Rabbi joins imam and reverend in Gospel Oak to hand out free Iftar meals

A rabbi, an imam and a priest gathered in north London on Thursday to hand out free Iftar meals to members of the public.

The evening supper marks the end of a day of fasting at sunset during the month of Ramadan, which began this year on 23 March and is set to end tomorrow.

Rabbi Rebecca Birk, of Finchley Progressive Synagogue, joined the reverend Mother Carol Barrett Ford and Imam Muhammed Bodrul Haquev at the Queen’s Crescent Community Association in Gospel Oak.

The community centre distributed more than 1,170 takeaway meals last week as part of the Iftar For All project, which organisers hope to extend beyond Ramadan.

The centre, which has set up a Go Fund Me fundraiser for the initiative, opened its doors every evening during Ramadan to offer meat-based and vegetarian meals, fruit and desserts to members of the public in a bid to combat food poverty during the pandemic.

Rabbi Birk said: “Handing out meals two days before the end of Ramadan was a powerful collaborative experience and I was delighted to connect with Mother Carol, Imam Bodrul and everyone who makes QCCA [Queen’s Crescent Community Association] such a vital hub for community support.

“It was also a good learning experience to see how organisations in my next door borough of Camden are responding to Covid.”

The community centre’s chief executive Foyezur Miah said it was “particularly good to have Rabbi Rebecca from Barnet because we don’t have a synagogue on our doorstep in Gospel Oak, but we wanted the evening to bring everyone together.”

“Having three faith leaders come together here last night was an important reminder of the unity, love and peace that there is every community,” he said.