Judaism

Passover, 2003

April 12, 2003

Source: Los Angeles Times

On April 12, 2003 the Los Angeles Times reported that "Jewish historians are turning back the clock to examine how Passover was celebrated in California and the West in the 19th century... Today, as Jews prepare to observe Passover, which begins Wednesday at sundown, Southern California has the nation's second-largest Jewish population -- roughly 600,000. By contrast, the overwhelmingly Catholic pueblo of Los Angeles of 1854 had fewer than 200 Jewish residents and no kosher bakery or butcher shop... A lay rabbi slaughtered animals...

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Feminist Seder in NY

April 11, 2003

Source: Religion and Ethics Weekly

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week632/calendar.html

On April 11, 2003 Religion and Ethics Weekly reported that "on Wednesday night, Jews will gather for a Seder, a special dinner, where they retell the story of their ancestors' exodus from Egypt. The Seder ritual is guided by a special book called the Haggadah. In recent years, in addition to the traditional observance, some Jewish groups have developed Seders...

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Education Secretary Rod Paige Will Not Resign

April 10, 2003

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On April 10, 2003 The San Francisco Chronicle reported that " U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige said Wednesday that he will not resign his post despite a growing furor about an interview in which he praised Christian values over public schooling... In a hastily organized news conference, Paige attempted to clarify remarks he made Monday to the Baptist Press, the national news service of the Southern Baptist Convention... The news conference was intended to stem growing criticism by the American Civil Liberties Union, the...

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Passover, 2003

April 9, 2003

Source: Plain Dealer

On April 9, 2003 the Plain Dealer reported that "for Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews alike, the Passover holiday begins this year at sundown on April 16. Festive, ceremonial meals called Seders mark the first two nights of the eight-day commemoration of the Jewish exodus from Egypt more than 3,000 years ago. Matzo, made with only flour, water and salt, is eaten instead of bread. No products containing a leavening agent (yeast, baking powder or baking soda) are consumed... Over the centuries, Jews in different parts of the world developed...

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Multifaith Group Films Commercial to Prevent Hate Crimes

April 5, 2003

Source: The Associated Press

On April 5, 2003 The Associated Press reported that "twenty-nine-year-old Anjum A. Ali has two very distinctive looks - that of an American patriot and that of a Muslim... Dressed in her traditional head garb, the American-born Muslim has struggled to make more traditional citizens understand that she, too, is a patriot... With the help of her friend Neil Kuchinsky, a well-known Jewish lawyer who often serves as an advocate for people of the Jewish religion, and local real estate investor Vince Ferranti, a Christian Italian-...

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Update: Ventura, CA Landmark Cross Up for Debate

April 3, 2003

Source: Los Angeles Times

On April 3, 2003 the Los Angeles Times reported that "the 91-year-old cross overlooking Ventura is being targeted by a group that contends the city has run afoul of 1st Amendment guarantees against establishment of a state religion... The cross is on public land in Grant Park, a rambling, sage-studded expanse atop 800-foot-high Mission Hill. The cross will be at the heart of a meeting next week between city officials and an attorney for three Ventura County residents upset by its religious symbolism... A member of Americans United...

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Bloomberg Condemns Anti-Semitic and Anti-Christian Books in Muslim Private Schools

April 2, 2003

Source: Daily News

On April 2, 2003 the Daily News reported that New York mayor "Bloomberg condemned yesterday anti-Semitic and anti-Christian school books in use at a number of Muslim private schools in the city... 'Personally, I find it disgraceful,' Bloomberg said when asked about a Sunday Daily News story reporting the schools' use of the books in their Islamic studies programs... The mayor made his comments while appearing with local Jewish leaders at 1 Police Plaza to discuss public safety concerns for the upcoming Passover holiday... The most...

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Prayers for World Peace in Maryland

March 31, 2003

Source: The Baltimore Sun

On March 31, 2003 The Baltimore Sun reported that "overcome with emotion, Kay Ballard had to pause several times during yesterday's Prayers for World Peace, an event she coordinated to bring a diverse range of spiritual leaders to talk about peace... On the 12th day of the war in Iraq, Ballard gathered spiritual leaders to deliver their individual messages of peace. A rabbi spoke about making peace an active pursuit, while an imam talked about how the word peace in Arabic is a part of daily life... Interspersed in the two-hour...

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Emergency Minister of the Eucharist

March 31, 2003

Source: The Washington Post

On March 31, 2003 The Washington Post reported that "as a top officer in a combat helicopter squadron, Army Maj. Mike Mahony is used to emergencies. Two of his pilots were shot down last week. His unit's AH-64 Apache helicopters were damaged by Iraqi artillery. But this morning, he was handling a different kind of emergency: getting Communion to troops near the front lines... Mahony is an emergency minister of the Eucharist, or EME, a layman trained to administer the sacrament of Communion because of a shortage of Roman Catholic...

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Collection of Essays Document Jewish Tradition

March 31, 2003

Source: The Weekly Standard

On March 31, 2003 The Weekly Standard reported that "the Jewish people forever faces grave external threats and internal tensions, and temperature-taking would seem to be in order. Moreover, taking stock is a venerable tradition among Jews, inaugurated by God Himself when He described them as a 'stiff-necked people...' The tradition continues with two hefty collections of essays, Jewish Polity and American Civil Society and Jews and the American Public Square, both edited by Alan Mittleman, Jonathan D. Sarna, and...

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Editorial: True Religious Tolerance

March 31, 2003

Source: Columbia Daily Spectator

On March 31, 2003 the Columbia Daily Spectator published an editorial by Jennifer Thorpe stating that "in today's interconnected world, we as students and members of society are learning increasingly about other people's religious beliefs and spiritual practices. We must confront issues of religious tolerance and how nowhere in the world does universal religious tolerance exist in practice. I was raised as a Jew by a Jewish mother and a Catholic father... They may have raised me Jewish, but they only really cared that I...

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Chicago's Jewish Leaders Discuss War in Iraq

March 30, 2003

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

On March 30, 2003 the Chicago Sun-Times reported that "a certain conventional wisdom says that most American Jews support the war in Iraq because they believe it will make the world a safer place for Israel. But conversations with some of Chicago's Jewish leaders prove that wisdom is flawed... While opinions about the war in Iraq are divided within the Jewish community, concern for Israel often is a deciding factor whether the decision is in favor of the war or against it... Rabbi Debra Newman Kamin of Congregation Am Yisrael in...

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Woman Rabbi to Head Reform Group

March 29, 2003

Source: Dallas Morning News

On March 29, 2003 the Dallas Morning News reported that "Janet Marder has been named the first woman to lead the rabbis in Judaism's liberal Reform branch. As president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, she will head an organization of 1,800 members."

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