The Jewish and Muslim chaplains came together last Friday to teach their congregants about the most famous anti-religion book in recent memory, Christopher Hitchens’ “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.”

This seemingly unusual occasion has become a now-regular event: the fifth annual Interfaith Iftar-Shabbat Dinner, which brings together Jewish and Muslim groups on campus for a Friday night dinner and prayer service. Both communities pray and celebrate on Friday nights yet remain separated by conventional traditions.

“For two religions that fight so much, the essence of the prayers is fairly similar,” said Claire Feldman-Reich ’12, who attended the dinner. “The languages and movements may have been different, but the message was the same.”

The event, which was organized by the Interfaith Justice League (IJL), was held in the Bayit on Friday in order to mark the break-fast of the Muslim Ramadan and the traditional opening dinner of the Jewish Sabbath.

The discussion of Hitchens’ book, which highlights the most violent and divisive tendencies of religion, was part of the night’s introductory remarks. While the two campus spiritual leaders did not specifically agree with Hitchens’ atheistic argument, they wanted to stress that religion should not divide people.

The IJL planned the event with care to accommodate each group’s needs. The traditional Jewish Ma’ariv service was scheduled half-an-hour earlier than usual in order to allow the Muslim students to break their fast immediately at sunset. Following the Iftar break-fast the Jewish students laid out mats for the Muslim students, and joined them by kneeling and bowing in the tradition of the daily Maghrib ceremony. Also, the Bayit provided a celebratory dinner that met both Jewish Kosher regulations as well as more lenient Muslim Halal guidelines.

Nadeem Modan ’10, a member of IJL, suggested that the potentially controversial event was well-received because of the uniquely tolerant nature of the University community.

“Wesleyan turns the world’s paradigms on its head; here Muslims and Jews get along really well unlike most of the world,” Modan said. “However, there is no reason why [the Interfaith dinner] cannot spread elsewhere. It is more reason to push for more Interfaith activity in the world.”

While Rabbi David Leipziger Teva agreed that more religious groups outside of the campus bubble should push for shared spiritual experiences, he noted that the rest of the world is often less tolerant of others’ differences.

“We cannot expect the same reactions,” Leipziger said. “Not everyone can look beyond stereotypes and fear as Wesleyan students do.”

This is the fifth time the dinner has been celebrated on campus, and with each year more students attend and the idea becomes increasingly accepted.

“We hope that this event can become expected in the future,” Leipziger said. “’Of course the Muslim community would join us for Shabbat dinner during Ramadan.’”

Leipziger even noted that program houses that are typically considered to be one specific religion’s domain are actually open to anyone at any time.

“In fact, we don’t need events like these to welcome the Muslim community to the Bayit,” Leipziger said. “The Bayit is a common space in the University that everyone should feel they can come to.”

The IJL hopes to continue this mutual respect and collaboration in events such as this week’s Fast-a-thon and the Interfaith Film Series this spring.