How an unlikely union created community – Maimonides, a traditional Jewish hospital, has broken barriers among religious communities of Bay Ridge, in Brooklyn. The hospital is named for the 12-13th-century rabbi, philosopher and physician, Moshe ben Maimon, known to Greeks as Moses Maimonides. He was born in Cordoba, Spain, and was active in Morocco and Egypt, where he was known as Abu Imram Mussa bin Maimon ibn Abdallah al-Quturi al-Israili. As a physician, he was best known for preventive healing modalities.

Maimonides Medical Centers have been praised in the past, notably in the New York Times, for their great cultural sensitivity in ministering to Brooklyn’s varied ethnic communities. Dr. Douglas Jablon, the vice president of Patient Relations at Maimonides in Bay Ridge, has wanted, since the late 1990s, to reach out to Brooklyn’s Muslim community, including them in his plan to care for the medically underserved.

“We feel that this hospital is the greatest hospital in Brooklyn,” said Jablom. “And I saw that a lot of immigrant communities were ignored by the system. They were falling through the cracks. Middle Easterns, Central and South Americans, Russians, Croatians – so many had chronic medical problems. All hospitals are overtaxed. So we came up with the idea of training young people who might be interested in medical studies as volunteers. We started with Al-Noor, the Islamic school run by Nidal Abuasi.

“There I was, this very Orthodox Jewish guy in a yarmulke, knocking on his door, I saw all these teachers, dressed in their – well – garb, veils. For me, it was a culture shock! It was a different world.”

But the “garb” proved more familiar to him than the casual American uniform.

“It was much like the traditional Hasidic dress: black suits, black hats, beards. This is what we’ve always worn. That’s what I wear. We dress conservatively, traditionally. And the people I saw, like the people of my community, are not ashamed of the way they dressed. These people keep their culture; I’m proud of that. I had much respect for the school. They hold on to their traditions. That is so beautiful,” Jablom said.

Once inside Abuasi’s office, Jablon was powerfully impressed. “The warmth wich radiated from Abuasi and his office really caught me. I was little nervous in my yarmulke. I said we have the same grandfather, Abraham, and there is some family fighting. Every barricade broke down. I’ll never forget that meeting. We spoke about Al-Noor children coming to Maimonides as volunteers and learning medical procedures. Mr. Abuasi was very protective of the young girl students, but because our hospital is Jewish. It was just the idea of taking them out of their school. “We Orthodox Jews also avoid outside contact. Some don’t have TVs or radios or read any newspaper except, Jewish ones. Mr. Abuasi and I worked out a program with the director of volunteers.”

There were only three volunteers from Al-Noor. Later in the year we had 22 girls and a couple of boys. Eventually we had 30 or 40, in medicine, neurology, radiology and nursing. After September 11, 2001, we kept them very close. A lot of the kids would come to us crying. They were getting beaten up. Their hair covering would be pulled off by kids on the subways. We were there for them, as we always had been. After 9/11 our relationship became really strong.”

The solid bond between the young Al-Noor volunteers and the staff of Maimonides has grown enormously since the first day, Jablon said.

“On orientation day, the girls were looking at us and talking among themselves in Arabic. At lunch, I passed a couple of jokes, and they started to laugh. God broke all barriers.

“We broke up the group into different departments; medicine, computers, emergency room, or my patient relations department. I told the director of the neurology department – a really Orthodox Jew, bard, yarmulke and all – that I was sending a young lady over to volunteer in his office. Of course, she wore her veil. He sat with her and taught her. They had a phenomenal relationship. She was a genius, and she’s studying medicine. She went with this doctor an all his rounds. He even asked her for her input.

“I don’t know yet how many of our Al-Noor volunteers will go on for their medical degrees. We gave one young man a full scholarship, and he’s in nursing school. We’re very close. When he graduates, he has got to work at Maimonides. He’d better!”

“This volunteer project for me is no challenge. It’s just something I had wanted to do since 1999. Seven years later, the little program that started with Al-Noor has given us 1,400 volunteers, from every walk of life. The cognitively challenged are included in it too.

“Mr. Abuasi really started our scholarship program for the Arabic population. We help students financially. The only criterion is that they must speak another language besides English. It can be Chinese. It can be Yiddish. And, definitely, it can be Arabic.”

The Abrahamic religions are beginning to form a veritable healing triad, as Maimonides Hospital is crafting a closer alliance with the Maronite Christian Church as well as with the Islamic school Al-Noor.

John Abi Habib, a member of the congregation, is excited about the symposium on breast cancer the church is holding, in acknowledgment of Woman’s History Month.

“This takes lots of outreach on both sides. Lebanese Christians have been very active in the community. Maimonides is reaching out to us too,” Habib said. “We’ll have different educational programs. Breast cancer first came to mind because every family is in someway touched by it. And Woman’s History Month is the best time to launch this awareness campaign.

“Bishop Gregory [Mansour] is most supportive. Programs geared to increasing awareness are important to him. It’s the right time for such events. We’ll be presenting a new

program every month or two. For May we’ll focus on men’s concerns. One big issue for them is cardiac health, so we’ll have a symposium on that.

“There always has been a good relationship among the Maronite Church, the local Arab-American community and Maimonides. Now we can take it to a more friendly level.

We’re creating community within a community.”

The ecumenical spirit has been given a great surge of energy. Muslims, Jews and Christians, brought together by deep interest in the need for healing – spirits as well

bodies – have formed a powerful coalition. If nurtured, it should provide fertile ground for dialogue and many opportunities for cooperation among us all.