Some stories are just too sweet to pass over. I was at the Islamic Center of New York University for an iftar, preceded by a sermon.
Read moreWelcome to My Table
I was skeptical at first. I received an email from Shoulder to Shoulder asking me if I would be interested in participating in their program, “Welcome to My Table,” …They were proposing that they pair me up with a family for an interfaith iftar via Zoom.
May We Have Many More
If someone had walked into my home yesterday, she would have said, “Only in New York!” In a Muslim home, with Quranic calligraphy gracing the walls, a Jewish woman says the Hanukah prayer over the menorah and candles, while the soft sounds of Silent Night, Holy Night play from the replica of Nativity Scene, and the ladies munch over Santa chocolates wrapped in red and silver wrappers.
Read moreMy Blind Dates
I had never dated. Not once in my life. But that’s another story. If you want to know more about my date-less life, you will have to read my memoir. For the last two years, I have been back-to-back in blind dates. Sometimes I meet them for coffee, sometimes for dinner, and sometimes I meet up in their homes, staying overnight. Separate bedrooms.
My Muslim Christmas
Lets start with some Islamic trivia, which, by the way is not trivial. Not by a long shot. Here is the question: In the Quran, only one woman is mentioned by name. Who is it?
The answer: Mary. Mother of Jesus
Did you know that? Here is more: The 19th chapter of the Quran is titled: Maryam—Arabic for Mary
You Cannot Leave The Room
“We are going to have some difficult conversations. You can disagree; you can get upset; you can be angry; but you cannot leave the room.” Those were the ground rules…..
What did I just get myself into! Is this going to be a discussion on Gaza and Jerusalem?
Do You Stereotype Your Own
“How do you feel when you hear the Muslim call to prayer?”
“I think it’s gutsy,” said a Jewish woman.
The Last Prayer
My phone was on silent. I was at the library, at the Writers Circle, reading my piece on the pipe-bomber... Walking back home, the pipe-bomber was still on my mind. Khalid was waiting by the door. “Did you hear?” He asked.
Read moreMay I Borrow Your Faith
“What gifts does your faith tradition bring to the table, and what gifts in other faiths do you admire and would like to adopt?” the Bishop asked.
Read more"Not In Our Name!" A Jewish American's Wish on Yom Kippur
They were all refugees, fleeing persecution & violence, or the threat of it. Moses was twice a refugee, baby Jesus was taken from Bethlehem to Egypt, and then to Nazareth, as a displaced person in a village far away from home; and Prophet Muhammad fled for his life and made the Hijra from Mecca to Medina.
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