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The Sad State of Jerusalem

The New York Times has an article about the tension in Jerusalem over the coincidence of the holidays of Eid and Rosh Hoshanna. It is a sad state of affairs that what we celebrate here exacerbates tensions there. The article quotes the poet Yehuda Amichai who says: The air over Jerusalem is saturated with prayers and dreams like the air over industrial cities. Now it seems like the toxic air of industrial cities with prayers of anger and ignorance. God help us all. The Globe and Mail has a more Muslim-centric perspective.

Children’s Museum of Manhattan – America to Zanzibar – POLITICO

DE BLASIO press shake-up — CUOMO bans insider lobbyist — REDSTONE saga – POLITICO. NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito, NYC Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer, NYC Council Members I. Daneek Miller and Helen Rosenthal toured the America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far exhibit at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan earlier this week with the museum’s executive director Andy Ackerman, the museum’s honorary board chair Laurie M. Tisch, museum board member Judith Hannan, the exhibit’s academic advisor Hussein Rashid and others. America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far is a groundbreaking new interactive exhibit for children…

Book Review – Holy Ignorance – By Olivier Roy – NYTimes.com

Book Review – Holy Ignorance – By Olivier Roy – NYTimes.com. Yule as we celebrate it today owes more to Charles Dickens than to Thomas Aquinas. Our major solstice holiday is what Roy calls a “cultural construct” rather than a sectarian ceremony, which explains why Muslims buy halal turkeys and Jews transformed Hanukkah into a gift-giving occasion. Mistakenly believing that Christmas is sacred, those who defend it find themselves propping up the profane. The Christ they want in Christmas is a product not of Nazareth but of Madison Avenue.