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Building Relationships:
Islam & Judaism
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What is Ramadan?

5/21/2020

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What is Ramadan?
  • Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is the most blessed time of the year for Muslims
  • It is known as “The Month of the Quran” because Muslims believe that God revealed the first verses of the Quran in Ramadan 

Why do Muslims Fast in Ramadan?
  • Fasting during Ramadan is a pillar of Islam and is required for Muslims who are healthy and able to do so
  • Muslims fast in order to get closer to God by focusing on prayer, reading Quran, and staying away from bad actions
  • Fasting also helps Muslims empathize with those in need

What do Muslims do During Ramadan?
  • Muslims fast for 29 to 30 days from sunrise to sunset
  • During the day, Muslims do not eat or drink anything
  • At sunset every day, we break our fast with a meal called Iftar normally with dates and water
  • When Ramadan starts, Muslims greet each other with “Ramadan Mubarak” and “Ramadan Kareem”
  • At the end of Ramadan, Muslims celebrate Eid-al-Fitr with our families, food, and gifts!
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Holidays and Eating Disorders

4/19/2020

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By Mitali Desai 

Originally published on Jewish Women's Archive, October 2, 2016

The idea of community is of central importance to Jews, especially in light of historical persecution and geographic isolation. As Jews, we pray together, rejoice together, and mourn together. We have survived together. Community offers an innate sense of kinship, belonging, and support.
When do we prioritize individual liberties and when do we prioritize the common good? What does the individual owe the community, and vice versa? Rabbinic texts consider many different scenarios where the individual and the communal must be negotiated. These scenarios often involve property, marriage, and religious observance; one issue that is not brought to light, given the antiquity of these texts, is mental health. While there are many stereotypes(and some studies) about the prevalence of anxiety and neuroticism among Jews, the most deadly mental illness often goes undiscussed. Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, and other eating disorders like bulimia are also often fatal. Currently, doctors screen for eating disorders by asking the following questions:
​
  1. Do you make yourself sick because you feel uncomfortably full?
  2. Do you worry you have lost control over how much you eat?
  3. Have you recently lost more than 14 pounds in a three-month period?
  4. Do you believe yourself to be fat when others say you are too thin?
  5. Would you say that food dominates your life?

Eating disorders occur across cultures, but the last question holds special relevance when thinking about this mental-health epidemic in relation to Jewish life, especially when one considers our emphasis on community. Culturally, food holds special meaning to Jewish communities. Life cycle events such as birth, b’nai mitzvot, marriage, and death are all acknowledged with an abundance of food. We can all summon an image of the over-zealous mother or bubbe pleading with us to take another piece, finish what’s on our plate, and of course asking, “is that reallyyyy all you’re going to eat?” This intense (and public) pressure to regularly stuff your face may be tied to the historic food insecurity of the Jewish people, particularly during the Holocaust, but it can be deeply uncomfortable for someone who is struggling to gain control over their eating.

The laws of Kashrut create a certain fastidiousness around food that can mask or enable an eating disorder. Certain foods relate to spirituality and values: apples and honey on Rosh Hashanah, the Seder plate offerings, challah on Shabbat. The absence of food, too, is deeply meaningful.  During fast days, we abstain from food to mourn, to purify ourselves and, during Yom Kippur, to absolve ourselves of wrongdoing. Attaching moral gravity to food-related rituals as justification for not eating, or bingeing and purging, is a difficult behavior to unlearn on its own and becomes all the more difficult when reinforced by religious practice.

The ritual and cultural weight placed on food and eating is coupled with societal expectations about female thinness and for some ultra-Orthodox women, extra pressure from a young age to look appealing to suitors. Not all of the reasons people develop eating disorders have to do with Jewish social standards; the omnipresent body talk that exists for people of all backgrounds can exacerbate dissatisfaction with one’s body.

The holiday season is often especially emotionally strenuous for people with eating disorders, and can be extremely triggering. Pressure to eat or fast communally can make you feel trapped, while receiving unsolicited feedback about your body from family members. Recovery from an eating disorder requires a level of quiet introspection and the cultivation of self-acceptance, both of which can be extra difficult to achieve when our inner voices are being drowned out by the din and clatter of communal life. Practicing self-care during times of togetherness can be particularly challenging for women, who in general are responsible for domestic labor during holidays and are not unfamiliar with self-sacrifice for the sake of their families.
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While stigma surrounding mental health is slowly but surely decreasing, coming forward and getting help with an eating disorder can still feel terrifying. This fall, when we greet family members we have not seen in a long time–especially our female relatives–let us comment not on their physiques, but on their accomplishments at work or school. Let us make a collective effort to refrain from commenting on other people’s food choices when we sit down for dinner. Let us respect each other’s decisions when it comes to fasting. Even as we come together as a united community, let us remember that everyone has a unique relationship with their body and food and thus, everyone has unique needs. As we go to our synagogues to reflect and rejoice, let us know that all of our bodies are temples in their own right, and let us help each other nurture them.

Additional Resources:
​Eating Disorders in the Jewish Community 
Kosher Diets and Eating Disorders in the Jewish Community
Hungry to Be Heard 
Relief Resources
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BRIJ Welcome Letter

1/21/2018

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Dear Families, Faculty and Friends:
​We are thrilled to announce the beginning of BRIJ’s collaboration with Partners in Peace, bringing together fifth grade students from the Jewish Community Day School and Islamic School of Rhode Island.

BRIJ - Building Relationships: Islam and Judaism - is a new initiative led by Brown University students that will expand the current Partners in Peace fifth grade exchange program. Our team has developed new curriculum alongside teachers from both schools as well as professors at Brown University. Grounded in the shared value of Tzedakah/Sadaqah, our interactive curriculum relates Jewish and Muslim teachings to direct service work and community building in Rhode Island. Our sessions are designed to strengthen students’ literacy skills and creative expression as we learn together through text-study, writing reflections and action projects. We cannot wait to begin and finally meet the students!

We look forward to sharing more details about our program and meeting all of the families at our upcoming BRIJ Brunch & Workshop on Sunday, February 11th from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at Brown University. Please click here for more details and to RSVP.

Thank you all for your support--this program would not be possible without you. We are truly grateful to Andrea Katzman from JCDS and Abdelnasser Hussein from ISRI for partnering with us at Brown University. Their expertise, guidance and generosity has been invaluable at every step of the process. We would also like to thank our partners at the Brown University Swearer Center for Engagement and our campus liaisons, Rabbi Michelle Dardashti and Adnan Wood-Smith, along with Reverend Janet Cooper-Nelson at the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life.

​Finally - to all the parents and students who are giving their support, time and effort to BRIJ every week - شكرا thank you,  ​ תודה רבה 

If you have any questions or would like to offer feedback, feel free to contact us at brijcommunity@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

​Wishing you all a Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
The BRIJ Team

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Submit to the BRIJ Blog!

11/21/2017

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  • Home
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