"I just emailed some Islamic and Jewish communities, leaders to say, 'How can we bring together our three traditions to confront this type of hate?'" Brost said. "We literally get a taste of the beauty of diversity."
Now, dozens gather at St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights each year, as they did Sunday night, to keep that tradition going. "We can enrich our lives by learning from somebody else, and by teaching them our habits," Roth said. This potluck initially started 12 years ago to commemorate the September 11 attacks. The event brings people from different faiths under one roof to better understand their religions while also sharing their good food from their respective cultures.
"When we brought people together to remember the pain and suffering of 9/11/2011, we wanted to celebrate the message of 9/11/1893," Brost said. "That was opening session of the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago.""If someone is oppressed, we can't stay quiet. We need to defend them," one Muslim attendee said."There's actually a lot of similarities," said 11-year-old Diya Mukhopadhyaya.