DAUGHTERS OF ABRAHAM BRING TOGETHER JEWS, CHRISTIANS, AND MUSLIMS On Monday, February 10, 2020 a group of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim women from Santa Barbara, known as the Daughters of Abraham, gathered to learn about the Holocaust first-hand from local survivor Regine Pringle. Founded three years ago by Santa Barbara resident Sissy Taran, the local chapter of Daughters of Abraham comprises 15 members: 5 Jewish, 5 Christian, and 5 Muslim women. The group meets monthly and alternates between book discussions and social gatherings. Daughters of Abraham, a national organization, was created in response to the events
member of the Santa Barbara Jewish
the holiday was by chance, but the
of September 11, 2001 by and for
community, Sissy strongly felt that she
group took the occasion to study
women of the three Abrahamic faiths,
“didn’t want to die without having
some text, hear a story about the
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The
a Muslim friend.” These 15 women
holiday, and eat traditional holiday
women learn about one another’s
have become very close and share
foods of dried fruit and nuts.
religions, and by so doing they come
the motto, “we are like a lemon; if
to know one another as members
you peel us back, we are identical.”
Then, Regine Pringle, a survivor
of a unique community of friends.
The group’s most recent meeting
shared her story as well as photos
Sissy was inspired to begin the local
took place at the Jewish Federation’s
of her family whom she’d lost in the
group after attending a conference
Bronfman Family Jewish Community
Holocaust, and places where she lived
in Boston where she participated in
Center in downtown Santa Barbara
during World War II, including the
multiple workshops about interfaith
on the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shevat,
path of her escape from France over
relationships and first learned about
the birthday of the trees. The
the Pyrenees mountains into Spain,
Daughters of Abraham. As an active
meeting’s date coinciding with
then Portugal, and finally to the U.S.
38 | SHALOM SANTA BARBARA | 2020–2021
of a French Concentration Camp,
JEWISHSANTABARBARA.ORG