The perennial question, what does one do on Christmas if one doesn’t celebrate the holiday? For over 100 members of Boulder’s Jewish and Muslim communities, you participate in a day of service. The Muslim Jewish Alliance of Boulder (MJAB) organized the first of what is hoped to be an annual event. The participants, including over 30 high school and middle school students, assembled care packages for Boulder’s homeless population, and put together gifts of food to distribute to Boulder’s First Responders, Police and workers in Boulder’s senior care facilities.

Rabbi’s Marc Soloway and Tirzah Firestone, as well as Hadi Adbul Mateen and Kanwal Ejaz from the Boulder Islamic Center, provided teachings on the topic of “caring” from the perspective of each religion.

The main goal of the afternoon was to show our appreciation towards to those individuals who, without bias, give up time with their families in order to keep our community safe and who provide care for those who cannot provide for themselves. A second and equally important goal was to continue to foster the relationship between the Jewish and Muslim communities of Boulder.

The day ended with a group of MJAB volunteers assisting Atonement Lutheran Church to serve a Christmas dinner to many of Boulder’s homeless population.