From Ramadan to Elul: A spiritual journey

By Andrew Friedman, FTA

Image by Carlos Latuff

For Lee Weissman, a Breslov Chasid in Irvine, the recent onset of Elul caps a spiritual journey he began a month ago with the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Weissman, a teacher at the Tarbut v’Torah Community Day School in Irvine and a scholar of Southeast Asian religions, says similar themes run through Ramadan and Elul, the Hebrew month of repentance, charity and extra prayers leading up to Rosh Hashanah and the High Holy Days. And he says his close ties with local Muslims have helped put him in the “correct” frame of mind to begin his own month of penitence and prayer.

President Obama’s Interfaith Dialogue & Community Service Challenge

(c) www.whitehouse.gov

Last spring (2011), the White House announced the establishment of the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, aimed at strengthening the relationships among diverse faith groups and promoting interfaith service efforts that benefit the broader, collective community. UCI was honored to be selected to participate in the challenge. More than 200 campuses across the country are participating in the President’s Initiative, including a number of other UC campuses.