c. 2004 Religion News Service

JERUSALEM _ In Israel, where relations between most Jews and Arab Muslims is at best cordial, it’s uncommon for the two groups to mingle outside of the workplace.

Nonetheless, a dozen young Jews and Muslim Arabs recently held an extraordinary interfaith gathering at a Jerusalem apartment by jointly preparing a kosher Ramadan feast fit for a rabbi.

The private, unpublicized October event was organized by the young adult division of the Interfaith Encounter Association, a Jerusalem-based organization devoted to the principles of religious coexistence. The group, which meets about once a month, usually studies a theme through the use of Jewish and Muslim texts.

Sharing a meal during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan was the brainchild of Salah Aladdin and Dotan Arad, the group’s 20-something co-facilitators. Aladdin, a Muslim from Nazareth in northern Israel, offered his apartment for the event while Arad, a pony-tailed Orthodox Jew who lives in the settlement of Ofra, in the West Bank, made certain the meal would be kosher.

Aladdin purchased the ingredients in a Jewish supermarket and Arad brought a brand-new pan and utensils because Aladdin’s were not in accordance with Jewish dietary law.

Crammed into Aladdin’s postage-stamp-sized kitchen, the group’s members diced tomatoes and cucumbers, pickles and peppers. They added olive oil to store-bought hummus and fresh lemon juice to the salads. A crisis almost ensued when Arad determined that, prior to use, the new pot might have to be “kashered” by immersing it in a mikveh, or ritual bath; he ultimately concluded that the immersion was unnecessary. Arad lit the match required to saute the chicken breasts because religious Jews do not eat cooked food prepared by gentiles.

While the others mingled, Aladdin brought out four mattresses and arranged them in a square on the floor, a plastic table cloth between them. When the food was brought out, the Muslims removed their shoes and broke their sunrise-to-sunset fast by drinking mineral water and eating dates, as the prophet Muhammad was said to have done.

Within a few minutes the Jews, who had taken over preparations to enable the Muslims to eat, sat down beside them.

In keeping with the group’s longstanding agreement, the conversation that ensued centered around religion, not politics. One of the Jews asked whether it is permissible to shower on Ramadan during fasting times, noting that it is forbidden for Jews to shower on the Jewish fast day of Yom Kippur. Another Jew wanted to know whether the food in front of her was traditional Ramadan fare.

Several of the Muslims marveled at the complexity of Orthodox Judaism.

“I could never follow all the rules of kashrut (the body of Jewish dietary law),” said a young Muslim man who prays faithfully five times a day, according to Islamic requirements.“Who knew you had to purify a pot before using it?”

Nasrin Alhoder, a 26-year-old Muslim oncology nurse who works with both Jews and Arabs at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, said that she had jumped at the opportunity to prepare a Jewish-Muslim Ramadan meal.

“I was very excited when Salah suggested it,” Alhoder said. “In the hospital people always ask me what we do during Ramadan, so it’s nice to finally be able to show our customs and traditions.”

“Hopefully,” she added, “it will be easier to discuss Ramadan in the group, now that the Jewish members know what it’s all about.”

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Likewise, Muslims expressed hope that they could learn more about Jewish holidays.

Alhoder said she looks forward to experiencing a Passover seder or a meal in a succah, the thatched structure Jews erect for Sukkot, the Feast of the Tabernacles.

“A Jewish doctor at the hospital once invited me home for Purim and it was so nice,” she recalled, referring to the holiday in which Jews dress up in costumes and celebrate their freedom from persecution.”

Raanan Eichler, a 24-year-old Jew who is pursing a master’s degree in biblical studies, said that the meal was a glimpse into a world most Jews never enter.

“Muslims in Israel live right next to us but we hardly ever have the opportunity to interact with them and learn what they’re like,” said Eichler. “Ramadan is something we hear a lot about but never take part in.”

Eicher, who described himself as “politically right wing”and “traditionally observant” in his practice of Judaism, insisted that the group members’ political views have not stood in the way of forging genuine friendships.

“The fact that I’m right wing doesn’t make me reluctant to know other people,” said Eichler. “If I’m conservative on security matters, it doesn’t mean I hate Arabs.”

At least one Arab Muslim expressed a similar views about Jews.

“I’m in favor of peace, so I’ll take up any invitation to meet Jews or Christians,” said Ashraf Wazwaz, a friend of Aladdin’s from the Arab village of A-Tur. “This is the way to improve the situation.”

MO/JL END RNS