of what people mean by dialogue in 2011, in contrast to 1965. Now people discuss facing the challenges of diverse groups working together, issues of location and translocation, race, generation, and assimilation. The website has clips of many of the segments of the documentary- here. I cannot seem to copy or embed  the video here, so go to the website to watch the clips. (I will try and fix it tomorrow, any ideas on how to get it to embed? ).

The Teaneck Story

Hope Town investigates how Americans in one New Jersey community are dealing with the problems, challenges and successes of a culturally and religiously diverse population.

Teaneck is a city of nearly 40,000 people in the New Jersey suburbs outside (6 km) New York City, where Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin, a Muslim, works every day with Deputy Mayor Adam Gussen, an Orthodox Jew. In some parts of the world, this relationship might be doomed to failure because of historic conflicts between Muslim and Jewish people — but not in Teaneck.

Could this town represent a model for the future of tolerance? Voice of America and Alhurra, an Arabic language television station that broadcasts to 26 million people in 22 Middle Eastern countries, went to Teaneck to find out.

	Teaneck City Hall: Not Politics as Usual Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin, a Muslim and Deputy Mayor Adam Gussen, an Orthodox Jew, have been friends since childhood. Their political partnership allows for a unique approach to managing the community. (3:43)
	Room for Everyone Teaneck’s diverse population cherishes its multicultural and religiously diverse community. (2:14)
	Four Friends, Four Faiths High school buddies David Kantrowitz, a Jew; Patrick Saardi, a Christian; Albab Ali, a Muslim and John Puzio, an Atheist discuss their friendship. (1:44)
	A Cultural Petri Dish Within the broadly defined cultural and religious communities in Teaneck there are many sub-groups, each with different beliefs and agendas. (3:10)
	Not All Sunshine and Roses Teaneck has been through its share of dark periods. In 1990, racial violence broke out after a shooting involving a police officer and an African-American teenager. (2:47)
	Leaving the Comfort Zone Temple Emeth synagogue and Dar-ul-Islah Mosque in Teaneck have been engaging in a Muslim/Jewish dialogue for two years. (6:07)