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The questions shot off like rapid gunfire.

"What's that thing some Jews wear on their heads?" "What about the shawl?" "Why do some Jewish kids not like Hebrew school?" "Do you believe in Jesus?" "Do Jews feel badly about what they did to him?"

Standing before a classroomful of Catholic high-school students, Rabbi Robert Daum welcomed the challenge.

He smiled and offered up answers like "kippah" and "tallit." However, in response to the question, "Have you ever been to Palestine?" the San Rafael rabbi hesitated.

"That depends on what you mean," he said. "If you mean the state of Palestine, the answer is no. There is no state of Palestine. However, if you are referring to areas of the West Bank that may one day constitute an entity known as Palestine, I have been there. If you mean all the territory of Israel — no, I have not."

The students seemed satisfied. Most of them had never met a rabbi before, so they were thrilled to have their curiosity addressed by a Jewish source.

In an effort to increase understanding between Catholics and Jews, the American Jewish Committee created a Jewish and Catholic clergy exchange program called C-JEEP (Catholic Jewish Educational Enrichment Program). Launched nearly 10 years ago in Los Angeles, the program brings rabbis to teach Jewish theology and history in Catholic schools.

C-JEEP spread to the Bay Area in 1996. It is co-sponsored by the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco.

"The Vatican has reached out in numerous ways to establish a better relationship with the Jewish community. It is important that it filters down to the parish level," said Rick Jaeger, AJCommittee regional president. "C-JEEP does that.

"It promotes understanding and relationships at an early age. People get to understand more of each other at a time when they are receptive to taking in ideas."

Last spring Rabbi Henry Shreibman, head of Brandeis Hillel Day School in San Francisco and San Rafael, led four C-JEEP pilot sessions. During the 1996-97 school year, Daum visited three schools in the Bay Area for a total of 22 sessions.

He discussed Judaism in comparative religion classes at San Francisco's Archbishop Riordan High School and St. Ignatius College Preparatory School. At Belmont's Notre Dame High School, Daum taught Jewish Scripture.

In all three schools, Daum discussed basic Jewish history, culture and religion; answered questions; and highlighted the similarities and differences between Judaism and Catholicism.

In addition, Daum addressed inquiries about Jewish responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus and why Jews find the terms "Old Testament" and "New Testament" offensive.

"The idea is to give students an opportunity to meet a rabbi face to face and ask questions — about Jews, practices and beliefs. The face-to-face contact is really the most important aspect of the program. It takes [Jews] out of the [text]book," said Daum, who serves as part-time rabbi at Congregation Shir Shalom in Sonoma.

Ken Swan, religion department chairman at Bishop Riordan, agreed.

"For many of our students, it helped them to put a name and a face to something they don't generally experience in their lives.

"There was intellectual honesty and discovery" in the discussions, Swan said. "These students have a lot of misunderstandings about Jews. We wanted to clarify their incorrect thinking. Plus they had a chance to ask about stereotypes and have them responded to. They asked questions about Jews and money. Unfortunately, [those myths are] still out there."

This fall, with a $300,000 grant from Steven Speilberg's Righteous Persons Foundation, C-JEEP will expand to New York.

Meanwhile, the program is still growing in the Bay Area.

St. Ignatius has invited Daum to do in-service teaching with its instructors before the new school year begins. In addition, the East Bay Midrasha may invite Catholic clergy to teach its teens.

"We have a shared history," Daum said. "I recall one student at Riordan came up to me and said, `I guess what you're saying is that we all have some of the truth. None of us has a monopoly.'

"I thought that was quite insightful. I think it's a reflection of the thinking behind the program. We're not teaching students that what they've learned about Christianity is wrong, but rather teaching them something more about Judaism."