Allow me another congregational kvell: the good folks at Mirembe Kowamera coffee recently informed us that JRC occupies the number 50 spot on their list of top customers this year!
Thanksgiving Coffee staffer Jenais Zarlin broke the cool news on the Mirembe blog:
(JRC member and Fair Trade Coordinator Elaine Waxman) pointed out that they have been [...]
Archive for the ‘Interfaith’ Category
Counting the Beans at JRC!
Posted in Africa, Coexistence, Fair Trade, Interfaith, Uganda on June 23, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Postville One Year Later
Posted in Immigration, Interfaith, Politics on May 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of the ICE raid on the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, IA – at the time the largest immigration raid in US history. Here in Chicago, I was honored gather with the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs and other orgs for an interfaith rally at Federal Plaza. It offered an [...]
Shandeh Du Jour: Pope Overly “Cosmopolitan” at Yad Vashem
Posted in Holocaust, Interfaith, Israel on May 11, 2009 | 4 Comments »
According to YNet, Rabbi Meir Lau criticized Pope Benedict for showing insufficient sensitivity during his speech at Yad Vashem today:
The visit ended with a somewhat strident tone, as Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, chairman of Yad Vashem, criticized the pope’s speech as being “devoid of any compassion, any regret, any pain over the horrible tragedy of [...]
Home From Iran, Final Thoughts
Posted in Human Rights, Interfaith, Iran, Iran Trip 2008, Islam, Nonviolence, Peace, Religion on December 9, 2008 | 5 Comments »
During our final night in Iran, I was interviewed at length by two reporters from a Tehran newspaper. I mentioned to them that during my High Holiday sermon to my congregation, I noted that Americans (and especially American Jews) chronically misunderstand Iran. I told the reporters that ironically enough, I learned on this trip that I really hadn’t understood Iran nearly as [...]
Pickup at Hafez’s Tomb
Posted in Interfaith, Iran, Iran Trip 2008, Nonviolence, Peace, Poetry, Politics, Religion on December 6, 2008 | 4 Comments »
We’ve spent the last two days in Shiraz – and among other things our experience in this beautiful city gave us a still deeper into to Persia’s soul.
We’ve been told that while Esfahan is generally considered to represent Iran’s historical spirit, Shiraz reflects Iran’s cultural spirit. Indeed, while Iran is an Islamic Republic, Islam is not the [...]
Farewell to Esfahan
Posted in Interfaith, Iran, Iran Trip 2008, Islam, Nonviolence, Peace, Religion on December 3, 2008 | 2 Comments »
We’ve spent the last two days in Esfahan and we’re leaving for Shiraz early tomrrow morning. There is much to say about our stay in this gorgeous historic city – most of our time has been spent touring exquite 17th century mosques, hiking about massive, majestic Imam Square which stretches out for more than 80,000 [...]
Dialogue in Qom
Posted in Interfaith, Iran, Iran Trip 2008, Islam, Judaism, Nonviolence, Peace, Religion on December 2, 2008 | 2 Comments »
We’re in Esfahan now (unquestionably one of the most stunning cities I’ve ever visited) but I want to tell you first about our day yesterday, which we spent at Mofid University in the city of Qom.
Qom is considered a holy city for Shia Islam and is the largest center for Shia scholarship in the world. In addition [...]
Rainy Day in Tehran
Posted in Interfaith, Iran, Iran Trip 2008, Nonviolence, Peace, Religion, War on December 1, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Our last day in Tehran was a rainy one, beginning with a visit to the headquarters of the Tehran Jewish Committee (roughly the equivalent of the Iranian Jewish Federation). We spoke at length with Committee President Rahmat ollah Raffi, who gave us a thorough tutorial on the Iranian Jewish community. In short: there are roughly [...]
The Ayatollah and the Archbishop
Posted in Interfaith, Iran, Iran Trip 2008, Islam, Peace, Religion on November 30, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Our first full day in Iran was devoted largely to religious destinations – our first stop was a visit to the office of Ayatollah Bojnoordi, a prominent religious leader who teaches Islamic law at Tehran and Qom Universities.
Ayatollahs are clerics of the highest order in Shia Islamic communities and they exercise enormous authority over their [...]
Shabbat at Abad Yosef
Posted in Interfaith, Iran, Iran Trip 2008, Peace, Religion on November 29, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Greetings from Iran! We arrived on Friday with no problems and have now settled comfortably into our home at the Howeyzeh Hotel in Northern Tehran. Since we actually arrived at 2:30 am, our first day here was really a half day. When we arrived at our hotel, we went promptly to sleep and woke up [...]
