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Dear Friend,

The new year comes with new resolutions. At ICJS, we hope that increasing interreligious literacy is on your list of things to do in 2021, and we are pleased to offer a variety of opportunities for interreligious learning that can fit into any schedule: 

As you can see, ICJS is kicking off the new year by offering engaging interreligious learning opportunities morning, noon, and night covering diverse topics in formats that work with different schedules. Come join us, and start 2021 by making religious difference a powerful force for good.

Best wishes for the new year,

Heather Miller Rubens, Ph.D.
Executive Director & Roman Catholic Scholar

 

UPCOMING

2021 Minicourse: Reading the Bible at the Border of Judaism and Christianity

Tuesdays, Jan 19, 26, Feb 2 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
or 4:00-6:00 p.m.

Our Politics
& Our Religions:
Reflecting on 2020
and Beyond

Thursday, January 21
4:00–5:30 p.m.

quran upright on table with blurred shelves of books in background

Exploring Major Themes of the Qur’an Through the Writings of Said Nursi

Eight-week course, beginning January 27, 2021
Wednesdays | 7:00–8:30 p.m.

WHAT WE'RE READING / LISTENING TO

this year i will list on top of laptop keyboardPhoto by Constantine Johnny/Getty Images

Have New Year’s Resolutions? Managing Middot Can Help

“Judaism gives us incredible tools to transform lofty concepts into day-to-day practice.... This journey toward personal mastery is called Tikkun Middot, the healing of our character traits.

"Middot comes from the word 'measure.' We are measured by our middot, or, alternatively, we must balance each of our character traits within limits.... Any given middah isn’t good or bad until it becomes extreme. When we notice one side getting off-kilter, we have to emphasize the other side of the continuum to restore equilibrium.”

Read more from
Jewish Journal...

view of empty church from behind pulpit

America's National Conversation About Christianity is 'Fundamentally Unserious'—But Not in the Way You Think

"'If we want to have a serious conversation about Christianity in the United States, we must consider the ways in which Christian hegemony harms others, including through its normalization of Christian extremism. [A]ny serious discourse...must include [the voices of leavers, nonbelievers, and religious minorities] as stakeholders in hashing out a fair and equitable approach to American pluralism...."

Read more from
Religion Dispatches...

Raul Gonzalez, center, of the Ojala Foundation, talks with a person in need as the group gives out homemade chili and essential supplies to people living under a viaduct at Cermak Road and Canal Street in Chicago on Nov. 13, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

Latino Muslim Group Works to Bridge Communities in Chicago

"More and more Hispanics have been converting to Islam over the last decade, according to the Pew Research Center. The number of Muslims living in the United States increased from 2.5 million to 3.5 million from 2007 to 2017. About a quarter-million of them are Latinos....

"'The community starts with the individual,' [said Raul Gonzalez, director of outreach for the Ojala Foundation, an organization of Latino Muslims]. 'Chicago does not need a Band-Aid, it needs surgery. We need as a city to remember what it is to be human.'"

Read more from
Chicago Tribune...

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ICJS builds learning communities where religious difference becomes a powerful force for good.

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