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Instead of planning a Seder, I planned an iftar

Last week, four women - two Jewish, two Muslim –inspired by the war in Ukraine, decided to host a charity dinner. It took the form of an iftar. Here they talk about their experience.

April 20, 2022 13:12
Skinazi
4 min read

Karen:

While most other Jewish women I knew were planning their Seder menus and preparing their homes for Pesach, I was organising an iftar.

I had never been to an iftar, the evening meal at which Muslims break their fast during the month of Ramadan, so the idea of hosting one at my house slightly terrified me. What did I need? How do most Muslims prefer to break the fast?

Growing up, we always made fresh-squeezed lemonade to end Yom Kippur, a tradition I carried on as an adult. But of course, that was the standard only at my house; at shul, they would serve orange juice. At other people’s houses, who knows? ‘Don’t worry. You just need dates,’ my nominally Muslim friend told me. ‘They’ll eat dates, then go pray, then eat a meal.’ I scrolled through my Whatsapp feed nervously. Aha! Abda was bringing dates. Perfect!

Topics:

Interfaith