On November 14th, a firebomb was set under a window in the Masjid al-Salaam mosque in Ontario, Canada, part of a wave of local hate crimes following the Paris attacks. Fortunately no-one was hurt though the fire caused $80,000 in damages which was quickly raised in crowd-funding efforts.
Worshippers are now left without a home to pray until their mosque is repaired. Enter the Beth Israel Synagogue which recently opened its doors to their Muslim neighbors. “I hope this can be some kind of small example to others,” says Larry Gillman, president of the synagogue.
“We have more similarities than differences,” says Muslim community leader, Kenzu Abdella. “We have so much common — the details of worship and the ceremonies. Even the stories we hear are similar. At the end of the day, it’s a house of God.”
