A Story of a Special Encounter of Young Adults in Jerusalem on 25th September 2006:

On Monday, September 25th, we met in order to have a join breaking of the fast dinner. This is the third year in a row that the members of our group meet for this unique Iftar dinner at the end of the Gedalyah Fast. This year too, the Jewish Fast of Gedalyah occurred during the month of Ramadan when the Muslims are fasting. In the beginning of the encounter we mentioned the Jewish Halchic notion of "Khazaka" (presumption). One of the meanings of this notion is that something that was performed three times in a row is considered as permanent and binding. We expressed the hope that this third time of having the joint dinner indicates that it became a enduring custom in the life of our group.

The encounter took place at the home of Nadav and Naama. We gave up the need for balance (last year too the encounter was in a Jewish place), in favor of the comfort of having a Kosher kitchen for the Jews. Participants were veterans alongside with newcomers. We studied the foundations and meanings of the two fasts and about their rules and customs. The Muslim friends shared about the customs of pilgrimage to Mecca and maintaining a Muslim way of life in the modern world. We spoke also about the differences between the Muslim calendar (based on lunar dynamics alone) and the Hebrew calendar (Lunar and Solar in concert). We learned about the mechanism that allows the Jewish calendar to synchronize the lunar and the solar calendars (having a leap year, with a thirteenth month, every several years). One of the important implications of this is that while the times of the Muslim Holidays "wander" along the civil year, the Jewish Holidays are attached to the seasons of the year – Pesach always in the spring, Sukkoth always in autumn, Hanukkah always in the winter etc. In light of that it is clear that the calendar will not allow for eternity to perform this joint dinner for breaking the fasts of Gedalyah and Ramadan. We concluded by expressing our hope that our joint desire will beat the calendar and we will find the appropriate times for joint celebrations also in the future.

Reported by Dotan Arad & Salah Aladdien


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