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A Thaw in Relations
Rachel Pomerance
April 8, 2004
Who says that Israelis and Palestinians can\’t work together? On New Year\’s Day, a group of Israelis and Palestinians embarked on a 35-day expedition to Antarctica that culminated in the scaling and naming of an unexplored mountain.
The group, Breaking the Ice, was honored this month for diplomacy through sport by Search for Common Ground, a nonprofit organization dedicated to conflict resolution.
Vocal Musicians Make a Joyful Noise
Lauren Korduner
January 1, 2004
Human voices converge on the same note, echoing a haunting harmony — arousing complicated emotions.
This has been the buzz surrounding an award-winning Jewish a cappella group, Shir Appeal, a group of college students from Massachusetts, who will bring their hypnotizing harmonies to Orange County\’s Temple Bat Yahm (TBY) for Shabbat evening service, Jan. 16. The group was named after Tufts University\’s mascot — Jumbo the Elephant. The Hebrew phrase shir hapeal means \”song of the elephant.\”
Does Buddhist Hold Mideast Peace Key?
Ruth Mason
December 4, 2003
While news of the Geneva accords hit the headlines, a group of Palestinians and Israelis were trying to make a different kind of peace — with the help of Buddhists in southern France.
Thich Nhat Hanh — Vietnamese Zen master, poet and Nobel Peace Prize nominee — has been inviting groups of Palestinians and Israelis to his practice center, Plum Village, in an effort to show them that Buddhist meditation can lead to inner peace as well as nonviolence between nations. The trips are largely underwritten by an American Jewish businessman.
Nhat Hanh preaches nothing less than personal transformation as the road to peace.
Human Atonement or Animal Cruelty?
Gaby Wenig
October 2, 2003
Early morning on the day before Yom Kippur, groups of Jews will be gathering to hold squawking chickens by the feet and twirl them over their head while chanting a prayer. After the twirling, the chickens will be ritually slaughtered and given to the poor.
Kaparos, literally atonements, which has been performed in Los Angeles at the Santa Monica Chabad House and at Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad, is one of the strangest-looking customs in Jewish liturgy. It is done to inspire repentance and to impress upon its adherents the seriousness of Yom Kippur. However, the practice has inspired the ire of animal rights groups, who consider it cruel to the chickens, and many are urging that Jews who practice this custom do so using money instead, which is an acceptable substitute.
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