Happy New Year to Muslims and Jews Both: in a Rare Year Where AH 1 Muharram 1438 and AM 1 Tishrei 5777 Coincide

Shana Tova to Jewish readers on this first day of Rosh Hashonah,  which began at sundown. But also Happy New Year to Muslim readers in an extremely rare occasion when Jewish New Year coincides with Ra's al-Sana al-Hijriyya, the Muslim New Year. (And of course,  Rosh Hashonah and Ra's al-Sana are cognate, and both mean "Head of the Year.")  But the calendars are quite different, with Muslim lunar dates moving around through the solar year, and this kind of coincidence is purely that. But Happy New Year whether you're welcoming in 1438 or 5777.

When Calendars Collide

I thought I'd note an interesting fact about next week. At sunset on Tuesday, September 22, the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, will begin. Just 24 hours later, at sundown September 23, the Muslim ‘Eid al-‘Adha begins, the Feast of Sacrifice culminating the Meccan Hajj.. Though both the Jewish and Muslim calendars are basically lunar, the Hebrew calendar periodically adds an intercalary (extra-calendrical) month to bring the lunar calendar closer to the solar, while the Islamic calendar expressly forbids this and is purely lunar. So this near juxtaposition of two of their major holy days is purely a coincidence, but I suspect security services will be on alert in Israel, the Palestinian territories, and around the world.

There are no major Christian feasts next week, but it happens that just a few hours before Yom Kippur begins in the Eastern United States, at 4 pm Eastern Daylight Time next Tuesday, Pope Francis will land in Washington for his first visit to the US, visiting DC, New York, and Philadelphia. It will be a busy week for all the Abrahamic faiths.

Rosh Hashanah Greetings

Greetings to my Jewish readers for Rosh Hashanah, which began at sundown.

Passover and Easter Greetings

Passover begins this evening and Sunday is Easter Sunday for those who follow the Western calendar (and Palm Sunday for those following the Orthodox date), so best wishes to both Christian and Jewish readers.

Purim Greetings

Purim Greetings to my Jewish readers; Purim begins at sundown.

Hanukkah Greetings

Greetings to my Jewish readers for the first night of Hanukkah, which begins at sundown.

Haaretz on "The Forgotten Jews of Sudan"

Haaretz' title sums it up: "The forgotten Jews of Sudan even researchers haven't heard of."

Excerpt:

In its heyday, the Jewish community in Sudan had fewer than 1,000 members – a drop in the sea compared to the 260,000-strong Moroccan-Jewish community, the 135,000-strong Algerian community, the 125,000 Jews living in Iraq, the 90,000-strong Tunisian community, and the 75,000 Jews who lived in Egypt before Israel was established.

The Jewish community in Sudan dissolved after 1956, when the country became independent and joined the Arab League. An estimated 500 Jews came to Israel, while the rest dispersed around the world.

Best Wishes for Both Yom Kippur and ‘Id al-‘Adha

It is certainly unusual for the major religious observances of both Islam and Judaism to coincide, but this year Yom Kippur and the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice do just that.

‘Id Mubarak to my Muslim readers and an easy fast to my Jewish readers.

A Glimmer of Good News: Cairo Synagogue Hosts Ramadan Iftar

So much is depressing right now, here's something that isn't: Cairo's last synagogue has hosted  a Ramadan Iftar meal sponsored by the Egyptian Alliance for Minorities. This photo alone speaks volumes:

Gestures will not end war and intolerance, but they do show hope. It takes a long time for water to erode a Grand Canyon, but here is a promising drop.

Video below: among the speakers are Magda Haroun, head of Cairo's tiny Jewish community, a member of the Amazigh Movement in Egypt, and an Azhari sheikh from a group called Azharis for a Civil Society.  (The English report quotes Haroun as saying "We are all Egyptians," which she does, but note that in her Arabic clip she also mentions Shi‘ites and Baha'is along with other minorities.

Passover Greetings

Passover begins at sundown today, and since Jewish readers will be otherwise occupied then, let me wish them best wishes in advance on this night that is different from all other nights.

No Government Officials Attend Funeral for Deputy Head of Egypt's Jewish Community

The Deputy Head of Egypt's minuscule and dwindling Jewish community, Nadia Shehata Haroun, who was also the younger sister of community head Magda Haroun, died late last week and was buried yesterday. A rabbi was flown in from Turkey: the only open synagogue has no rabbi and the Haroun family refused to use one from the Israeli Embassy. Their late father Shehata Haroun was a leftist and a strong critic of Israel.

While the report in the (state-owned) Ahram Online merely notes that "Hundreds gathered at Adly Street Synagogue in downtown Cairo on Tuesday to pay respects," it fails to mention what Egypt Independent does note: "Govt absent in Jewish community vice president funeral."

I previously discussed Egypt's Jewish community last year when the previous President, Carmen Weinstein, died. Note to that while Ahram puts the number remaining at less than a hundred, the other sources estimate it at 20. All are believed to be women now, and worship is not held in the one open synagogue for lack of  a minyan.

Happy Hannukah, Happy Thanksgiving, and May Your Turkey Not Be Mummified

Platter pf Fowl Left as Food for the Afterlife in an Egyptian Tomb

Since as I noted earlier, tomorrow marks a rare convergence of the US Thanksgiving holiday with the first day of Hannukah, let me wish my Jewish readers a Happy Hannukah and my American readers a Happy Thanksgiving and also, May Your Thanksgiving turkey not be mummfied like the fowl shown above from an Egyptian tomb.

I repost again this year this photo of an embalmed fowl of some sort on a platter from an Egyptian tomb which the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago posted as their Thanksgiving greeting on their Facebook page last year.

Barring something major, I'll be off for the holiday (the four-day Thanksgiving weekend, not the eight days of Hannukah) and will be back Monday.

Technical Notes on the Great "Thannukahsgiving" Convergence This Year

Most of my American readers probably know this already, but my foreign readers (even my Canadian readers who celebrate Thanksgiving in mid-October and on a Monday to boot for reasons understood only north of the 49th parallel) may not be aware of it yet, but this year the US Thanksgiving holiday coincides with the first day of Hannukah. This has not happened since 1888 and this precise combination may or may not ever occur again in the foreseeable future depending on some variables. (Our present rules for dating Thanksgiving only date from 1942, and before that the variables were different. Under the present rules, even 1888 wouldn't count.)

As this post at chabad.com, in an explanation called "Chanukah and Thanksgiving: A Brief History,"
puts it: 

Question:

Is it true that . . .

• Thanksgiving falls on Chanukah this year,
• it’s never happened before, and
• it will never happen again?

Answer:

Yes, no, and maybe.

Now, Chabad is a Lubavitcher  Hasidic ultra-Orthodox Jewish movement, and my Irish Catholic self is not about to argue with them on the finer points of the Jewish calendar. Nor do I think more liberal Jewish movements would disagree. and I know I should stay away from calendar issues. In 2012 I did a post called "Why are Eastern and Western Easter on Different Dates? Don't Expect to Figure it Out from this Post."

Despite the obvious caveat in the headline, I was taken to task in the comments, one beginning with

The Zonaras proviso is not a rule. It is an after-the-fact explanation for the inaccuracies of the Julian lunar calendar. If it were a rule, it would have precise mathematical content which would enter into the computation of Julian Easter. It has no such mathematical content.

And it went on from there. I have no doubt the commenter was right, and I will never try to sound authoritative about the Zonaras Proviso again. (Even if I still remembered what it was.) So I know I am risking abject humiliation if I pontificate about calendars, so I'm just going to assume the Chabad folks have the Jewish one more or less right (see another of their articles here and there are many others to be found around the Internet) and will talk more about the date of Thanksgiving. I'm fairly sure on that I can talk turkey.

I will throw in one clarification: The statement that this has not occurred since 1888 and cannot be certainly predicted in the coming thousands of years is technically true of the exact coincidence occurring tomorrow.when Thanksgiving exactly coincides with the first day of Hannukah. But Hannukah is an eight-day feast and Jewish religious days do not coincide with midnight-to-midnight Western days. Apparently, in 1899 Thanksgiving coincided with the fourth day of Hannukah, and in 1918 it coincided with the eve of Hannukah. Because Jewish days begin at sundown the night before and days are short in November, in 1918 the first candle could have been lighted before the turkey was carved. That coincidence is predicted to recur in 2070 and 2165, but there is no predicted recurrence of tomorrow's exact coinciding of Thanksgiving with the first day. Or so the Chabad folks say: complain to them if they're wrong; I couldn't even get the Zonaras Proviso right.

Thanksgiving also complicates matters. The date has moved around. In 1777 the Continental Congress proclaimed a Thanksgiving on December 18 after the victory of Saratoga. (December 18 is unthinkable today as it would leave only a week for Christmas shopping!) Various dates were celebrated thereafter.

Abraham Lincoln established the tradition of the last Thursday in November. But Thanksgiving still had to be proclaimed by a Presidential proclamation; it was not set in law. In 1939 Franklin D. Roosevelt used the fact that there were five Thursdays that November to proclaim it on the fourth Thursday instead of the last. With the country emerging from the Great Depression, Roosevelt hoped to extend the Christmas shopping season. In 1940 and 1941, each of which had the usual four Thursdays instead of five, Roosevelt declared Thanksgiving on the third Thursday.  His Republican opposition acted as if he'd moved Christmas to July; he was insulting the memory of Lincoln (Republicans still were proud of Lincoln then) and they dubbed the new date "Franksgiving."

Finally in 1942, Congress split the difference and passed a law making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of every November, which differs from the traditional date only when five Thursdays occur in the month. It was also the first legal codification of the date. A few states held out and Texas (always marching to a different drummer) celebrated the fifth Thursday as late as 1956 (accorfing to the Chabad calculations, giving it two more coincidences of Thanksgiving with the eve of Hannukah in 1945 and 1956).

To clarify, until 1942 Thanksgiving could occur as late as November 30 under certain circumstances. Since 1942 it cannot occur later than November 28, tomorrow's date.

Now the punchline: the only previous time tomorrow's exact coincidence of Thanksgiving with the first day of Hannukah happened, in 1888, it was on November 29, 1888, a date that would be impossible under the 1942 law!

So, unless the date of Thanksgiving changes again (retailers would probably welcome a longer shopping season: but the vagaries of the Jewish calendar mean Hannukah will occur later and later into the Gregorian year), enjoy tomorrow's "Thannukahsgiving" convergence: you (probably if the calendars don't change) will not gaze upon its (precise) like again.

Shas Party Spiritual Leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, 1920-2013

Ovadia Yosef (Wikipedia)

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader of the Shas Party and one of the most powerful religious figures in Israel, died today at the age of 93.  Yosef. born in Baghdad in 1920, had served as Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983, and established and presided over Shas' Council of Torah Sages; under his leadership Shas greatly enhanced the political power of the Sephardic haredi community and of Israel's Jews of Middle Eastern origin in general. He had been ailing for some time. Another obituary here.

For the Eve of Yom Kippur, a Post on Cairo's Jewish Community on Rosh Hashona

Yom Kippur begins tomorrow night; here's a piece for Tablet about the beginning of the High Holy Days in Cairo: "Cairo Jews Show God They Are Still There."

For an earlier post about the late Carmen Weinstein, see here.

Shona Tova 5774 שנה טובה

Wishing my Jewish readers L'Shona Tova for Rosh Hashonah (or Rosh Hashanah if you prefer), which begins at sundown. And best wishes for the High Holy Days.

And further proof that new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has a different style than his predecessor, the notorious Holocaust-denying Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:

And a little nostalgia reminding us of a rather different time in the Middle East: Egyptian President Muhammad Naguib visiting the Adly Street Synagogue in Cairo 60 years ago for Rosh Hashonah, September 10, 1953, with the Chief Rabbi:

Tisha B'Av and Ramadan

I'm a few hours late with this since the Jewish fast day of Tisha B'Av, marking the fall of both the first and second temples, ended at sundown. Belated wishes to Jewish readers; for the history of the day see my 2009 Tisha B'Av post. This encouraging thought has been making the rounds on social media: (the Muslim is dressed in ihram for the hajj, rather than Ramadan, but the thought's a noble one):

Synchronicity Ironies: Nakba Day at 65 Coincides with Shavuot

May 15 is marked (certainly not "celebrated") as Nakba Day by Palestinians, the date in 1948 on which the British Mandate for Palestine formally ended and the first Arab-Israeli War/Israeli War of Independence began, still known among Palestinians as the nakba, the catastrophe. Israel had proclaimed its independence the day before, on May 14, but due to the differences between the (mostly lunar) Hebrew calendar and the solar Western calendar, the two dates today rarely coincide, since Israelis celebrate Yom Ha'Atzmaut or Independence Day on the Hebrew date of 5 Iyar (this year it was April 16, just about a month ago), Israel has already celebrated its 65th birthday, while Palestinians are marking 65 years of their own loss today. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict at age 65 has made a few faltering steps towards a solution, but is not yet ready for retirement.

Despite the difference in dates observing the same event, this year sees an interesting and perhaps ironic juxtaposition: the Jewish holiday of Shavuot began at sundown last night. And there are some interesting symbolic aspects to this coincidence of Nakba Day and Shavuot.

Shavuot (in English Bibles and the New Testament often translated literally as the "Feast of Weeks") comes seven weeks after Passover and traditionally marks the giving of the Torah to the Jewish People at Mount Sinai. But Shavuot also has a traditional linkage to the Biblical Book of Ruth. As the Wikipedia Shavuot article notes:

The Book of Ruth (מגילת רות, Megillat Ruth) is read on Shavuot because: (1) King David, Ruth's descendant, was born and died on Shavuot [Y Chagigah 2:3]; (2) Shavuot is harvest time [Exodus 23:16], and the events of Book of Ruth occur at harvest time; (3) The gematria (numerical value) of Ruth is 606, the number of commandments given at Sinai in addition to the 7 Noahide Laws already given, for a total of 613; (4) Ruth was a convert, and all Jews also entered the covenant on Shavuot, when the Torah was given; (5) The central theme of the book is loving-kindness, and the Torah is about loving-kindness; (6) Ruth was allowed to marry Boaz on the basis of the Oral Law's interpretation of the verse, "A Moabite may not marry into the Congregation of the Lord." (Deut. 23:4). This points to the unity of the Written and Oral Torahs. 

What was once a familiar story may deserve a summary here: Naomi and her husband Elimelech had moved from Bethlehem in Judah to Moab, and their two sons married Moabite women. Naomi's husband and both sons then died, and Naomi determined to return to her own people. One of the daughters-in-law, Orpah, agrees. The other, Ruth, has other ideas.

Most Gentiles will best know Ruth for its famous line in Chapter I, verse 16 (KJV), which has entered the familiar phrases of the English language:

16 And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

Returning to Bethlehem with Naomi, she marries a kinsman of Naomi named Boaz, and becomes the Moabite ancestor of the future royal line of Judah. Ruth carries much symbolism, not just of loyalty, but of the role of the outsider: Ruth is a direct ancestor of King David, yet a non-Hebrew Moabite; the gospel genealogies of Jesus, which trace him to David and beyond, also include Ruth, the Gentile ancestor of Jesus.

And Ruth's relationship with Naomi despite both of their losses has led to some commentators calling Shavuot "a holiday of nonviolence."

I'm not going to belabor the imagery here. But the coincidence of the 65th anniversary of Nakba Day and the major Jewish holiday that celebrates assimilation with an outsider seemed worth a comment. Especially lately.

Greetings to readers celebrating Shavuot, acknowledgment and sympathy to readers celebrating Nakba Day. May the reconciliation of outsiders not be merely a nice Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age legend, and the integration of the other be embraced.

"Modesty Glasses" for Haredi Men?

Okay, I know The New York Daily News is not exactly the greatest source (though after the performance of The New York Post last week, which seemed toi be reporting some alternate universe, it seems downright respectable), but it has a story on what it claims is a new product for haredi or ultra-Orthodox men in Israel: "modesty glasses" that blur their vision so they will not inadvertently have to look at women.

How do they keep from walking in front of buses?

The Death of Carmen Weinstein, Head of Egypt's Small Jewish Commuinity

[UPDATE: Zeinobia has photos and coverage of the funeral at Cairo's Adly St. Synagogue today. Apparently an unprecedented media turnout for the tiny Jewish community.] Last weekend, Carmen Weinstein, head of Egypt's Jewish Community Council, died at the age of 82. Her funeral is today; Magda Haroun will succeed her. Though she headed a tiny community today numbering only in the dozens, she sought to preserve the remnants of Cairo's once influential Jewish community, which once number4ed some 80,000. She sought to preserve abandoned synagogues, maintain cemeteries, and keep the memories of the community alive.

Lucette Lagnado at the Wall Street Journal, herself of Egyptian Jewish background, remembers her here. Other appreciations: Ahram Online. the Jerusalem Post, the NYT. You can also find the Jewish Community Council's newsletter Bassatine (named for Cairo's ancient Jewish cemetery) here.

Recently a newly made documentary remembering Cairo's former Jewish community was withdrawn at its opening due to concerns from the security services (though subsequently released). It is a reminder that there are still sensitivities surrounding the issue, perhaps especially today, with an Islamist leadership.