Towards Acceptance, Holiness and Removing Stumbling Blocks
This week, we are once again reading Parashat Kedoshim (Leviticus 19:1-20:27). Biblical scholars commonly refer to these two chapters of Leviticus as the holiness code due to the numerous interpersonal commandments (mitzvot) that are found within. These mitzvot form the foundation of Torah and are applicable to everyone. In addition to loving our neighbor as [...]
Making Room for People With Disabilities
Here in Illinois, Governor Quinn has been pushing hard to close state institutions for people with developmental disabilities, along with some prisons and state mental hospitals. There are a handful of these complexes scattered around small towns all over the state. Like prisons, these institutions are a major source of jobs and revenue for otherwise [...]
Jewish Disability Awareness Month
This February marks the fourth annual Jewish Disability Awareness Month, a time when special attention and emphasis is brought to the needs and experiences of people with disabilities in our communities. As someone who has a visual impairment, Jewish Disability Awareness Month holds personal significance for me and is very much welcome. At the same [...]
Making Buddhism Accessible to Working-class People
On 18 July 2011, Sam Mowe wrote about diversity within American Buddhism for Tricycle: The Buddhist Review’s blog in an article titled “Tell Us Your Story.” One of the comments to that post led to another post on Tricycle’s blog by Monty McKeever, “Why Is Buddhism So Damned Expensive?” That comment read, in part, There [...]
Contributing Scholars
Simran Jeet SinghSimran Jeet Singh is a doctoral student in the Department of Religion at Columbia University. His research focuses on South Asian Religions, particularly the Sikh tradition and the life of its founder, Guru Nanak.
Hannah KardonAn aspiring Minister in the United Methodist Church, Hannah Kardon is currently in her first year of an M.Div at Harvard Divinity School.
Jem JebbiaJem is a first year M.A. student at the University of Chicago studying Islam and pre-Islamic religions in the Ancient Near East. She practices Mahayana Buddhism and interfaith activism.