For the Jewish community, next Tuesday is Rosh Hashanah, the start of the year and the beginning of a period of reflection leading up to the fast day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

For the Muslim community, Tuesday marks the beginning of the month of Ramadan, also a period of daytime fasting and self-reflection, which ends with Eid al-Fitr, a day of feasting.

To celebrate this rare occurrence, Bristol University is hosting a special gathering which will bring the two communities together to share their visions and discuss the meaning of both religious festivals. 

The gathering is open to everyone and will take place at 3.00 p.m. on Sunday, 2 October at Bristol University Chaplaincy Centre, 1 Priory Road, Clifton, Bristol.

In addition, the annual service to celebrate the start of the new academic year will be hosted jointly by Bristol University and the University of the West of England at Bristol Cathedral at 3.30 p.m. on Sunday.  The service will reflect the diverse religious backgrounds of students and staff at both universities.

For more information, please contact Farooq Siddique at the Bristol Muslim Cultural Society, 0117 939 2559, email bmcs@bmcs.org.uk or Natan Levy and Ron Berry at Bristol University Chaplaincy, 0117 954 6600, email natan@jchaplaincy.org, berryuk@freeuk.com.

Although this will be a discussion about religious belief, the meeting is not a religious event. 

The Chancellors of Bristol University and the University of the West of England will be attending the cathedral service.  For more information about the jointly hosted start-of-term service at Bristol Cathedral, please contact Jutta Mueller-Schnurr tel, 0117 954 6600 or email jutta.mueller-schnurr@bristol.ac.uk