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Mingling of faiths is appeal for peace

Jews and Muslims gather Sunday to learn more about each other. In the end, they find they’re not that different.

By SHERRI DAY
Published September 17, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG — Concentrating hard, Shadeed Ahmed placed his lips on the shofar and blew.At first, nothing. Then, a guttural roar.

“That’s pretty good,” said Rabbi Michael Torop, who leads Temple Beth-El in St. Petersburg. “You’re going to put me out of a job, man.”

Shadeed, a first-grader at Valrico Elementary School in Hillsborough County, said the instrument sounded like an elephant.

 The rabbi and the 6-year-old, a Jew and a Muslim, gathered with more than 100 people Sunday in North Straub Park to celebrate the commonalities of their faiths, particularly the confluence of their religions’ holiest months.

This week, Jews will kick off the month of Tishri, which includes Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. Muslims will begin Ramadan, in which they fast during daylight hours.

Both faiths abide by lunar calendars, but their holy months only coincide about every 30 years. In this cycle, Ramadan and Tishri converged in 2005, this year and will meet once again in 2007. Such a convergence won’t come again for 33 years.

Serving The One, an interfaith group that organized Sunday’s gathering, saw the occurrence as an opportunity to bring people of different faiths together.

“There is not very much that I can do about President Bush’s decisions regarding the Middle East or what the Israeli government does or what terrorists do,” said Kate Fagan, the group’s co-chairwoman and a rabbinic chaplain at Bayfront Medical Center. “But when I see people of the Muslim faith and become friends with them and share those friends with my friends, then I begin to understand what they’re about. And I realize that we’re all the same, and that we really do all want peace.”

Sunday’s program featured Koran readings, Christian teachings, the Jewish shofar ritual and universal prayers.
Artist Fred Johnson, a follower of the Baha’i faith, led visitors in song.

Fagan spoke about the commonalities of Judaism and Islam, which include similarities in language, food preparation, burial practices and esteem for charity.

Muslim and Christian speakers talked about the importance of peace and forgiveness.

Local politicians, including representatives from the St. Petersburg City Council and the Pinellas County School Board, congratulated the group on its efforts. The Pinellas County Commission issued a proclamation in support of the interfaith group’s efforts.

Janis Upham, 54, took it all in. A Christian, she had come to learn more about Islam. She watched as Muslims began to gather on the lawn for prayer.

“I don’t have too much contact with the Muslim community, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to get a little more exposure,” said Upham, who attends Holy Family Catholic Church in St. Petersburg. “We’re all so similar. We’re on different paths to the same place.”

Mohamed Shallouf, a Muslim, attended with his wife, Renee, who is Jewish. The couple said their multidecade marriage is proof that people of different faiths can get along.

“We need to unite under one umbrella,” said Shallouf, 53. “There’s so much mayhem in the world, it’s time to preach peace.”

Sherri Day can be reached at (813) 226-3405 or sday@sptimes.com.

[Last modified September 17, 2006, 22:10:55]