BaltimoreJewishLife.com | Where The Rabbi and The Imam Eat Together In Harmony

Jerusalem, Israel - In some parts of Israel and in some Arab countries relations are strained between Arabs and Jews but the opposite is the case in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, a republic in central Russia. The Jewish community is on excellent terms with its Muslim neighbors and this was demonstrated this week when the local Chabad rabbi, Rabbi Yitzchak Gorelick, invited the local Imam to hold the Iftar meal, the customary meal held after the daily fast in Ramadan.

Gorelick and his wife Chana hosted the meal, which was the first time the Imam of the Grand Mosque of Kazan, Hassanov Ilfar Hazrat, had visited the Jewish community center and synagogue. After washing their hands, the Imam and Mufti recited their prayers, as well as at the conclusion of the meal.

Join BJL on WhatsApp Status: Click here to Join BJL status for engagements, births, deals, levayos, events & more

Join BJL on WhatsApp Groups: Click here to Join an official BJL WhatsApp group for breaking news as it happens

The meal was also attended by the head of the head of the “Zakat” charity fund Bolat Mardanov, president of the community Shalva Tatershvili, as well as Tatarstan’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade German Lerner, Former President of the Community and Head of the Autonomous Jewish Cultural Organization, Agency Representative Yuri Shachar, the vice-rector of the Kazan University, as well as the Minister-councelor at the Embassy, Yifat Amedy.

Mrs. Keren Cohen-Gat, the deputy Ambassador of Israel to Russia, also attended the meal and presented a donation to the Yardam Foundation to distribute during Ramadan amongst needy Muslim families in Tatarstan.