The Eid thing...HELP?

[Emunah]

I have a Kurdish/Jewish mixed, but Muslim friend in Kurdistan. She sent me a gift on Rosh Hoshanah. I wish to send her a gift certificate for a book she and I both want to read about Roya Hakakian's experiences as a Jewish girl growing up during the Iranian revolution. I have figured out how to send her an online gift certificate but I don't understand the holiday enough to be sure if this would be an appropriate thing to give. She is always telling me about how much Judaism and Islam are a lot alike, and she can't stand the Islamofascists any more than I can. So, is this a day to give gifts? What exact date is it in the middle east? Is it the 6th or the 7th...I've heard both but I'm not exactly sure when the festivities begin? Andak, do you know?

[andak01]

Eid is so much about food, making it and giving it away. Maybe if you baked some cookies. However, there are a number of sites that offer on-line greetings if you can't mail a package. It's too bad you can't be there to partake of the fellowship and the feasting. The date is based on a moon sighting, so it may vary. There are two Eids, one ends the fasting of Ramadan and the other commemorates prophet Abraham (peace and blessings upon him). You can read about them in the Wikis below.

I hate Islamofascists too. They are making the lives of the rest of the Muslims much more difficult and dangerous. That is not to mention the hatred they spread for others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_ul-Fitr
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_ul-Adha

http://www.eidstuff.com/profile.htm
http://www.eidmubarak.com/

[Emunah]

Thanks Andak, I think this is the eid about Abraham right? Eid Mubarak? We had an interesting discussion about that and exchanged sermons that were pretty much in agreement on the moral of the story.

Andak, you have NO IDEA how much I wish I could be their too, but it is too dangerous right now.

She says she is getting fat because of all the eating too close to bedtime so has taken to jogging in the evening with her dad. No Abayah, no hijab, otherwise I told her, I wanted the video of a jogging lady in black hijab and abayah :D

That's what makes me want to send the gift certificate for the book because I know it is something she wants to buy, but bought her dad a present instead and so didn't have the extra cash for Roya's book. I'm going to order one for me and she can get her's through Amazon and we can share our thoughts.

Would a book be inappropriate, cause I don't bake cookies and I don't want her to gain even MORE weight :D

I did make a Kurdish dish for Rosh Hoshanah though, so maybe she will make a Jewish dish for the Eid...I wouldn't put it past her, cause she knows all the old Jewish Kurdish recipes!

[andak01]

How about some hamantaschen? I used to like those when I lived in New York. Anyway, this is Eid Al Fitr, breakfast Eid. That ends Ramadan and we go to the mosque in the morning and we can end our fasting.

[Emunah]

OOPS I got my Eids mixed up. Thanks again Andak. Do you know the story of hamentaschen? It might not go over to well if there is an unexpected story behind it. So today I finally have it straight, and I think the new cresent moon begins around the 13th of Nov right? This is going to be interesting...."Emunah does outreach":)

[Emunah]

It's eid now right? Okay, so happy Eid to Andak. Thanks for your help. It was a big surprise to my friend and I'm sure here family will be bemused:)

[andak01]

Thanks. :) It's Eid tomorrow in Europe, and inshallah by Sunday, it will be here. What did you end up sending? And BTW, what is the story behind hammentaschen?

[Emunah]

Andak, I sent an Amazon gift certificate for the book called "Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran. by Roya Hakakian. Roya's family lived in Iran before the revolution, and had many Muslim friends. She went to a Jewish school and they were quite prosperous. Then the revolution came and everything changed. Her and her family eventually escaped and moved to the US. It kind of shows how people do not have trouble living together when harsh ideologies do not get in the way. Roya's lifelong friends were both Muslims and Jews and she loved her country, but had to leave it. Here is a book review: http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2004/09/07/when_islam_won_iran_a_tale_of_love_faith_womanhood/

I thought it was an appropriate gift.

The hamentaschen story comes from Purim celebrations. Esther was the queen of Ahasuerus also known as Xerxes I, and the story goes that Hamen, who was an amalekite vizir to the King tried to have all of the Jews killed. Esther intervened and saved her people. Every time Jews mention the name of Hamen on Purim everyone boos. This was before Islam, but the idea moved forward in time and the hamentaschen is really supposed to represent Hamen's "pockets" or his hat, and the sweetness inside is in celbration of his defeat. He was hung, instead of the Jews. Since he was supposed to be decended from the Amelikites and the Jews are supposed to kill all of them, it didn't seem like an olive branch if the story was known because it might be interpreted as a conquest thing. This King was king of Persia and at the time it included Babel...Babylon. They were busy fighting the Macedonians and putting down uprisings there in Egypt (do Egyptians ever get a government they like?:). Anyway, there were too many possibilities for errors in communication if I sent that so I did not.

However, I did give an eid gift to the Kurds, and it's pretty contraversial with everyone else, but it won't be to the Kurds. I'm just too mischeivious for my health. I dedicated my "blog" to the Peshmerga Women's Fighting Forces. Take a look here: It ought to cause a stir:) We shall see. http://peshmergawomen.blogspot.com