13 October 2008
Los Angeles Muslim Girl Scouts Welcome Jewish Guests
Posted by admin under: Community Partners; religion .
At examiner.com (is that a throw-back to the old Herald-Examiner that used to publish in Los Angeles?) is an article by Rabbi Ben Kamin who accepted an invitation to observe Islamic rituals at a nearby Islamic Center.
When I beheld the full moon and knew that the Jewish fall festival of Sukkot was about to glow, I gave new thought to the fact that my Muslim neighbors in the community were equally spellbound by the moon–also for reasons of the spirit. Several days ago, after sharing lentil soup and fresh dates with pious men and a proud troop of Girl Scouts at the Islamic Center of our city, the moon took on another face for me–and my step-children were able to put a face on their perceptions of Islam.
…
The moon, the fast, the devotions of mercy and atonement aligned with my own faith and I could only wonder why, really why, the common children of Abraham did not realize that we more than breathe the same air and want the same for our children.
Not the answer, but certainly a ray of hope, came from the zealous troop of in-house mosque Girl Scouts, replete with uniforms, troop badges, and “Share Ramadan With A Friend” patches, who distributed boxes of dates to all the visitors. The young ladies, mingling with us among the Arabic prayers posted on the walls, the scientific posters about hydrogen, photosynthesis, and the solar system, spoke to us more than anything: Our generation, even Amir and myself, will likely not see such a table set in Jerusalem, Algiers, Baghdad, or Beirut. But thanks to the courage of men like Amir, and the purity of a patch of Muslim girl scouts who pass out fresh dates, some of us will never see the moon again in quite the same way.
Not a story you hear about every day, unfortunately, but one that gives the depressed hope and makes me a little prouder to call Los Angeles my home town.
- boyandgirlscouts.islam
- Jewish Scouting Scholarship
- Jews or Jesus?
- Saudi Scouts Say No To Smoking
- Muslim Girl Scouts in Minneapolis
