Tagged Religion
Honoring Jewish American Heritage Month
Did you know that in 1654, 23 Jewish refugees sailed to the port of New Amsterdam (presently New York City) and established the first Jewish community in what we now call the United States? It has been nearly 400 years since this…
Explore the Message of Swami Vivekananda With Our Interfaith Reading Group
The Education, Philosophy, and Religion Department strives to offer engaging and informative programs that touch on the wide variety of topics included within our collection of materials. Our upcoming program, The Message of Swami…
The Art of the Book in the Islamic World: Four Studies by Temple Graduate Students
Books have long occupied a central place in the visual culture of the Islamic world. This seminar, held during Temple University’s Fall 2021 semester, traced the key developments in the “arts of the two…
Let's Speak Arabic!
Manuscripts of the Muslim World and Al-Bustan Seeds of Cultural are offering free, virtual Arabic Conversational Classes! There are many reasons to learn conversational Arabic... There are over ten words for "love". It’s…
Why Did Abraham Care What We Eat? Food Restrictions in Major Religions
We often emphasize distinctions between the main Abrahamic religions, but they have something culinary in common: each year Muslims, Christians, and Jews restrict their diets to mimic the fasts of their respective prophets Muhammed,…
Baking with Becca: Cooking Outside the Box
Baking with Becca began at Whitman Library , nestled between 2nd and 3rd Streets on Snyder Avenue in South Philly. When COVID hit, we had to take a long break. I continued to grow and learn to strengthen this class and to steel myself…
The Jewish Festival of Lights
The night of Thursday, December 10 begins the Jewish Festival of Lights known as Hanukkah. That much we can agree on, eh? Well, err, kind of. Yes, the holiday begins on Thursday evening, but what is the correct spelling, in English, of…
Judaism 101: History, Religion, and Culture
Are you curious about Judaism? Are Judaism and Jews a people, a nation, a religion, a culture, a way of life, or something else? What does it mean to be a Jew or Jewish? On October 11 , Rabbi Joel Kessler will attempt to demystify one…
Learn of the Luminous Mysteries of Kabbalah
Do you know what Kabbalah is? Join us on May 23 at 7:00 p.m. to learn about this ancient mystical Jewish tradition. Professor Joel Hecker will talk about the history of Kabbalah, focusing on its central and canonical text,…
#OneBookWednesday: Spiritual and Religious Identity
"I refused to cover my head in public. Refused to walk through the world as a messenger of Allah’s teachings, ate hot dogs and bacon when I was with my girls. My Muslim beliefs lived just left of my heart. I was leaving space…
Rosh Hashanah Is a SWEET Time to Visit the Free Library
Rosh Hashanah —the celebration of the Jewish new year—begins at sundown on Wednesday night, September 20. Even those not celebrating the holiday may be preparing, as Philadelphia schools are closed Thursday and Friday .…
Librarian Traces Family Roots Through Historic Bible
The Rare Book Department 's Judaica includes a beautifully written and lavishly hand-decorated Spanish Hebrew Masoretic Text bible . Commissioned in 1496 in Lisbon, Portugal, the book is well-known among contemporary Hebrew bible…
Philadelphia: City of the Uncanny and the Arcane
Philadelphia is a wild and weird city. There’s so much to love, to hate, to love to hate, and to hate to love. There’s also so much that we, as every day Philadelphians, have somehow forgotten or never learned about our…
Ramadan Mubarak
The holy month of Ramadan began earlier this week, observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad according to Islamic belief. This annual observance of fasting is based…
Academic Search Main Edition *
Academic Search Main Edition is a multi-disciplinary database providing full text for nearly 2,000 journals and periodicals and is updated daily on EBSCOhost.
Sarah Bakewell | Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry, and Hope
In conversation with Eric Banks Acclaimed for “wonderfully readable” fusions of “biography, philosophy, history, cultural analysis and personal reflection” ( The Independent ), Sarah Bakewell is the author of At the Existentialist Café…
Anna Badkhen | Bright Unbearable Reality: Essays
In conversation with Airea D. Matthews, 2022-2023 Philadelphia Poet Laureate and Co-Director of the Creative Writing Program at Bryn Mawr With an artist’s perspective and a ground-level view of people in extremis across the world,…
Reza Aslan | An American Martyr in Persia: The Epic Life and Tragic Death of Howard Baskerville
Religion scholar Reza Aslan is the author of the No. 1 New York Times bestseller Zealot , “a lucid, intelligent page-turner” ( Los Angeles Times ) that sifts through centuries of mythmaking to present a clear account of the life and…
Michael Pollan | This is Your Mind on Plants
In conversation with Tamala Edwards, anchor, 6ABC Action News morning edition One of the world’s foremost chroniclers of the intersection of the human and natural worlds, Michael Pollan is a No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of…
Bill McKibben | The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at His Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened
“The world’s best green journalist” ( TIME ), Bill McKibben gave one of the earliest cautions about climate change with his 1989 book The End of Nature . His many other bestselling books about the environment include Falter , Deep…
Haroon Moghul | Two Billion Caliphs: A Vision of a Muslim Future
In conversation with Adnan A. Zulfiqar Haroon Moghul ’s many books include My First Police State , The Order of Light , and How to Be Muslim: An American Story , a “profound and intimate” ( The Washington Post ) memoir about life in the…
Fintan O’Toole | We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Modern Ireland
A Dublin native and a 34-year columnist and drama critic for The Irish Times, Fintan O’Toole is the author of nearly two dozen books, including A History of Ireland in 100 Objects , Enough is Enough: How to Build a Republic , and …
Nikole Hannah-Jones | The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story
In conversation with Tamala Edwards, anchor, 6ABC Action News morning edition, and Dr. Anthea Butler, Geraldine R. Segal Professor in American Social Thought and Chair of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania Introduced by…
Dara Horn | People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present
In conversation with Adam Kirsch Recognized for their “signature blend of tragedy and spirituality” ( The Washington Post ), Dara Horn’s novels include In the Image , The World to Come , and A Guide for the Perplexed . One of …
Brian Greene | Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe
In conversation with Dennis Overbye, science reporter for the New York Times and author of the books Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos and Einstein in Love “The single best explainer of abstruse science in the world today” ( Washington Post…
Tamara Payne | The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X
In conversation with Sarah Glover, veteran journalist and past president of the National Association of Black Journalists. In 1990, Pulitzer Prize -winning journalist Les Payne set out on a nearly 30-year crusade to write the most…
Cecile Richards | Make Trouble: Stand Up, Speak Out, and Find the Courage to Lead—My Life Story
In conversation with Tamala Edwards , anchor, 6ABC Action News morning edition A “heroine of the resistance” ( Vogue ), Cecile Richards was the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund…
Nathan Englander | Kaddish.com with Thomas Mallon | Landfall
Nathan Englander is the author of the story collections For the Relief of Unbearable Urges and What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank , a Pulitzer Prize finalist and winner of the Frank O’Connor International Short Story…
Jane Brox | Silence: A Social History of One of the Least Understood Elements of Our Lives
Penning “nonfiction literature of a high and lasting order” ( Chicago Tribune ), Jane Brox is the author of, among other books, Five Thousand Days Like This One , a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; Brilliant: The…
Elaine Pagels | Why Religion?: A Personal Story
In conversation with award-winning journalist, Tracey Matisak One of the most esteemed religious scholars of our time, Elaine Pagels is the author of Revelations , Beyond Belief , and The Gnostic Gospels . Her many honors include…
Mary Morris | Gateway to the Moon with Nathaniel Popkin | Everything is Borrowed
“A marvelous storyteller” ( Chicago Tribune ), Mary Morris explores some of her favorite themes—away versus home, childhood memories, and the Midwest—in such works of fiction as A Mother’s Love, House Arrest , and The Jazz Palace . The…
Walter Isaacson | Leonardo da Vinci
Watch the video here . Released just weeks after the tech guru’s death, Walter Isaacson’s “staggering” ( The New York Times ) portrait of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs instantly became an international bestseller. Isaacson has also penned…
Nikki Giovanni | A Good Cry: What We Learn from Tears and Laughter
Watch the video here . “One of the finest poets of our time” ( Ebony ), Nikki Giovanni is the author of nearly 30 books, including the collections Acolytes; Black Feeling, Black Talk, Black Judgment; Those Who Ride the Night Winds ;…
Simon Schama | The Story of the Jews Volume Two: Belonging: 1492-1900
Watch the video here . In conversation with Carlin Romano , Critic-at-Large, The Chronicle of Higher Education , former literary critic The Philadelphia Inquirer and author of America the Philosophical Lauded historian Simon Schama is…
Stephen Greenblatt | The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve
Watch the video here . Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for The Swerve: How the World Became Modern , Stephen Greenblatt is widely acclaimed as the father of New Historicism, which strives to understand works of…