美国国家公共电台 NPR This Dinner Party Invites People Of All Faiths To Break Bread Together

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

We're in the holy month of Ramadan, when observant Muslims fast from just before sun up all the way until sunset. At the end of a day of going almost 16 hours without, Muslims often gather together to eat in mosques² and homes surrounded by family or neighbors. A new project is seeking to open up that traditional meal, iftar, beyond the usual crowd and the usual four walls. Deena Prichep reports.

DEENA PRICHEP, BYLINE³: When Omar Salha was in grad school, he could go home and break his Ramadan fast with his London family, but he felt bad for fellow students who were far from home.

OMAR SALHA: It's almost like the Christmas for Muslims, you know, when you have on Christmas Day everyone gather the family members. It just doesn't seem right that you're - during Ramadan, you're breaking fast alone.

PRICHEP: So with the handful of donated cookies and chips, Salha has started what he called Open Iftar. Students from many different countries sat down in a park and broke bread together.

SALHA: And that naturally just grew into incorporating people of all different faiths and people who have no faith and people who are just interested or passers-by.

PRICHEP: Since that first event in 2011, Salha has worked with groups launching Open Iftars around the world, hosting tens of thousands of people from Turkey to Canada, the U.K. to Zambia.

SALHA: It's so, so important to alleviate⁴ any misconceptions which people may have of the Islamic faith or even of Muslims.

PRICHEP: And more recently, the U.S. joined with an Open Iftar in Portland, Ore.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Can we make a plate for you?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Did you get to eat?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Come on, make your plate. I can give you at least dessert.

PRICHEP: Although the Open Iftar volunteers have been fasting for nearly 18 hours, their main concern is making sure the guests have eaten. On this night, it's over 600 people.

SAMIRA SARIOLGHALAM: I looked at the room, and I was seeing a lot of people hijab, no hijab, like, different races. And they all came here, I think, for a reason.

PRICHEP: Samira Sariolghalam hadn't been to an iftar since she came to the U.S. from Iran years ago, But after two people were killed here in Portland standing⁵ up to anti-Muslim violence, it felt important to her to show up.

(CROSSTALK)

PRICHEP: Guests sit on blankets and folding chairs, indoors and out, sharing food and learning about each other. Many, like Laurie King, had never really sat down with their Muslim neighbors.

LAURIE KING: I didn't know. Should I dress differently? Should I take my shoes off when I walk in the door? You know, all those things that go through your mind when you've never been to a mosque¹ before. And I just found that you come as you are, and you're welcome.

PRICHEP: And over plates of curried⁶ chicken and cinnamon-spiked rice - and a stack of pizzas for the kids - Muslims and non-Muslims move beyond political rhetoric⁷ and religious divides and get to know each other.

SALHA: Your ills are our ills. And your happiness is our happiness.

PRICHEP: Open Iftar founder⁸ Omar Salha says recognizing this fellowship and common ground is one of the central messages of Ramadan.

SALHA: These are interesting habits which are conducted over the course of the month which allow us to come closer to our community. And becoming closer to our community means we're becoming closer to God as well.

PRICHEP: The month of Ramadan lasts another two weeks, but Salha hopes this closeness and sense of community, not just among Muslims but among all neighbors, will last much longer. For NPR News, I'm Deena Prichep in Portland, Ore.

(SOUNDBITE OF QUANTIC'S "PAINTING SILHOUETTES")

1 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

2 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 curried   

adj.加了咖喱（或咖喱粉的），用咖哩粉调理的

参考例句：

• She curried favor with the leader by contemptible means. 她用卑鄙的手段博取领导的欢心。 来自互联网
• Fresh ham, curried beef? 鲜火腿？咖喱牛肉？ 来自互联网

7 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

8 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。