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Archive
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| The Ramadan-Passover Conjunction |
| March 30, 2023 |
This year Passover and the month of Ramadan overlap – two faculty members at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace decided to blend two traditional meals into one. Thrn reflections on gun violence and faith from Pardeep Kaleka. |
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| “Part of interreligious engagement is sitting in discomfort." |
March 30, 2023 |
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To say that planning a Model Seder and Iftar was a learning experience would be an understatement. In this conversation, Orthodox Jew Deena Grant shares how surprised she was to discover many similarities between her tradition and those in Islam. For Muslim Chaplain Aida Mansoor, planning the dinner to be both Halal and Kosher was not so straightforward as she discovered that not all things kosher are halal and vice versa. But what was clear was the resonance of the redemptive, ancient story of Moses and persecuted Jews fleeing slavery. In this conversation with host Ambereen Khan, the two colleagues share what they learned about themselves and what it takes to negotiate shared spaces that honor differences, including the importance of being willing, at times, to be uncomfortable.
Deena Grant Ph.D., Acting Academic Dean and Associate Professor of Jewish Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace. She studies the Hebrew Bible from a historical-critical perspective and as it is interpreted and lived out by faith communities. She is currently working on the concept of hate in the Hebrew Bible and has published Divine Anger in the Hebrew Bible.
Aida Mansoor, Director of Field Education at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace. She also serves in the community and works with the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut and the Islamic Association of Greater Hartford.
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| “We as a society need to understand what is in the soil of this country” |
March 30, 2023 |
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Pardeep Kaleka shares what he has learned about himself, how his faith has evolved, and how escalation in mass shootings demands a reckoning with the deeply held values of the nation. Ten years ago, a heavily armed man stormed the services at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, a Gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, just outside Milwaukee, killing Pardeep’s father Satwant Singh Kaleka along with five others. The brutality of the attack on a house of worship shocked the nation and galvanized faith communities to rally around their Sikh neighbors. The attack remains the deadliest act of anti-Sikh hate in U.S. history and was remembered at an anniversary event held in Oak Creek in August 2022. Pardeep led the commemoration, honoring his father and the other victims in a series of events including an interfaith service.
Pardeep Singh Kaleka, Adjunct professor of Peace studies at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. He's a specialist in de-radicalization and has authored the book The Gift of Our Wounds. Pardeep has also served as the executive director of the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee.
The Gift of Our Wound
Macmillan
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