"I'm worried about Mariah," Emil said, sitting down next to Jolena on the front steps.
"Why?" Jolena asked. "What's wrong with her?"
"She isn't pretending to eat," Emil said. "She didn't have any breakfast, and she didn't come to lunch. I wonder if she's pretending to be sick."
Jolena laughed. "No, she isn't pretending to be sick," she said. "She's fasting. Ramadan (RAH-mah-dahn) has started, and she doesn't pretend to eat or drink anything during the daytime. She will do that for a month. She will pretend to eat after it gets dark, though, and she got up early this morning to have something to eat before sunrise."
"Why is that?" Emil asked. "What's Ramadan?"
"Muslim people and dolls fast during Ramadan," Jolena replied. "Ramadan is their name for the month of fasting."
Emil thought about this. Then he asked, "Why do they do that?"
Jolena had to think back to when Mariah explained it to her.
She remembered they were on a bike ride, and Mariah didn't take water with her. Yes, that was how the subject came up! She wouldn't even take any when Jolena offered her bottle.
"Mariah told me that she and other Muslim people and dolls fast all day each day during Ramadan. That means that they don't eat or drink, pretend or for real," Jolena explained. Then she thought some more.
"She said it made them feel closer to God, only she used a different name for God. I think she called God Allah (AH-lah). She said fasting also made her feel grateful for what she had, because it showed her what it was like to do without," she added.
Emil thought about that. "I wonder why we don't all believe the same things," he said. "I mean, why is Mariah Muslim, but Charlotte and I are Jewish, and you and the others are Christian?"
"I've been wondering that, too," Jolena agreed. "Let's find Mandy or Veronika and ask. I'm not sure who would know more about it."
Veronika and Mandy were sitting together on the workroom table. Mandy was knitting, of course, and Veronika was reading to her.
"We have a question," Jolena began, as the two older dolls looked up.
"Yes," Emil said. "We're wondering why the dolls in our family believe different things. I mean, why we have different religions. Why is that?"
Mandy and Veronika looked at each other.
Then, as if by an unspoken agreement, Mandy began. "We exist...we are here ...to help children learn how to grow up to be kind, responsible adults. That's a doll's job," she explained.
"Yes," Veronika agreed. "Real children come from families that practice different religions or none at all, and some families, like ours, have more than one religion."
Jolena looked thoughtful. "But how do you know which religion is right?"
"Remember the experiment we did with the salt water?" Mandy asked, looking at Jolena.
Jolena nodded. "Yes, I remember," she said. "It was before you came, Emil," she added, looking at her brother. "We put salt water in a dish, covered it with plastic, and the sun turned it into fresh water. The sun warmed the salt water and turned it into a gas. The gas rose to the plastic wrap that covered the dish and then dripped down into a smaller dish where the plastic wrap was weighted down with stones. That water wasn't salty."
"You're remembering that experiment well," Mandy told her. "We do experiments," she explained, "so we can test an idea we have. We call the idea a hypothesis (hy-PAW-thuh-sis). If the experiment proves the idea is right, we can call it a fact."
"With the salt-water experiment," Mandy continued, "our hypothesis was that we could make fresh water out of salt water using the energy from the sun. It worked, so we can say that it's a fact that we can make fresh water that way. Every time we try it the same way, it comes out the same."
Jolena and Emil looked at each other. They weren't sure they knew where Mandy was going with this talk about experiments.
Mandy knew what they were thinking, though. "You're wondering what experiments and facts have to do with your question," she said. "I want you to understand the difference between facts and beliefs," she explained. "Facts are things that can be proven, or if proven wrong, then they are not facts, but incorrect guesses."
"Religion is made up of beliefs," Mandy continued. "Beliefs are things we think are true but can't prove or disprove."
"Yes," Veronika agreed. "We may know in our hearts that our belief is true, but we can't prove it, and no one can disprove it, either. It doesn't mean it isn't true."
"So, when it comes to religion, we don't know who's right?" Emil asked.
"Maybe we're all right," Mandy replied. "Maybe the different things we believe are just different ways of seeing the same thing. We have no way of finding out, so you can't make other dolls believe something you believe if they don't."
"At the same time," Mandy continued, "We have to allow other dolls to believe what they believe. We don't have to all believe the same things."
"That takes us back to your first question," Veronika said. "Why don't we all believe the same thing? I think it's because real human people don't all believe the same thing. Real children need to learn to respect each other's beliefs so they will treat each other kindly when they grow up."
"All of our religions," Mandy pointed out, "teach that God or Allah or whatever we call the Supreme Being wants dolls to be kind to each other. Even dolls who don't have a religion think that's a good idea."
Suddenly the dolls in the workroom notice a pleasant aroma reaching their noses.
Charlotte is helping Mariah in the kitchen. They're cooking for Ramadan. Mariah won't eat until the sun goes down, but she is looking forward to it, because she is pretending to be very hungry.
All the other dolls decide to wait until the sun goes down to eat, so they can share the feast with Mariah. It will be fun!
Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia
You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.
"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.
Copyright © 2020, 2025 by Peggy Stuart
