Jews and Muslims Break Fast Together

September 24, 2007

Author: ADITI BALAKRISHNA

Source: The Harvard Crimson

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=519637

Members of Harvard’s Jewish and Muslim communities broke fasts together Saturday night to celebrate two of the holiest holidays in each religion and to highlight the commonalities between the two faiths.

Saturday was the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, and Muslims are observing Ramadan, a month which focuses on charity and religious piety. Both holidays require followers to fast until sundown.

Batool Z. Ali ’10, the treasurer of the Harvard Islamic Society, said that organizers hoped the event would provide an opportunity to meet and befriend people of the other faith.

“We wanted to emphasize what is so similar about our faiths, as a bridge for interfaith understanding,” said Islamic Society Vice President Hasan K. Siddiqi ’08.