Holy Day and Holy Day

For the first time in thirty years (more time than I’ve been on this planet) the Jewish Days of Awe and Muslim Ramadan coincided. I loved sitting in synagogue on Yom Kippur and hearing about how precious that overlap is, and how much we can learn from feeling connected in religious devotion to other people. Both holy times concentrate on themes of return. Union and reunion.

Recently, I read somewhere that in Morocco, Jews and Muslims had a practice of hospitality. For hundreds of years, Jewish people would bring to their Muslim neighbors and friends the "first bread" with which to break their final Ramadan fast. And, in turn, the Muslims would bring to their Jewish neighbors and friends their first taste of leavened bread when the Passover festival was over. Does that still happen?

Last week, two fellow students and I led a worship service at the Unitarian Universalist seminary we attend about the Jewish High Holy Days. We all three are Jewish and Unitarian Universalist. As tradition dictates, we planned to put out a generous spread of challah, apples and honey. We do this to assure sweetness in the coming year. We don’t fast on Rosh HaShana, although Yom Kippur is traditionally a day of fasting.

After divvying up who would get and prepare what, we realized that since Ramadan was also happening, Islamic folks in our community would be fasting. Crap! What to do?

We posted the following note to the student email list:

Dear friends, particularly those who are fasting for Ramadan,

Special foods are one way that Jews celebrate Rosh Hashanah and we
will be providing apples, challah, and honey before and after
Tuesday's chapel service. For those of you who are fasting, please
know that the food will be at the reception desk and will NOT be part
of the service itself (except for throwing a small piece of stale
bread into the fountain at the end of the service). We hope that the
presence of food will not prevent you from worshipping with us next
Tuesday and wish you Ramadan Mubarak.

Our best wishes in this time of multiple holidays,

X, X and X

On one hand, I think it important to name what’s happening and I hope and trust that we did that in a way that rendered no one invisible. Given the context of Christian supremacy in our world culture, it’s crucial to always be a voice of education, information and explanation. Especially about Judaism and Islam!

But when does the naming fall short of challenging what has potentially problematic implications, instead emphasizing it in a way that allows people (me) to feel that it’s been satisfactorily addressed?

How would you have handled this situation, a lovely ‘problem’ to have?