114 JEWISH AND MUSLIM STUDENTS UNITE FOR FEAST AT MTSU

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 24, 2007
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Dr. Lon Nuell, 615-898-2505
Dr. Saleh Sbenaty, 615-898-2966

JEWISH AND MUSLIM STUDENTS UNITE FOR FEAST AT MTSU
Sukkot and Ramadan to be Observed at a Meal Emphasizing Brotherhood

(MURFREESBORO) – To mark the convergence of two religious holidays, Hillel, the Jewish student organization at MTSU, will provide a meal for the Muslim Students Association at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, on the Keathley University Center (KUC) knoll.
The meal will be an opportunity for Muslim students who have been engaged in Ramadan, a month-long observance during which Muslims fast in the daylight hours, to break their fasts.
The Jewish students will celebrate Sukkot, which commemorates the 40-year period during which the Jews wandered in the desert, living in temporary shelters. The students will build a tabernacle called a sukkah on the lawn in front of the KUC.
Dr. Lon Nuell, professor of art, says this practice had been a tradition earlier. “It’s a tradition that we are renewing here in hopes that it will be a way of building a bridge between the two religions,” Nuell says.
For more information, contact Nuell at 615-898-2505 or lnuell@mtsu.edu or Dr. Saleh Sbenaty, professor of engineering technical and industrial studies and adviser to the Muslim Students Association, at 615-898-2966 or ssbenaty@mtsu.edu. Media welcomed.


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