Interfaith

On March 5th EHRS were delighted to welcome over 80 members and guests from the Muslim and Christian communities to their second Interfaith Iftar. In partnership with the Faiths Forum for London, the community invited Muslim friends and neighbours to break their Ramadan fast with us.

A vegan meal was lovingly prepared by a team of synagogue volunteers, and the congregation were able to enjoy an explanation of Ramadan and its spiritual meaning from Imam Monawar Hussein (Chaplain at Eton College and founder of the Oxford Foundation) and heard from Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers and Julie Siddiqi MBE on the theme of ‘Hope’.

During her talk Rabbi Debbie said ‘hope, like seeds, starts out in small packages. I love this idea, because hope needs nurturing to flourish and grow, but sometimes it can take root in the most unexpected places.’ All acknowledged the importance of coming together at such a difficult time.

Janet Brand, Chair of the EHRS Interfaith Committee who led on organising the event said: “It was a wonderful evening – we studied together, spoke together and broke bread together, proving that we have more in common than that which divides us”.

This event was part of a continuing effort at EHRS to expand our interfaith engagement, from local interfaith groups to an interfaith TuBishvat seder in February and an interfaith Shabbat morning service planned for June.

For more information please feel free to contact Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers rabbi.debbie@ehrs.uk