I am indebted to Marina Mahathir’s blog for drawing my attention to this truly remarkable story from the town of Reston, Virginia, in the US.
On Friday afternoons, the people coming to pray at this building take off their shoes, unfurl rugs to kneel on and pray in Arabic. The ones that come Friday evenings put on yarmulkes, light candles and pray in Hebrew.
The building is a synagogue on a tree-lined street in suburban Virginia, but for the past few weeks — during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan — it has also been doubling daily as a mosque. Synagogue members suggested their building after hearing the Muslim congregation was looking to rent a place for overflow crowds.
“People look to the Jewish-Muslim relationship as conflict,” said All Dulles Area Muslim Society Imam Mohamed Magid, saying it’s usually disputes between the two groups in the Middle East that make news. “Here is a story that shatters the stereotype.”
Magid, who grew up in Sudan, said he did not meet someone who was Jewish until after he had moved to the US in his twenties, and he never imagined having such a close relationship with a rabbi. But he said the relationship with the Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation has affected him and his members. Beyond being tolerant, the synagogue and its members have been welcoming.
He said one member of the mosque told him, “Next time I see a Jewish person I will not look at them the same.”
You can read more about this on Marina’s blog — just scroll down from where she’s talking about a special meal to break the fast she had — or from AP’s report.
I hope no one will be cynical about this. It’s just a heart-warming example of how easy it can be to put aside the religious divisions between “people of the Book” (a term that suggests a kinship that is all too rare) with a little goodwill. Truly inspiring.
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