Jack Hinton says fasting involves “introspection and deep contemplation of your own spiritual state.” More →

February 19, 2010

Rabbi Irwin Kula of the National Center for Jewish Learning and Leadership says Yom Kippur and the High Holidays are about life, not death. The paradox, he says, is that “one of the great ways to focus ourselves on life is to think about death.” More →

September 25, 2009

Read more of the Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly September 8, 2009 interview about the meaning of the Jewish High Holidays with Rabbi Irwin Kula, president of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership in New York City: This period … More →

September 11, 2009

  RAHIMA ULLAH: This week it’s towards the end of summer, and we were lucky enough to be able to enroll in this summer horseback riding camp. My sister, Jasmin, is the 16-year-old, and my eight-year-old daughter, Sakina, they’re both … More →

August 28, 2009

BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: Although the magnitude of the crisis be overwhelming, the Christian relief group World Vision has come up with a creative way to help church youth groups understand the problem of world hunger and what they can do … More →

July 4, 2008

During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. “Fasting, for me, is a constant prayer that you’re engaged in throughout the day. For 12 hours or more, you’re praying,” says Zuleqa Husain, a young American Muslim. More →

October 14, 2005

Read the full interview about Ramadan with Imam Yahya Hendi. More →

October 29, 2004

The number of Muslims in the U.S. is variously estimated at between two and six million — or more. About half are immigrants, and most of the rest, African Americans. We have a profile today of two Caucasian converts who were attracted to Islam when they were living abroad. More →

October 8, 2004

Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the five so-called pillars of Islam, an obligation of Muslims worldwide. Muslims use a lunar calendar, and Ramadan begins with the new moon. But for devout Muslims, it’s not enough to calculate mathematically when the crescent moon rises. It has to be seen. More →

November 8, 2002

“Rather than to try to change God, prayer should change us, should make us better human beings. That is the ultimate purpose of prayer,” says Cantor Abraham Lubin of Congregation Beth El in Bethesda, Maryland. We spoke with him as he prepared for the high holidays. More →

September 21, 2001