What is C/JEEP?
C/JEEP sends rabbis into Catholic high schools and Catholic educators into Jewish schools to teach about the other, and in doing so, breaks down misconceptions. This reciprocity is unique among Jewish-Christian educational programming in the nation.

Mission Statement
To increase mutual understanding and appreciation among Catholic and Jewish students and educators and to minimize or eliminate stereotyping, anti-Semitism, and bigotry among the participants.

Participating Schools

C/JEEP Hosts Three Seders at Catholic High Schools

LEFT: A youth group leader from Congregation Rodfei Zedek and students from St. Rita participate in the educational seder. RIGHT: Rabbi Laurence Edwards and Father Tom McCarthy, President of St.Rita, sit at the table as Rabbi Edwards leads the seder.

In celebration of Passover, C/JEEP hosted three educational seders at Catholic schools. The first, led by Rabbi Laurence Edwards, was held at Resurrection High School. In addition to Resurrection students, Rabbi Ruven Barkan and two students from the Chicagoland Jewish High School attended. "Besides having the ability to share Judaism with my Catholic peers, the most memorable part of the mock seder was listening to 200 or more Catholic kids singing along to Dayenu," said Linda Levin, a freshman at Chicago land. A photograph of the event appeared the following day in The Chicago Tribune. Rabbi Edwards also led a seder at St. Rita's High School in Beverly for students and families, which was attended by members of the Congregation Rodfei Zedek youth group. A portion of the seder appeared that night on the Channel Two evening news. The third seder was led by Rabbi Andrea London at Good Counsel High School and was held in conjunction with a cooking class that prepared a traditional seder meal.

Rabbi Elder at Josephium
Rabbi Bruce Elder taught students at Josephium valuable lessons about social justice and the Holocaust during two unique class sessions. Integrating his work with the Chicago Interfaith Committee, Rabbi Elder's first session focused on Judaism and social justice and featured workers on strike. The workers spoke to students about their working conditions, their decision to strike, the organization which helped them, and the consequences of their protest. None of the workers spoke English and students served as translators.

Inspired by the workers' stories, the students launched a letter writing campaign with their sister school, Sacred Heart. The company met the workers' demands, resulting in increased wages and improved working conditions.

Rabbi Elder reported how this experience taught the students the importance and power of their voices. Host teacher Marge Frana added that the experience boosted the self-confidence of her students when they saw how their actions impacted the world around them.

Rabbi Elder returned to the school to lead a history class about the Holocaust. After engaging the students in a participatory lesson, he showed them a classic photograph from the Holocaust and asked them to write their responses. After discussing their written responses, they worked to turn these reactions into poetry, examples of which appear here.

Rabbi Edwards Visits Mother Guerin
Many Mother Guerin students had never spoken to a Jew before they met Rabbi Laurence Edwards, or "Rabbi Larry," as they like to call him. Because Mother Guerin is one of the longest participating schools in the C/JEEP program, most of the students at this River Grove school have been taught by Rabbi Edwards for all four years of high school. When asked how they felt about having him teach multiple classes on a range of subjects, they responded enthusiastically stating that Rabbi Edwards' teachings gave them the opportunity to widen their knowledge base beyond the first year introductory courses and that seeing him on a regular basis allowed them to get to know him on a more informal level. As many of the students head for college, they value having participated in C/JEEP. The success of the long-term relationship between Rabbi Edwards and Mother Guerin is one that C/JEEP hopes to replicate with all of the participating schools.

For more information on C/JEEP, contact Jane Charney at 312-251-8800 x315, or charneyj@ajc.org