Religion: Life is about choices
“There is no peace on earth,” I said, “for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good-will to men!” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned these words in a poem written during the Civil War in 1863. The poem was later set...
Religion: Response to a Vocal Minority
In the San Francisco Bay Area, we seem to be in a bubble of more open-minded thinking and inclusion. There are other places, regions and states that seem to be filled with fear of the outsider and suspicion of neighbors of different ethnicity, national...
Religion: A Muslim’s most important journey
In the last week of June, millions of pilgrims are preparing for Hajj, the most important journey in a Muslim’s life. Hajj, the Pilgrimage to Mekka, is an epic journey. It’s the 5th and final pillar of Islam.
Hajj takes Muslims on a journey back...
Religion, Rabbi Mendel Liberow: From foreigner to family
The word “foreigner” gets bandied around a lot in the news. Often, it’s a term reserved for people from another country, but it’s frequently used to describe anyone who looks or acts differently.
I want to share my own experience with a foreigner in Morgan...
Religion: Banish the Darkness, Spread the Light
As we approach the darkest time of the year, Jews prepare to celebrate Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. The ancient story took place in the 2nd century BCE during the reign of Syrian-Greek King Antiochus IV. He imposed harsh decrees upon the Jews forbidding...
Religion: Life after Easter: faith in the ordinary
For followers of Jesus, Easter arrives each year with beauty and intention—sunrise services, full rooms, hopeful songs and the deep reminder that life can emerge even from death. These moments matter. They lift us, ground us and reconnect us to what is most true.
They...
Religion: Enjoying the Christmas sprint…
By the time you read this article, you may have very well taken your last bite of Thanksgiving dinner. You’ve let your belt out a notch and put the leftover turkey, potatoes, stuffing and cranberry sauce into to-go containers for your guests to take...
Religion: Living in freedom and without fear
The Jewish holiday of Passover begins Wednesday night, April 1, 2026. On Passover night, Jews conduct a communal meal in their homes, called a seder. The word seder means “order,” because the meal and its accompanying rituals are conducted in a special prescribed order.
We...
Religion: Becoming the best version of ourselves
If you were told to repent the day before you die, when should you start repenting? Right now!
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (10 days apart) are the Jewish High Holy Days. Observance includes communal prayer, food (such as apples dipped in honey for a...
Religion: Interfaith CommUNITY invites all to Thanksgiving gathering
The Interfaith CommUNITY of South County (ICSC) and the Interfaith Clergy Alliance of South County invite all residents of Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy to join us for our annual Thanksgiving gathering at 3pm Nov. 20. We will meet at Congregation Emeth, 17835...




















