Last night (6 October) Goldsmiths J-Soc hosted an interfaith event for over 30 students and faith leaders of various denominations. 

 The event was outstandingly successful, surpassing the organising J-Soc’s expectations; they are already planning another interfaith event next term.

Initially the J-Soc had planned to host a panel with several faith leaders, but when these plans fell through, the J-Soc were determined to host the event nonetheless and instead turned it into a discussion-based event. Amongst others, students of Jewish, Muslim, Christian backgrounds gathered to share their experiences of being students of faith on campus, discovering common ground as well as interesting and thought-provoking differences in how people experience their religions.

Goldsmiths J-Soc are following in the footsteps of several other J-Socs, including Oxford, Nottingham, Bristol, Imperial and Glasgow, all of whom have hosted successful interfaith events in the past year.

Goldsmiths J-Soc President Binyomin Gilbert said: ‘over the last year, the Christian Union, Islamic Society and Jewish Society have worked hard to bring our three faith groups together. The interest we had was outstanding and the turnout was excellent; we have already had a number of requests for a second event.'

'We deliberately chose subjects of discussion which are difficult, feeling that this would bring about lively discussion and encourage us each to think about our commonalities through our shared challenges. It was a beautiful sight to see people from different faiths, many of whom had never met before, eating together, laughing together and discussing subjects which are often difficult to talk about.' Binyomin also expressed gratitude to the other faith societies who helped him to put the event together.

UJS is proud of Goldsmiths J-Soc and excited to see their interfaith activity go from strength to strength. We are also looking forward to interfaith week, coming up in November: several other J-Socs are planning exciting activities on their campuses, and there will also be a UJS-led digital campaign - keep an eye out!