The owners of Ayat, a Palestinian restaurant in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, offered a Shabbat service that intended to give a message of unity in the context of war in the Middle East.
Abdul Elenani and Ayat Masoud are owners of Ayat, a Palestinian restaurant that has been operating for years in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, New York. Last Friday, the couple hosted a free Shabbat dinner outside the venue, with the aim of giving a message of hope that coexistence between Jews and Palestinians is possible in the Middle East.
The dinner was scheduled for 9, but a few hours before people began to arrive, and there were more than 1300 attendees. Among them, more than 150 people of all ages, some wearing yarmulkes and others with keffiyehs around their necks, participated in a Shabbat service before the meal.
The Shabbat service, held on the street outside the restaurant in a rented tent for the night, was led by Laura Elkeslassy, a Brooklyn-based singer, actress and educator. Elkeslassy was born in France, and her parents are of Moroccan and Israeli origin.
Elenani decided to make the dinner free: “If you are going to invite people to your table and your place, and you are making an invitation for people to come to dinner between Jews and Muslims at this specific time, charging is the wrong thing to do,” he explained.
These are the things that sometimes make me believe in humanity
I think it was a very nice gesture from the owners of Restaurant Palestino.
Congratulations to them!!!!@