Open Letter to World Leaders

Rabbi Leonard A. Schoolman, who has devoted much of his career to inter-religious education, has teamed up with Dr. Hussein Rashid, an up-and-coming leader in New York’s Muslim community, to fight religious intolerance and ignorance with a unique educational program – held at a Christian church in Manhattan. PR Web Salt Lake Tribune

In Part of Indonesia, Judaism is Embraced – NYTimes.com. A new, 62-foot-tall menorah, possibly the world’s largest, rises from a mountain overlooking this Indonesian city, courtesy of the local government. Flags of Israel can be spotted on motorcycle taxi stands, one near a six-year-old synagogue that has received a face-lift, including a ceiling with a large Star of David, paid for by local officials.

Two different takes: A child An adult To believe as a child again. I grew up in Queens, NY. Jew, Arabs, Iranians, Arab Jews, Iranian Jews (it’s where I bought my comics from), Italians (but not Jews), Muslims, Hindus, even the occasional “All-American,” blonde-haired, blue-eyed WASP. We knew we were different, but it didn’t matter, in the way our hair color didn’t matter, but we knew about it. We all came to together and agreed I would be picked last for kickball (far more damaging than being called Saddam lover later in life). Not to sound utopian, but really, why…