Halifax Jews cook Christmas lunch for seniors, Muslims buy presents for families who can’t afford them

Halifax Jews and Muslims didn’t celebrate Christmas but did lend a helping hand to those celebrating this year.

Atlantic Jewish Council (AJC) volunteers prepared a turkey meal on Christmas for guests at Spencer House Seniors’ Centre.

“I’m hoping that it’s helping by giving seniors something to do when they may or may not have family and friends in town,” said Sky Smith, a volunteer for the organization.

The noon meal was partly made on a prior day by centre staff. AJC’s 18 volunteers reheated the meal and cooked other parts.

Myrna Yazer, a volunteer, brought homemade cake and cranberry sauce for the 18 guests.

“My meal was very good,” said Elnora Roue, an 86-year-old guest.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "My meal was very good," said Elnora Roue, an 86-year-old guest.

A couple of meals were delivered by a volunteer to the homes of people who couldn’t attend.

The annual event started five years ago when the organization was looking for a way to give back to the community.

READ MORE: Hundreds line up in Edmonton to deliver presents for Santas Anonymous

A volunteer played Christmas music on an accordion and encouraged guests to play along with tambourines during the event.

Several new Jewish immigrant families have volunteered for the event over the years, said Smith.

According to Edna LeVine, director of community engagement for the AJC, the centre would have otherwise been closed on Christmas.

One of the volunteers was not Jewish, she said.

“I think that when we look at places where we can come together, where we can be of service to each other, then all religions will be better off,” said Smith.

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Muslims buy presents

A few weeks prior, Rana Zaman said she saw a woman on Facebook offering extra Christmas money to people struggling to afford presents.

The woman couldn’t meet the demand, so Zaman, through an initiative separate from AJC’s event, volunteered to take over the list of people who reached out.

She asked people in the Muslim community if they would be interested in pairing up with families on the list and buying them what they could.

“I wanted the donors to meet the recipients because the whole idea is to have the different communities meeting each other face-to-face and seeing how they’re very similar,” said Zaman on Dec. 21, shortly after she delivered a few gifts to a family.

Some families gave her cash to buy gifts (and later deliver) for the other families.

“For us, as Muslims, it has nothing to do with the religious aspect of the holiday. For us, it has to do with charity, which is in Islam year-round,” Zaman said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "For us, as Muslims, it has nothing to do with the religious aspect of the holiday. For us, it has to do with charity, which is in Islam year-round," Zaman said.

The gifts she personally gave out were in colourful gift bags so that the recipients have the optional “pleasure of wrapping it themselves and giving it to their kids.”

READ MORE: Halifax Muslims to buy Christmas gifts for families who can’t

Zaman said several people on her listed only wanted groceries.

About 15 families, one of whom isn’t Muslim, were paired up with 18 families on the list, she said.

“We react as a human being first, not as a Muslim first, or a Jewish person first. We react as a human being,” Zaman said.