Breaking Bread

‘Breaking bread’ is a well known phrase, with Biblical origins, which expresses the sharing of food in a manner that increases connection, cooperation and kindness. It can also signify forgiveness and moving forwards.

The dining table is a wonderful place to gather as families, relatives, friends and communities to bond over food and nourish appetites and relationships. How many times is a birthday, end of exams, an anniversary and a reunion celebrated over food and conversation!

Aside from the way we grow closer to those we know, a meal is a way to create new relationships with those we don’t know.

The Great Get Together has been an annual event since the horrific murder of MP Jo Cox in 2016. With the logo, “We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us,” more and more communities are getting together to relax, enjoy and share food whilst learning from one another and creating stronger communities.

Watch out for Altrincham’s Great Get Together in Stamford Park on Saturday 22nd June!!

Nisa-Nashim, a local Jewish-Muslim womens friendship group has held a ‘Challah’ evening and an ‘Iftar’ for its members. The Challah is a loaf of bread traditionally eaten on the Jewish Sabbath and the Iftar is the evening meal eaten by Muslims in Ramadan at the end of a fasting day. By sharing these meals together, ladies were able to unite around a meal, learn more about one anothers’ faiths and build lasting friendships that are premised on respect and understanding.

Just this week, local Muslims have been gifting Iftar platters to their neighbours to share the evening meal after a day of fasting. It is a wonderful expression of kindness and care and provides an impetus for us all to be reaching out to one another all year round.

The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said:

“Shall I show you something that, if you did, you would love each other? Spread peace between yourselves.”

And “O people, spread peace, feed the hungry, and pray at night when people are sleeping and you will enter Paradise in peace.”

You may have heard of Blackburn teacher, Catherine Coulthard, who planned to fast the whole of Ramadan to show support to her students who are taking GCSEs.

“It makes you really appreciate that all we have to do is turn the tap on or go to the fridge and grab a drink.”

“They are fabulous and deserve so much respect. I admire them so much” were her words about her students!

Food and conversation are wonderful ways to get to know one another better; in our families, on our streets and in our communities. It is a way to bond, learn, connect, forgive, re-start and build relationships. In the humdrum of daily life, taking time out for simple pleasures with those we know and those we don’t can have lasting benefits.

I ask myself first and foremost: Can we create a new dinner table test? Can we invite others, from diverse communities different from our own to share a meal and conversation? Can we make our tables places where we feed our souls on the wealth of contrasting human experiences from our own and taste of cultures and ways that are new to us?