Muslim, Jewish families share Sabbath meal after protest
Turkish Yildirims join Jewish Bendat-Appells after meeting during anti-Trump travel ban protest in Chicago
The two families captured in a viral photo taken at Chicago’s O’Hare airport during a demonstration against President Donald Trump’s Muslim travel ban on Friday ate a Shabbat meal together.
The Yildirim family, who are Muslim, joined Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell and his family for Sabbath eve dinner at the rabbi’s home in Deerfield, Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The photo, taken by Chicago Tribune photographer Nuccio DiNuzzo at the O’Hare protest, showed two children holding signs atop their fathers’ shoulders — Bendat-Appell’s 9-year-old son Adin, wearing a kippa and holding a sign saying “Hate has no home here” and Yildirim’s daughter Meryem, wearing a black hijab and clutching a sign that says “Love.”
The families had exchanged contact information at the airport, after talking about sharing a Shabbat meal to celebrate peace, the Tribune reported.
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“Even two normal families standing next to each other is becoming inspirational — that’s how crazy the world is,” Fatih Yildirim, the Muslim father in the photo, told the Chicago Tribune as he sat in the living room of his new Jewish friends.
“We don’t want crazy for our kids in the future. We need to come out from our bubbles or our comfort zones…and reach the others and communicate.”
When they arrived at the Bendat-Appell’s home on Friday, the Yildirim family was greeted by a handmade “Welcome” sign, colored and surrounded with hearts, made by Bendat-Appell’s 5-year old daughter.
As a gift, the Yildirims brought a drawing by Meryem depicting the protest that brought the two families together. The Bendat-Appells put it in a place of honor on the refrigerator, according to the report.
Bendat-Appell and Fatih Yildirim told reporters the two had been discussing where to find a good kosher steakhouse when the photo was taken.
Yildirim said that Turkish media had criticized him for the photo and that his family in Turkey has distanced themselves from it.
The Yildirims reportedly invited the Bendat-Appells to their home for the next dinner.
The Times of Israel Community.