The Jewish Students Association (JSA) and Muslim Students Association (MSA) hosted a joint celebration called RamaDinner at the Smokler Center for Jewish Life on Monday night. The event, sponsored by the Office of Student Life, Student Ministries and Hopkins Hillel, celebrated the breaking of fast for the Jewish holiday Gedalia and the third day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Junior Josh Lerman, last year's organizer, noted the turnout was considerably higher at this year's event. Sammy Chester, the event delegate from the JSA, stated in his remarks to the group that the "theme of [the] dinner is that there is so much to share, so much that is often ignored." Although the primary purpose of the event was for both groups to break fasts, both organizations intended it also as a way for the separate religious groups to realize the similarities between Islam and Judaism, a topic of relevance considering the conflicts between Israel and Muslim countries in the Middle East today.
"The event was a good chance for these two religions, that historically and geographically haven't always gotten along well, to come together on campus," said senior Marc Goldwein.
On a similar note, Chester hoped that "the event itself will show that it is time to break the wall of ignorance." He discussed the two years he spent in Israel, remembering the high degree of narrow-mindedness that existed between Jews and Muslims, and said that even in today's United States, many Jewish Americans identify Muslims in a stereotypical way.
Chester expressed hopes that RamaDinner at Hopkins would help break down those prejudices. It is especially significant that the Jewish holiday being celebrated is Gedalia, a holiday mourning the assassination of a Jewish governor of Babylon by a Jewish extremist; Gedalia expresses Judaism's anti-extremist teachings.
Nadia Khan, external communications coordinator for the MSA, echoed the sentiment, "The event's social emphasis was on mixing people up ... on fostering community."
She said that at the end of the evening, she was thrilled to see two people exchanging phone numbers: "That's exactly what this event is about."
As students entered they drew numbers to decide which table they would be seated and to make sure that Muslim and Jewish students would mix. At each table, there were cards printed with facts about both religions, providing the basis for important interactions between the two religious groups during dinner. Chester noted, "If someone was to look at both faiths, they would be stunned that these two groups have so much in common ... shared traditions, rituals, friendships. Recognizing these similarities can let people ignore political realities and form a community."
University Chaplain Sharon Kugler was unable to attend, but sent a note to be read to the group by the Interfaith Center's student intern Maytal Saltiel. Kugler emphasized that the tradition of RamaDinner dates back to 1993: "Before there was an Interfaith Center, before there was even a Smokler Center, there were Muslim and Jewish students that came together to break bread, to engage in conversation and to commit to learning, understanding and even from time to time to the sincere appreciation of each other."
Kugler also said that she hoped that students attending the event would share their perspectives on what it means to encounter someone from a different background and actually know them as a friend on the journey of life.
The event opened with comments from Khan and Chester, who discussed the many similarities between Judaism and Islam and expressed their hope for "a new beginning for the coming year [and] starting off understanding people a little differently than in the past."
Afterwards the head of the MSA, Imad Qayyum, and the head of the JSA, Jennifer Stern, spoke about the basic elements of fasting explaining that it is a private form of worship, strengthening our self-control and raising our awareness of poverty by knowing the feeling of being deprived, something that is especially important to Muslims fasting for Ramadan.
The pre-dinner program concluded with both groups holding prayers. Freshmen were a notable presence at the dinner; not only were there many freshmen attending prayers and dinner, but the freshmen representative for the JSA, Sarah Sabshon, and one of the freshman representatives for the MSA, Rizwana Haneef, spoke to the group about what fasting means to them. Both girls spoke fondly of their memories of fasting as a child, or trying to, admiring the adults' self-control and respect of faith. Sabshon said that fasting can help us "transcend the human state," while Haneef spoke of how a lack of physical pleasure (while Islam prohibits drugs and alcohol, fasting also prohibits sexual intercourse and cigarettes) can help us place an emphasis on moral and spiritual values. Adnan Ahmad, an organizer from the MSA, said that he thought that "the incoming class will do an incredible job of carrying on the legacy that the senior class will leave."
All the attending students broke their fast together with a meal of kosher Chinese food, and after dinner, a religious trivia game was played to highlight how much students had learned about each other's religion. The game served as an opportunity to see the level of success the evening had reached; both groups had clearly learned so much about each other and how Islam and Judaism interact and overlap.
