Judaism

Brandeis University Develops "Coexistence Studies" Program

May 17, 2002

Source: The Boston Globe

On May 17, 2002, The Boston Globe featured a story on Jehuda Reinharz, president of Brandeis University in Waltham, MA, and his new program in conflict resolution. With this program, the university is "poised to become a world leader in teaching Israeli Arabs and Jews - and dozens of other warring peoples - to live together on the same land... Brandeis has begun building on its historically Jewish identity to create a new field it calls 'coexistence studies'... The school is now aggessively recruiting Jews and Arabs, Hindus and...

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Author Reclaims Traditional Ritual for Non-Orthodox Jews

May 16, 2002

Source: The Boston Globe

On May 16, 2002, The Boston Globe featured an article on Anita Diamant and her newly formed organization, Mayyim Hayyim: Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center. Diamant, an author and resident of Newton, MA, wants to use her organization "to reinvent the ritual that has traditionally been used only by Orthodox Jews and to build a contemporary mikveh [pool used for ritual bathing] created with the needs of non-Orthodox Jews, men and women, in mind... Although Jews have been using the mikveh for more than 2,000 years...

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Central Ohio Organization Offers a Model of Interfaith Relations

May 10, 2002

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On May 10, 2002, The Columbus Dispatch reported "Group Unites Eight Faiths for Mutual Enlightenment." It reported on the efforts of the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio: "Members of the 17-year-old association think that the community's religious tolerance, though a good start, isn't enough. 'We need to move beyond that to understanding and respect,' said Tarunjit Butalia, a spokesman for the association and representative of the Sikh community." The article noted that "The association also benefits from having been...

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Minneapolis Religious Leaders and Educators Team Up to Improve Schools

May 9, 2002

Source: Star Tribune

On May 9, 2002, the Star Tribune reported that in Minneapolis, MN, "leaders from 60 churches, synagogues, mosques and temples... are pairing up with individual schools to offer tutoring, building space and other support to improve student achievement." The Religious leaders and school officials will meet at a "summit, to take place at a Minneapolis church, the first between the city's school and faith leaders, and the kickoff to a long-term partnership."

Study Shows Average SAT Scores by Religious Tradition of Students

May 7, 2002

Source: The Plain Dealer

On May 7, 2002, The Plain Dealer featured an article on "a College Board statistical finding that ranked the SAT scores of college-bound seniors by their religion. Unitarians finished first, averaging 1,209 on the college-entrance exam. Jews averaged 1,161 followed by Quakers at 1,153 and Hindus at 1,110. The average SAT score for college-bound seniors is 1,020."

Tibetan Buddhist Teacher Leads Interfaith Discussion on Peace in Cleveland

April 20, 2002

Source: The Plain Dealer

On April 20, 2002, The Plain Dealer featured an article on Khenpo Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche, "a renowned scholar and a senior Tibetan Buddhist monk... [from] the Namdroling Monastery in southern India." Gyatso was in Cleveland, OH for a week of teaching sponsored by the Palyul Changchub Dargyeling Ohio, a center for Tibetan Buddhist studies in Chagrin Falls, of which he is the spiritual director. "About 35 local clergy joined... [Gyatso] Wednesday for a vegetarian kosher lunch at Epworth-Euclid United Methodist Church. Afterward...

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New Studies Show a "Generation of Seekers" in America

April 13, 2002

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On April 13, 2002, The Houston Chronicle reported that, according to two recent studies, "the number of people who say they don't belong to a religion has doubled over the last decade... For personal reasons, 29.4 million people said last year that they skip church, mosque and synagogue - up from 14.3 million in 1990, a rise from 8 percent to 14 percent of the U.S. population... That's the word from the American Religious Identification Survey, conducted in 2001... by the Graduate Center of City University of New York......

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American Faith Communities Respond to Crisis in the Middle East

April 12, 2002

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune

On April 12, 2002, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that "San Diegans are responding with prayers and rallies to the violence in the Holy Land that continues to rip apart a territory held sacred by Christians, Jews and Muslims... [Recently] people gathered in downtown San Diego for interfaith prayers calling for peace... Among the participants were Rabbi Martin Lawson, of Temple Emanu-El, Imam Sharif Battikhi, president of the Islamic Services Foundation, and the Rev. Art Cribbs, president of the Ecumenical...

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American Jews Rally in Support of Israel's Right to Defend Itself

April 8, 2002

Source: Star Tribune

On April 8, 2002, the Star Tribune reported that Jews from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, "who gathered Sunday at a religious service in south Minneapolis to show solidarity with Israel, heard a message of hope and peace, along with the common refrain: Israel has the right to defend itself from Palestinian suicide bombers... The Minneapolis service was among other unity rallies and services held nationwide Sunday. Thousands of demonstrators filled a city block near the United Nations in New York City, and about 3,000 people...

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Clergy Sexual Abuse Across Traditions

April 8, 2002

Source: Newsday

On April 8, 2002, Newsday reported that "from Episcopal and Protestant churches to Jewish synagogues and Hindu temples, religious leaders... are reflecting on the sexual abuse scandal within the Roman Catholic Church and its potential impact on their own houses of worship... In truth, the scourge of clergy sexual abuse has been exposed in virtually every religious faith and denomination... Members of the Jewish Orthodox faith recently... [faced] their own sexual abuse scandal involving... a leader in the Orthodox Union's National...

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Missouri Women's Shelter Adds Kosher Kitchen

April 6, 2002

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On April 6, 2002, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "to encourage Jewish women to seek help, the Jewish Council Against Family Violence installed a kosher kitchen last month in an existing Missouri women's shelter... Last month, a St. Louis shelter became the first in the region equipped with a kosher kitchenette. At least 10 shelters nationwide have kosher facilities."

Passover in America, 2002: Interfaith Seders

April 1, 2002

Source: The Washington Post

On April 1, 2002, The Washington Post reported that in Washington DC, "Arab Christians and Muslims and Jews -- 12 in all -- assembled... [at] Glencarlyn Baptist Church -- for a Passover seder on Easter Sunday... Those at the seder attend various synagogues and mosques, and some don't attend any. They were just a group of Jews and Arabs organized... to come together for one night and show hope and trust during a time of utter bleakness." The Interfaith Seder refocused some of the traditions around the group's mourning for...

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