Religion

Civic engagement encouraged through Muslim Day at the Capitol

By Tom Niemisto, Minnesota 2020

The civic process works best when all people have a voice at the table. With a population of nearly 150,000 in Minnesota, the Muslim-American community is stepping up engagement in the public policy debate.

MORE »

Proposed school bullying policy sparks fierce debate

By Sarah Lemagie, Session Weekly/Session Daily

Rep. Jim Davnie (Photo by Paul Battaglia)

A proposed overhaul of Minnesota’s anti-bullying law has legislators divided about what the state should require of schools – and educators asking about costs.

MORE »

MN VIDEOS | Immigrant Freedom Seder's message to Minnesota's elected leaders

By JCA, MN Videos

On Sunday, March 17th, 2013, 200 people attended Jewish Community Action's 11th Annual Immigrant Freedom Seder. The event brings together our members alongside allies from many different communities to tell the story of Passover and, drawing from our values, to share our plans and hopes for working together to build a more just Minnesota.

MORE »

Healing a broken world: A profile of Jewish Community Action's Vic Rosenthal

By Allison Herrera, The Uptake

Jewish doctors and lawyers in Minnesota in the 1950s were notoriously discriminated against. You weren’t allowed admitting privileges. You couldn’t become a partner in a law firm if you were Jewish. It’s a history that Vic Rosenthal knows well, and it’s one of the reasons he does what he does.

MORE »

Mississippi River Walkers focus on pollution and solutions in spiritual journey to Gulf of Mexico

By Stephanie Fox, TC Daily Planet

Walkers on East River Parkway (All photos by Stephanie Fox)

On March 1, a group of Indigenous women filled a copper pail with water from Lake Itasca and began a journey to hand carry it more than 2,200 miles, walking the length of the Mississippi River, from the spot where the river begins to where it empties into the Gulf of Mexico. On March 12, they reached St. Paul, more than two days ahead of schedule. The women are walking to bring attention to the dangers that face the Mississippi River.

MORE »

Spanish painter Felix de la Concha presents portraits, oral testimony of Shoah survivors

By Erin Elliott Bryan, American Jewish World

Survivor Herb Fantle, of St. Paul, sitting for a session with Spanish artist Felix de la Concha. (Photos courtesy of Felix de la Concha)

Spanish artist Felix de la Concha was in the Twin Cities recently as a guest of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (CHGS) at the University of Minnesota, as part of his project of interviewing and painting Holocaust survivors.

MORE »

OPINION | Pope Francis and Muslims

By Abdul Naseer, Community Voices

Cardinal Bergoglio was elected as the 266th pope of the Catholic Church yesterday. In his first remarks after being elected, Pope Francis said:

MORE »

Jewish Community Action's immigrant Seder celebrates freedom

By Ari Keiner, TC Jewfolk

Each year at Passover, Jews come together to tell the story of Exodus and celebrate our emancipation from bondage. For the past ten years, Jewish Community Action (JCA) has shared this tradition with our neighbors at the annual Immigrant Freedom Seder, where we host our friends and allies and reflect on our community’s modern-day triumphs and struggles. Now in its eleventh year, the Immigrant Freedom Seder weaves together the elements of a traditional Seder with storytelling, music, and activities, and brings us together with our allies to share the holiday’s message of freedom and rededicate ourselves to eradicating all injustice from our community.

MORE »
TC Jewfolk

My martenitza: A story of hope in Bulgaria

By Sarah Routman, TC Jewfolk

It’s March 1st today. Until 1998, when I made my first trip to Bulgaria, March 1st didn’t mean very much. Today, however, March 1st, 2013, some 15 year later, I will share my discovery of what March 1st means to me all over the University of Minnesota campus. I will do it with Hillel students as we give martenitzas to anyone who will take them.

MORE »
TC Jewfolk

Madame President: Sandy Pappas is the first Jewish woman to serve as president of the Minnesota Senate

By Mordecai Specktor, American Jewish World

Sen. Sandy Pappas has been elected to serve as the president of the Minnesota Senate for the 2013-2014 biennium, when the DFL Party controls both houses in the Legislature and the governor’s office. (Photo courtesy of Minnesota State Senate)

Sen. Sandra L. Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, has a spacious office in the Capitol, just down the hall from the House and Senate chambers. She is the second Jewish president of the Minnesota Senate — the late Sen. Allen Spear represented a Minneapolis district in the Senate for 28 years, and served as president for eight years, from 1992 to 2000.

MORE »
Syndicate content