An religion is what its people do. There’s no other essence apart from that –and from the strong symbolic gesture. I’m posting here about the breaking story about today’s rally of Norwegian Muslims creating a protective shield around the main synagogue in Oslo. Against the friend-enemy distinction, I would like to think it means that Muslims and Jews, Jews and Muslims are in it together. The things that afflict both communities, especially in Europe, but not just in Europe, are mutually self-enforcing. They’ll only be solved simultaneously. When I heard about the plans, I figured they’d grab a couple of hundred people. 1000 demonstrators came out for this bridge-building act. The story’s being covered in the Israeli English-language sites, as well as at the Jewish Forward. You can read the first Reuters report here. I would like to think that this is how we all reclaim each other’s humanity…with each other and for each other.