Podcast: What do Cats Have to do with Interfaith Work?
My experiences at an ISNA convention
Over Labor Day weekend, I had the chance to hear from and meet with an amazing group of people—a group of people who are striving for peace, education, and equality, people looking out for communiti... Read More
Dangerous Division – Torah and Nature in Pirqei Avot
There’s a famous mishna in the ethical tractate called Pirqei Avot (Chapters on Fundamentals), which says the following: Rabbi Ya’aqov said: One who is reviewing their Torah study while w... Read More
Heresy and Interfaith Dialogue
I am currently reading Medieval Heresies: Christianity, Judaism and Islam by Catherine Caldwell Ames. Reading the book has me thinking about how membership in a religious group is constructed in regar... Read More
The 2015 Parliament of The World’s Religions: The Tower of Babel in Reverse
The story of the Tower of Babel has always confused me. In it, humans are punished for working collaboratively together. But what kind of god causes confusion and separation, rather than illumination ... Read More
Reports from the Parliament of the World’s Religions
Salt Lake City, UT October 14, 2015 The folks here in Salt Lake City have been organizing for a whole year now, for this event. This time last year the rumors around town were finally confirmed when ... Read More
Setting the Table with My Self: Food, Choice, and Identity
It was Erev Rosh HaShanah, the evening beginning the Jewish New Year. Guests were starting to arrive after services, and my apartment was filling up with the sounds of their laughter and the scent of... Read More
Interreligious and Interethic Dialogue in Clinical Pastoral Education
I am committed to building relationships with those from different religious and ethical traditions because we are all neighbors (close and distant) endeavoring to live the best lives we can live. I ... Read More
My Hidden Inheritance by Heidi Neumark
Adapted from Heidi’s book Hidden Inheritance: Family Secrets, Memory and Faith, published by Abingdon Press and available on Amazon. I’ve recently been on my own “Who Do You Think You Are?â€... Read More
The Mutual Benefit of Working to Understand Others
My parents did the best they could to explain other faiths as I grew up. In my small Texas town, the scope of religion was narrow. There were the Catholics down the street who cared too much about Mar... Read More