It is the custom of the Jewish people to read the entire Torah (Pentateuch or five books of Moses) throughout the course of the year. In the depth of the winter come readings from the Book of ...

“I’m running on empty!” “I’ve hit bottom!” “I am overwhelmed!” “I am suffering from burnout!” These are but a few of the feelings many of us have we “have run out of gas!” In no small measure, such ...

There is a story of a tourist who comes to Israel. Riding in a Jerusalem taxi cab, he asks the driver, “Do you know what time is it?” “No,” he responds with a shrug of his shoulders. He then adds ...

The Eastern mediator and teacher Ram Daas told me this story. He had not been to India for several years. Upon returning he met an old friend who immediately remarked, “How gray you have become?” Ram ...

As a teacher of religion I seek to find common threads that tie all of our human faiths together. I do so without minimizing the special qualities of any one tradition. In an age in which radical ...

Johann Wolfgang Goethe's "Der Zauberlehrling," better known as "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," was made famous by Walt Disney's film "Fantasia." The ballad, written in 14 stanzas, recalls the magical ...

This is a message of some ambivalence with respect to ancestry.com. I begin with a Biblical reference in which Moses in his farewell speech called Deuteronomy (Chapter 29) says "I am making this ...

One classic Hassidic tale called The Seven Beggars was authored by Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav. He was known by his attachments to Jewish mysticism as well as by his unsettled personality and often ...

Jewish humor speaks in reverse. For example, when my father thought I was moving too slowly in carrying out a chore he would say, “Hey lightning, get going!” Or if I performed badly on a math test he ...

The Social Sciences Department at Spartanburg Methodist College will host Rabbi Yossi Liebowitz on Oct. 23. The 4 p.m. seminar on Judaism will be held in the Davis Mission Chapel at SMC and is open to ...

As an instructor of religion at the University of South Carolina Upstate, I am happy to review the positive aspects of all faiths, including but not limited to Native American culture. Were you to ...

Long before our celebrity culture made people famous for being famous, there were some individuals who truly merited adulation. In the early part of the 20th century Albert Einstein was certainly one ...