The holy sites of Judaism, Christianity and Islam share the same space in this historic city, and this has turned the history of the city into a history of warfare, massacres and destruction. The same is not true of time. Time is shareable. Believers in a certain religion do not feel offended if a particular day sanctified by their religion is held holy by believers in any other religion.Thanks to the lunar and Chinese calendars that move throughout the year, holy days occasionally coincide. A good example is this year's Muslim Eid al-Fitr and Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. This year Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Friday, Sept. 18 and ends at nightfall on Sunday, Sept. 20, the first day of Eid al-Fitr. Happy New Year to the Jews and a blessed eid to the Muslims of the world!
When a grand feast coincides with the feast of another religion, it attracts attention. Smaller coincidences take place more often and are hence less attractive, but they are about the very beliefs and rituals we have. Jews and Assyrians pray three times a day. The timings of these prayers vary in accordance with the movement of the sun: sunrise, noontime and sunset are important times in several world religions. We Muslims observe these three prayer times together with the Jews and several Christian denominations.
This Ramadan, Muslims shared something else with the Jews: late-night prayers. Religious Sephardic Jews pray an extra prayer of penitence starting from the first day of the Jewish month of Elul. These penitential prayers (selichot) continue up until the Day of Awe of the New Year, Yom Kippur. This year Elul overlapped with Ramadan. Last Saturday night was the most important selichot prayer. The selichot are performed in synagogues, and this penitential time before the High Holy Days of Judaism is a time of colorful and sleepless nights.
The same is true of Ramadan nights. Though not obligatory, many religious Muslims spend at least a third of the night awake and in prayer seeking repentance and building up hope. Tahajjud, as this night prayer is called, is advised for all nights of the year, but it is observed most commonly on Ramadan nights, and especially the last 10 nights of the holy month.
Hence, I can confidently say that last Saturday both the Muslim and the Jewish worlds were praying to the same God for repentance and well-being in the new year.
This coincidence produces beautiful memories. One such memory involves remarks made by the chief rabbi of Turkish Jews, İshak Haleva, during a recent iftar (fast-breaking dinner) hosted by the Journalists and Writers Foundation (JWF) at which leaders of minority religions in Turkey were present. Rabbi Haleva told the interfaith gathering that while he and his congregation were praying the selichot that night, the time of the Muslim morning call to prayer came. While the hazan, the Jewish counterpart of a Muslim muezzin, was singing the Mi KeElohim (Who is like unto God!) line in their supplication, he heard the muezzin calling for the morning prayer and reciting the Muslim declaration of monotheism: la ilahe illAllah (There is not god but God). “I lost my concentration for some time,” Rabbi Haleva said.
Religious Muslims and religious Jews prefer to fast on the first Mondays of each month. More religious ones fast on each and every Monday and Thursday. Almost all world religions give specific meanings to solar and lunar eclipses. Holy times are happily shared among the believers of different religions.
Why do we want to exclude others when it comes to sharing holy space and why are we more receptive when it comes to holy time?
With these thoughts in mind, I wish all my Muslim coreligionists a blessed Eid al-Fitr (Ramazan Bayramı) and a happy Rosh Hashanah to my Jewish friends in this world. G'mar hatima tova! May you be inscribed in the Book of Life.
Benzer Haberler 
