What we are undertaking is a 4 week process, with the first day, November 18 starting in New Brunswick New Jersey and ending on December 11 in Boston, Massachusetts.

The focus will be on preparing Muslim and Jewish food at Soup Kitchens, Mosques and Synagogues. On November 18 food will be prepared and served in Trenton and New Brunswick, New Jersey.

On November 20, one of the food preparation location will be Muslim Foundation Mosque in Somerset, New Jersey and then food will be brought for distribution to the people in need at feeding locations like VA homeless shelter in Basking Ridge, Penn Station in Newark and several locations in New York City. The second day, November 21, will involve members of synagogues and mosques and interfaith groups in north Jersey feeding the homeless in Morristown and sharing a celebratory meal with them in tribute to the Weekend of Twinning.

Muslims Against Hunger will also be organizing opportunities to volunteer and feed homeless people at a variety of locations across New Jersey, New York, as well as in Boston and Toronto, during the period of November 18 to December 11. Persons, congregations and organizations interested in taking part in any of these events should respond by e-mailing me back, and equally as importantly, registering on the Muslims Against Hunger web site at www.muslimsagainsthunger.org.

Remember, you may sign up to volunteer for one or more of these events, depending on your time and availability. Whatever you do will be deeply appreciated by the homeless and will strengthen the effort to get Muslims and Jews working together to fulfill our common moral imperative to succor the weakest in society, known in Arabic as islah and in Hebrew as tikkun olam. Please come out to help the homeless and to strengthen bonds of communication and cooperation between North Americas Jewish and Muslim communities. Please let us know ASAP where and when we can expect to see you.

Here is a summary of the two main Weekend of Twinning events on November 20 in New Brunswick and November 21 in Morristown.

Program:

8am to 11am

Muslim and Jewish volunteers will prepare 300 to 450 meals featuring Muslim and Jewish food (Tandoori chicken, rice pilaf and cholent). The volunteers will include Rutgers students from Shalom-Salaam, Hillel and MSA and others; as well as volunteers from synagogues and mosques or Jewish or Muslim organizations or individuals of whatever faith (or no faith) who decide they want to volunteer.

11:15 to 11:45

An early celebratory lunch for volunteers and homeless individuals

12:00 noon to 1:30

Muslim and Jewish early afternoon prayers and related activities

1:30 

·   A group of volunteers from Basking Ridge will depart the mosque to transport 100 meals to the Basking Ridge VA Homeless Shelter for serving by Muslim and Jewish volunteers gathered there.

·    A group of volunteers—including participants in the food preparation at the mosque who would like to take part in delivering food to the homeless will depart for Newark and New York City. Six volunteers will travel in a MAH minibus; known as ’Homeless Bus’, and others will travel by car. The volunteers will head first to Newark Penn Station to distribute 100 hot meals there. Some of the volunteers will then head for Manhattan where they distribute 150 hot meals at various street locations.

5:30 PM — Volunteers should arrive at the Our Place Day time Drop-In Center at the First Baptist Church, 51 Washington Street, Morristown. For the first hour, we will prepare food for homeless and hungry people who frequent Our Place on a daily basis.

7 PM -- Volunteers will sit down to a buffet meal together with the homeless guests.

7:30 -- A celebratory event will take place in the Church sanctuary to be attended by people of all faiths, but dedicated to Weekend of Twinning and the cooperative efforts of the Jewish and Muslim communities in North Jersey, across America and the world. The keynote speaker at the event will be Morristown Mayor Timothy Dougherty. Other speakers will include Zamir Hassan of Muslims Against Hunger, Walter Ruby of The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, David Mortensen of the Multifaith Peace and Justice Alliance, and rabbis, imams and other members of mosques and synagogues that take part in the event.