This afternoon and evening, students from all religious backgrounds will have a chance to try something different.
The Office of Interfaith Campus Ministries, along with the Muslim Students Association, the Ambassadorís program and Hillel, is hosting an Interfaith Fast Event in celebration of the Jewish Sabbath and the Muslim festival of Ramadan.
Ramadan is a sacred month of the Muslim calendar during which a number of special rules are observed. Most notably, Muslims fast while the sun is up during Ramadan.† When the sun goes down, they often break their fast with a large meal.† Many Jews also share a large meal with family or friends when the sun goes down on Friday night, marking the beginning of the Sabbath.
ìThis is an opportunity for students to experience, with the Muslim students, what a day of Ramadan fasting is like,” said Rabbi Joan Friedman, faculty advisor for Hillel and one of the events organizers.† ìBecause the timing is on a Friday, we also have an opportunity to share a Sabbath meal with them.”
Students will have a chance to learn more about Ramadan at a panel discussion at 6 p.m.† The panel will be led by MSA members, including Hanna Yousuf í12 and Amun Nadeem í11.†† The students will talk about how different groups celebrate Ramadan, how being on campus effects how they observe it, and answer any questions students might have.
The celebration begins earlier in the day with the panel in Luce multipurpose room, and other events, such as prayers at 1:30 p.m. in Babcock and cricket coaching on the Holden Quad, will be held.
After the panel, Friedman will perform a short Shabbat service. Following this service, Jewish students will bless the wine and bread while the Muslim students conduct their before-dinner prayers.† Dinner will be served at 7:45 p.m.
The event, which has been in the works since last yearís Interfaith conclave, sprung out of the MSA inviting students to fast with them in previous years. The idea for it in this form sprung out of a desire to integrate the different parts of OICM more fully.
ìFor the most part we each do our own thing,” said Friedman, ìbut we like to think of ourselves as modeling a way for different faiths to interact in a cooperative way.”
ìI think it really gives us an opportunity to get an idea of how other people celebrate religious events,” said Hillel President Callie McCune í10, ìHaving the opportunity to share my traditions and to learn about other peopleís traditions is really important.”
College Chaplain and OICM director Linda Morgan-Clement hopes lots of students will take time to attend the event. ìInterfaith events like these offer a rare opportunity for all members of our campus to respectfully engage one another about spiritual and religious topics and practices,” she said. ìWe expect that these events … will be places for practicing careful listening and speaking about an essential element of the human life.”
ìNot to mention free food and an opportunity to meet some cool people,” added McCune.