Religion

The Interfaith Clergy Alliance of South County, whose members provide these articles each week, includes Jews, Christians, Muslims and Buddhists. All but the Buddhist share a common scriptural text, what Christians call the Old Testament and what Jews call the Tanakh.  In this, they are...

On Oct. 7, 1885 a 16-year-old German barber named Friedrich boarded a ship for New York.  Fleeing the military service then required in Germany, he became one of over a million German immigrants who flooded these shores between 1880 and 1885.  Once he had accumulated...

A few of you may have noticed the curious-looking structure that popped up outside my home recently. No, we did not embark on an overnight house expansion project. What you saw is our sukkah—a temporary structure that is the highlight of the weeklong holiday...

How powerful words are! Rabbi Seymour J Cohen wrote: “Words can inspire, destroy, console us, entice us. Throughout history words promoted hatred, murder, even wars! How many politicians permanently had their careers ended by false rumors and innuendos!” Each of us have experienced the power...

Prayer takes on different forms in different religious expressions. Prayers are chanted, spoken or sung. Prayers are spoken aloud or uttered more silently.  One of the notable expressions of prayer in Christianity is the prayer Jesus taught his disciples when they asked, “Lord, teach us to...

Everyone in South County is invited to Faith of our Neighbors, an educational program presented by the Interfaith CommUNITY of South County (ICSC) and the Interfaith Clergy Alliance.  In this series, the focus is on the ways different faiths acknowledge and celebrate lifecycles, including birth,...

P.T. Barnum famously said, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” What he meant by that was that it doesn’t matter as much what people are saying about you as long as they’re talking about you. The worst feeling is not when someone speaks...

This time of year, many of us think about going back to school, for ourselves or for our children or grandchildren. There are all sorts of questions: Who is taking children to school? Do we have the correct supplies? Who is making the lunches?...

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...

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...