LETTER TO ATTORNEY GENERAL SESSIONS AND SECRETARY NIELSEN
ZERO TOLERANCE FOR SEPARATING FAMILIES
Rabbi Michael Whitman

Dear Attorney General Sessions and Secretary Nielsen,
On behalf of the 26 undersigned national Jewish organizations and institutions, we write to express our strong opposition to the recently expanded “zero-tolerance” policy that includes separating children from their migrant parents when they cross the border. This policy undermines the values of our nation and jeopardizes the safety and well-being of thousands of people.
As Jews, we understand the plight of being an immigrant fleeing violence and oppression. We believe that …

OUR CHILDREN WERE SEPARATED FROM OUR MOTHERS
FATHER JOHN WALSH

As Canadians we know our aboriginal sisters and brothers were restrained on reserves and many of our sisters went missing and were confirmed dead. It began with the separation of our sisters and brothers from our mothers and when they were put in residential schools they were mistreated and abused. A cultural genocide ensued when native girls and boys were culturally morphed into little white girls and boys. So it is easy to mouth the words “we are all sisters and brothers” …

WEAVING THE FABRIC OF LIFE IN ISRAEL
Father John Walsh

In our North American culture there is a divide between the secular and the religious, to the point of privatizing religion to the family and places of worship. CJA sponsored a group of thirty-seven people under the leadership of Jeff Segal and Steve Gross to be on a Mission to Israel. Our greatest discovery was that the tension between the secular threads and the religious threads weave the fabric of life in Israel. At the Knesset Tzipi Livni, opposition leader of the …

JERUSALEM — A SPECIAL MOMENT
Rabbi Michael Whitman

The city of Jerusalem is holy to all three major religions, and to countless others. At the same time, Jerusalem is saturated with political controversy. Without minimizing the importance of those discussions, Jerusalem is also saturated with holiness and beauty – from the dramatic and sublime, to the mundane everyday life that takes place there. I think the politics would take on a very different direction if we, all of us, would first focus on what makes it special and holy to us as …

LIVING “FAITH” IN ACTION
Imam Dr. Zijad Delic

Canadian Muslims are bracing to prepare for Ramadan 2018. It raises many questions: Do we really understand the purpose of the rituals in our places of worship? Are we living life “on auto-pilot”? What hinders our faith to be active? A remedy?
We can go through life “on auto-pilot” without ever thinking about the consequences that ensue and how they affect our relationship to faith and belief. Yet, we set personal goals in life, we have jobs, we study different academic and professional fields, we …