High School Interfaith Learning and Service Project

Coordinated by Karen Schierman

This project engages high school students, along with their parents and teachers, in interfaith learning and communal service. It is designed to foster understanding and appreciation for diverse religious traditions, friendships between and among people of different religious communities, and joint activities in the service of social justice and peace.

Upcoming Programs

December 3 and 4

Ethiopian Jews and Their Exodus to Israel

Presentations by Ambassador Asher Naim

Thursday, December 3, 9 a.m.
Talmud Torah of St. Paul Day School
768 Hamlin Avenue South, St. Paul

Thursday, December 3, 11 a.m.
Cretin-Durham Hall High School
550 South Albert Street, St. Paul

Friday, December 4, 8 a.m.
Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School
2501 Highway 100 South, St. Louis Park

Friday, December 4, 10:30 a.m. 
Heilicher Minneapolis Jewish Day School
4330 Cedar Lake Road, Minneapolis

While serving as Israeli Ambassador to Ethiopia in 1991, Asher Naim helped organize Operation Solomon, the daring rescue of thousands of Beta Israel (indigenous Ethiopian Jews) from persecution during that country’s civil war. The Beta Israel were trapped between rebel and government forces and in danger of slaughter unless they could be snatched from the violence overwhelming their country.  Ambassador Naim played a crucial role in negotiating the airlift of over 14,000 immigrants from Ethiopia to Israel, utilizing 35 planes over the course of 25 hours.  In his presentation sponsored by the Jay Phillips Center at four schools in the Twin Cities, Ambassador Naim will discuss the origin, tradition, and religious practice of the Beta Israel, the behind-the-scenes diplomatic negotiations to rescue them, and the story of their integration into Israeli society.

Asher Naim held a variety of posts in Israel’s Foreign Ministry from 1956 to 1999, including ambassadorships to Ethiopia, Finland, the Republic of Korea, and the United Nations. Among the many honors he has received is the American Swedish Historical Museum’s 2009 Spirit of Raoul Wallenberg Humanitarian Award.