Beloved Friends,
As the circle of the year turns again to the blessed month of Ramadan, please accept wholehearted greetings from myself and my community.
Having lived most of my life in the Middle East, I miss very much the excitement of Ramadan in the streets, being invited to share the Iftar meal –the evening meal when Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset –with friends and family. The loud music all over the neighbourhood, fireworks and children celebrating as everybody is awake until late at night. Whenever I think about the land I grew up in, my heart is filled with sweet longing and sadness for the terrible conflict situation, which has not become any better since I wrote to you a year ago.
Not only in my beloved homeland, but all over the Middle East, dreadful deeds have been done. Many of them in the name of faith. But even here in this country we have witnessed deeds of hate and violence toward the other, so much against our tradition of welcoming hospitality. We grieve the loss of life, we ask the Almighty to purify our hearts in worship to him. May our path to him be clear, so his love will feel our hearts in reverence and humble submission.
We Jews frequently use in our prayers the Psalms of King David, whose devotion in prayer and fast are mentioned several times in Muslim scriptures. Every Shabbat we recite Psalm 92 which declares that “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to proclaim your loving kindness in the morning, and your faithfulness every night”. May it come to pass, that this coming blessed month of Ramadan will bring, from early morning till late night, joy, fulfilment and devotion to you, to your families, to our communities and to this land, South Africa.
In God’s bliss and mercy.
