Religious holidays observed
Muslims, Jews celebrate while sitting in class
By Dominic Desmond, news editor
Posted on September 25, 2006

Classes weren’t canceled on Friday, but that didn’t stop senior Scott Brody from heading home for Rosh Hashanah.

One thing Brody tried to do each year during Rosh Hashanah was to sneak out of the temple service, which he said could go on for four hours. He was caught many times and had added guilt piled on top of him.

“Jewish mothers have a particular knack for laying on guilt,” Brody said.

When the sun set last Friday, Jews worldwide celebrated the beginning of the new year, Rosh Hashanah, which literally means “Head of the Year,” Brody said. Compared to the bacchanalian Gregorian, the new year, Rosh Hashanah is time for families come together to pray for a good new year and to “wipe the slate clean,” said Brody.

Brody doesn’t really consider himself a very religious person, but he said he has begun to respect the holiday now that he’s older. This weekend, Brody went to his home in Herndon to be with his family for the new year.

Rosh Hashanah was not the only holiday that began this weekend.

For the next month, Samier Mansur, senior and president of the Student Muslim Association, will have to abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and having sex between sun up and sun down — every day. Mansur said he’ll do his best, though.

Ramadan is a month-long holiday, during which Muslim’s worldwide celebrate the revelation of the Koran to the Prophet Mohammed on top of Mount Aira. Mansur said it was easier to practice Ramadan when he lived in Pakistan and Bangladesh, where the populations are predominantly Muslim.

“In college it becomes a little more difficult,” he said. “But it adds greater merit to fasting.”

Throughout the month, Mansur said it is a goal for Muslims to have read the entire Koran.  He said the Koran holds fasting in high regard — it cleanses spiritually and mentally.

“The act of fasting helps you focus on a goal,” Mansur said. “Fasting helps you focus in a way no other way can.”

Eid ends the month-long fast of Ramadan, which Mansur said looks like Christmas. In the morning, families go to the mosque to pray, but after that there’s gift giving and festivities. Families go from house to house feasting on various foods and sweets, he said.

Until then, Mansur has to wait until sundown before he can eat, drink and do anything else. He said in the next few years, Ramadan will be pushed up further in the year, into the summer, when the days are longer.