I never had a Jewish friend, neither do I know much about Judaism. Yes, shame on me. I feel that I should know the basics at least of one of the 3 monotheistic religions in the world , but I don’t. There is so much about comparing Christianity and Islam that I tend to ignore, the third.
Well, that changed since I met AG. A fellow producer, we have much to talk about. He had some difficult times lately and a month ago, he moved out and is in a new apartment in the same neighbourhood where we live.Two weeks ago, I made a humoungous amount of mee goreng and dropped a pot for him. Told him it is a Malay thing. And he walloped it all.
Anyway, today we decided to meet so he can pass the pot back to me. It was during the queue at Cafe Artigianno that this conversation happen.
AG: So is Ramadan today?
ME: Huh? No..if not why would I be queueing for coffee with you?!
AG: Oh yeah
ME: I want to eat something…hmmm(looks at lemon muffin)
AG: You know today is our Rosh Hashana
ME: Rush what ?
AG: Rosh Hashana.
ME: What’s that?
AG: Its our New Year.
ME: Oh really?? So why aren’t you celebrating?
AG: Because it starts tonight. At sunset.
So that was my AHA moment. At sunset? Rosh Hashana? Isn’t that the same time as when Ramadan sets in?
I have never heard of Rosh Hashana before so there were quite a lot of questions that AG had to answer. Poor him. But I was intriqued. Rosh Hashana never falls on a definitive date. Like Ramadan, it is a lunar sequence. The Jews celebrate it in prayer and by blowing on the shofar, a special horn.
Apparently, Rosh Hashana has been coinciding with Ramadan for the past 3 years, a rarity says the experts. Masya’allah only Allah knows the secrets.
Ramadan Mubarak everyone. May this year be a better reflection of ourselves than the last.
That’s good. for some reason i doubt i would’ve stumbled upon that at any time.
am still cruisin on the autobahn.
zuzan, thanks for sharing. I’ve had a Jewish friend for the past 30 years and he never told me that.
Selamat berpuasa.
we were at the jewish deli the day before puasa (and rosh hashanah). saw the flyer for rosh hashanah and reminded david not to forget to call his grannies and dad to wish them. every yr, they would bake the chicken and eat, like thanksgiving.
the jewish culture is so rich. too bad david was not brought up with those strong cultures.
zorro: don’t look sideways when you are cruising 🙂 They say it is good to read when travelling. Dah habis baca buku tu ke belum?
kakteh: yes, this thought me to ask more questions to my other friends 🙂
ely: It is rich indeed. I really must learn more, next trip to San Francisco aku nak tanya David banyak-banyak 🙂