This Friday evening, both Jews and Muslims will be welcoming important holidays.  Jews will begin Yom Kippur, and Muslims will start Eid al-Adha.

Eid al-Adha is translated to “Feast of the Sacrifice” and directly correlates to the biblical story of Abraham sacrificing a nearby sheep, instead of his son, Ishmael.  This is a major holiday and Muslim families celebrate that they do not need to sacrifice their first born son in order to show their devotion to God.  It is traditional to sacrifice a sheep, goat, or a camel and then share it amongst family, friends, and people who are poor.  This holiday lasts at least 3 days, although certain cultures have the holiday last longer.

Similar to other holidays in Islam, Muslims celebrate by eating a big meal with their family and then everyone goes from house-to-house drinking coffee and eating sweets–like cookies with dates and nuts.

However, before the feast, Muslims go to pray at a Mosque, wearing their best clothes.

Therefore, if you are in the Holy Land and are looking somewhere to go to celebrate Eid al-Adha, look for a nearby Mosque.  Once the sun sets it is easy to spot Mosques because of the green light near the top of it.

Additionally, if you will be in Jerusalem not celebrating either the Eid or Yom Kippur, there will be a group of like-minded people hanging out.  Click HERE to find out details of the event.  I found out about this get-together from the Facebook group Secret Al Quds- East Jerusalem.  To learn more about these usual Facebook groups, check out THIS previous blog post.

For all who are celebrating Yom Kippur–gamer chatima tova, May you be inscribed in the Book of Life; and for all who are celebrating Eid al-Adha–Eid Mubarak, Happy holidays!