Amidst the strife between the Jewish and Muslim communities around the world, one event in a small part of Los Angeles sought to address their similarities and spark conversation. A scene of uncommon unity unfolded in Echo Park where the oldest and largest Abrahamic faiths found solace at Saint Paul’s Common.
Individuals of various faiths converged to observe a rare synchrony of fasting rituals on March 21: the Jewish fast of Esther and the 11th fast of the Islamic month of Ramadan. The community iftar, the Muslim fast-breaking evening meal, was organized by New Ground in collaboration with Nefesh, a Los Angeles Jewish spiritual community.
“It felt like a rare thing that shouldn’t be rare. And it felt like we were proving to society: look, it can be done,” said Zach Ritter, a Jewish attendee of the interfaith community iftar. “It gave me hope.”
Ritter is a member of New Ground, a Muslim-Jewish partnership for change that was founded in 2006 to foster community between American Muslims and Jews.
Since the October 7 attacks and Israel’s intense bombing campaign on Gaza in response, relations between Jews and Muslims across the United States have been tense. Instances of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia have increased, contributing to record high levels of hate.
The Anti-Defamation League recorded over 2000 incidents of anti-Semitism after October 7th. Meanwhile, the Council on American-Islamic Relations received 3578 complaints of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian discrimination.
To address this divide, New Ground’s solution is to encourage hard conversations.
This community iftar is one of 16 such community gatherings for the month of Ramadan, the 9th month of the Islamic lunar calendar when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset for spiritual discipline, self-reflection and increased devotion to God.
The Fast of Esther, observed on the day before the Jewish holiday Purim, is a short fast where Jews abstain from food and drink to commemorate a time of danger faced by the Jewish people. It’s a day of prayer and reflection, honoring Queen Esther’s courage in saving them from annihilation.
The overlap of these two fasts allowed the communities to find similarities amid heightened animosity. The Muslim Surah Al-Fatiheh and Jewish prayer of Al HaNissim reverberated within the walls of an Episcopal Church at sundown.
Despite the diversity in religious practices, languages of prayer and faith traditions, both communities expressed the same sentiments within their hearts — anger, sadness and a profound spirit of remembrance. Divided by religion, yet united by grief.
“I believe that us coming together here in California is not a direct step that changes anything that happens, but it is our opportunity to express that we are aligned with the same cause,” Max Foreman, a member of Nefesh, said. “We must express our solidarity, even if it’s just an expression.”
Foreman and his partner, Rebecca Bonahan, sat at a table in the corner with a calm demeanor, emphasizing that their presence was to show solidarity with Muslims and Palestinians. The couple, who are both in their mid-30s, described themselves as deeply engaged in the Gaza conflict.
Many attendees from both faiths spoke about the significant loss of life. On October 7th, around 1200 Israelis were killed by Hamas, according to the Israeli government. Since then, the Gaza Ministry of Health has reported over 32,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli Defense Forces.
At the beginning of the program, organizers made space to acknowledge the prevalent grief. They asked all attendees to share the name of someone in their life whom they were grieving, or even someone who had died in Gaza and Israel. Twenty minutes were dedicated to sharing a name or two and lighting a candle in their honor.
One attendee shared the name of Rania Abu Anza, a Palestinian woman whose twins were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah. Another person at the same table shared the story of her relatives in Israel who were killed on October 7th.
As a part of the event, attendees were asked to light candles in honor of one person they liked to remember. Some people lit candles for more than just one or two individuals. One person in attendance lit a candle for the journalists who had been killed in Gaza, while another said theirs was for all the mothers.
The room fell quiet, with sparse chatter at each table. Some shed tears, while others smiled as they recounted happier times.
According to the event organizers, the aim of this was to “find stories of people who are too often relegated to statistics.”
While the organization has been working on bridging the divide between the two communities for almost 18 years, it has recently come under the spotlight for its “relatively unique” work, according to Paul Beck, who is chair of the New Ground Board of Directors.
“We are trying to meet people where they are,” he said.
Universities, corporations and nonprofits have called on the organization to help navigate their workspace by engaging proactively with divisions driven by tensions in the Middle East.
Since October 7, the number of meetings has drastically increased from around a dozen meetings a year to over 60 in the last few months.
“The organization has fielded 100 distinct outreach requests from various organizations and individuals seeking assistance in navigating dialogue during this tumultuous period,” Ben Ginsburg, the communications coordinator, wrote in an email.
“The idea is to create an access point for people to enter,” said Azeeza Hassan, the Executive Director of New Ground. “There will be moments where we’re still going to ask really hard questions. But we can’t ask them unless people are in the room.”
Hassan is a Palestinian American, whose family fled Palestine during the 1948 Nakba or “catastrophe,” when over 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from present-day Israel. The Nakba in Israel is referred to as the War of Independence.
In addition to programming events like the iftar, the organization aims to bring Muslims and Jews together through its fellowship program for young professionals and high school mentorship program.
Their Muslims and Jews Inspiring Change (MAJIC) program is a leadership cohort that trains Muslim and Jewish high school students in communication and conflict resolution. They attend Sunday retreats and sessions, learn from leaders and work on a joint project. Afterward, they receive a certificate from the City of Los Angeles, according to the New Ground website.
Similarly, their professional fellowship is for adults and aims to help them counter bias.
Marium Mohibddin, a member of the 2013 fellowship cohort, shared how New Ground helped her.
“It’s changed my life. I had to really confront the anti-Semitism that I didn’t realize I had within me, and really start challenging thoughts,” she said. “I feel like I’m being pushed to truly be a better Muslim. The idea of respecting others and really working and identifying people as people of the book.”
Mohibddin was one of 100 people in attendance at the iftar, which not only brought two communities together but also blended cultures from around the world. This was reflected in a potluck where everyone brought traditional dishes to share, sparking curiosity and conversation.
The food was set out on a patio outside. The spread included falafel, shawarma, hummus, and eggplant among other dishes. The menu featured vegetarian, vegan and fish options. Cuisines from around the world were offered, not limited to the Middle East. Dishes such as samosas, curry and Persian rice were also available. The dessert table offered a variety of treats ranging from baklava and Trader Joe’s offerings to saffron rice pudding and cake.
Among the event attendees, the number of Muslims fell short in comparison to their Jewish counterparts.
Both organizations, New Ground and Nefesh, wanted to ensure a balanced representation of participants — an equal number of Muslims and Jews —but that was not the case. According to an organizer at Nefesh, the 60 attendees who identified as Jewish were the majority, while the rest were a part of different faiths including Christians and Muslims.
Hassan, the director of New Ground, attributed the lower attendance to other concurrent iftars, including celebrations for Nowruz, as well as “special prayers,” while also acknowledging that communities are not only coming together but also staying away.
“I think both of them are true at the same time,” Hassan added. “I see more people coming in than I have seen before, or maybe people who have dropped off a long time ago and are now coming back. And I see people jumping off. I see more people coming in and I see people walking away. They’re both true.”
However, Hassan is hopeful. “I saw both grief and I saw receptivity. And I didn’t see anybody step away,” she said.
New Ground’s engagement with the two communities extends beyond the iftar and religious observances.
According to Ginsburg, this involvement encompasses a diverse array of activities, such as facilitating crisis discussions, providing training for independent conversations, delivering presentations on compelling Palestinian and Israeli narratives and educating on the context and complexity of the crisis and its historical roots.
Adnan Jaber and Michal Greenfield were two attendees at the iftar who embodied the mission of New Ground and strength in bringing Jews and Muslims together.
The married couple — Adnan, a Palestinian from Jerusalem, and his wife Michal, a Los Angeles Jew who lived in Israel for nearly a decade — shared how spaces like the iftar and organizations like New Ground give hope to people around them.
“It’s idealistic. We need more of that. We love the community,” Jaber said.
His wife Michal agrees.
“It gives hope. It nurtures hope, it validates hope as this real thing with a real community and not just something I hold and fan inside of me,” she said.
The Israel-Hamas war has had a profound impact throughout the world, including here in Los Angeles. Initiatives like these are bridging the divide.
“I think that it’s possible for Muslims to amplify Jewish voices and their own voices at the same time,” said Hasan, the child of a Palestinian Muslim father and American Christian mother. “And it’s possible for Jews to amplify Jewish voices and Muslim voices at the same time, and that we can honor and lift up without it somehow coming at a cost to us.”