Inicio Más cuentos The miracle of Kreuzberg Author: Jaime Despree Ali Hassan was an Arab merchant of Syrian origin who owned a modest carpet shop on the busy Oranienstraße, in the heart of the Kreuzberg neighborhood. He was a devout Muslim who prayed daily, observed religious prohibitions, and scrupulously observed Ramadan. By one of those ironies of fate, his business neighbor was a Muscovite Russian, Vladimir Ivanoff, who specialized in Russian art and icons, was a faithful Christian of the Orthodox Church, worshipped the Holy Spirit, was devoted to the Virgin Mary, respectful of his patriarch, and knew some twenty religious hymns that he sang in his deep, gravelly voice in his Orthodox church in Berlin. Despite their religious differences and disparate customs, they had something in common: a taste for a good cup of tea with Turkish pastries served by the bakery one block up. On occasions, if they weren't too busy, they would share a steaming cup of good tea accompanied by a heated game of chess. "Dear Ali, chess is a game designed for Russians. Not because we are smarter than Arabs, but because we are more calculating and cunning. "No people are more skilled at calculation than Arabs; it is not for nothing that we invented numbers. Rivalry between their respective cultures and religions was more than a personal matter, as each of them felt they were the representative in this world of Allah and the God of the Christians.
Ali Hassan was an Arab merchant of Syrian origin who owned a modest carpet shop on the busy Oranienstraße, in the heart of the Kreuzberg neighborhood. He was a devout Muslim who prayed daily, observed religious prohibitions, and scrupulously observed Ramadan. By one of those ironies of fate, his business neighbor was a Muscovite Russian, Vladimir Ivanoff, who specialized in Russian art and icons, was a faithful Christian of the Orthodox Church, worshipped the Holy Spirit, was devoted to the Virgin Mary, respectful of his patriarch, and knew some twenty religious hymns that he sang in his deep, gravelly voice in his Orthodox church in Berlin. Despite their religious differences and disparate customs, they had something in common: a taste for a good cup of tea with Turkish pastries served by the bakery one block up. On occasions, if they weren't too busy, they would share a steaming cup of good tea accompanied by a heated game of chess. "Dear Ali, chess is a game designed for Russians. Not because we are smarter than Arabs, but because we are more calculating and cunning. "No people are more skilled at calculation than Arabs; it is not for nothing that we invented numbers. Rivalry between their respective cultures and religions was more than a personal matter, as each of them felt they were the representative in this world of Allah and the God of the Christians.
