The Rabbi notes that feminists sometimes elevate Vashti at the expense of Esther, whom they see as too docile. Perhaps the Midrash interpretive tradition the Rabbi draws on felt the need to demean Vashti to elevate Esther.

Ramadan begins today for those of us in America, and we will observe our first sawm (fast). Muslims around the world will be seeking spiritual merit or reward by fasting, praying, doing good deeds and asking for repentance.

The Presbytery of the Inland Northwest’s (PIN) “Building Towards Reconciliation” campaign is more than just raising money to repair six churches on the Nez Perce Reservation in north-central Idaho — churches that are the oldest in the presbytery and among the oldest in the state.

Yes, in Hinduism, many gods are all different aspects of ultimate. In Vedanta philosophy, we believe that Truth is one and there are different ways to reach it. Here, truth means the ultimate divine energy.

Last week, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The court wants to bring Putin to trial but not for massacres of the innocent in occupied portions of Eastern Ukraine. The court does not want to bring Putin to trial for the indiscriminate bombing of civilians or the destruction of energy infrastructure that denies Ukrainians heat and electricity in winter. The International Criminal Court wants to bring Putin to trial for kidnapping children and sending them to Russia to live in orphanages or to be adopted by Russian homes.

Four years ago, on March 15, 2019, a white supremacist opened fire on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, leaving 51 dead and 40 others injured. While this was shocking in terms of the number of deaths and injuries, such attacks have become alarmingly common.