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Religion

Muslim vegetarians? More young Muslims are saying yes

The halal food market is now worth trillions globally, and companies are beginning to notice growing demand for halal-certified vegetarian and vegan products.

Signs of Shavuot: Grief, Love and Choosing Life

Shavuot is a holiday heavy with symbolism. While it marks the end of the counting of the omer, it also functions as a miniature jubilee. The fiftieth day like a tiny echo of the fifty year cycle. And in each of the seventh years during that cycle, acts of rest and liberation are performed, especially in the fiftieth year.

Robot Monk Gabi Takes Vows in Seoul. What Would the Buddha Have Thought?

  How many of us looked twice when we saw that South Korea has ordained a robot as a budd? His name is Gabi, and he...

A Quantum Kaddish? What fungal networks teach us about grief, God and death

Can Zara speak with their recently departed mother through fungal networks? In April my mom passed away and I attended her funeral as a relative...

Abortion Pills, Plan B and Mifepristone and what the new US mail ban means

Abortion pills, often confused with Plan B (the morning-after pill), and historically referred to as RU486 (mifepristone), are part of a broader category of reproductive health medications that women have been using for decades. But they are not the same thing.

Sámi shaman drums and why owning one could get you killed

For centuries, the Sámi shaman drum was one of the most powerful sacred objects in northern Europe, and one of the most feared by church and state. If ISIS looks bad to us today for its religious fundamentalism, Christians were just as fervent. 

Adamah in Los Angeles wants to make Jewish climate action local, practical and spiritual

At a time when climate anxiety can feel abstract and overwhelming, and being Jewish something people may need to hide in big cities, Adamah Los Angeles is trying something different: turning Jewish values into local climate action with dirt-under-the-fingernails practicality.

Jewish Vegans invite global community to “Compassionate Passover” event

As Passover approaches, a global online gathering is inviting people to explore the holiday’s ancient story of liberation through a modern lens of compassion,...

Haman’s Fingers, A Moroccan Purim Specialty

There’s feasting at home on the night and the next day, and to make sure everyone gets good things to eat, families send out packages of treats to friends and neighbors. Traditional goodies are hamentaschen, and other treats like our chocolate nut clusters .

Jujube, the sidr tree of medicine and magic

A magic holy sidr bath to deflect the evil eye? It needs 7 powdered sidr leaves stirred into a bucket of warm water. The hadith of the Prophet Muhammad allows to repeat healing prayers and verses from the Koran to increase the water’s potency. 5 grams, or 1 tablespoon of sidr powder equals 7 leaves.

We saw peace – an interreligious encounter deep in our eyes

They came from Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Egypt… There are Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims, Jews (Orthodox and Reform), Orthodox Christians, Coptic Christians, Protestant Christians, Druze, Baha'is, a Scientologist.

Isra and Mi’raj Festival and the Night Journey to Jerusalem that shaped Islam

The Muslim prophet Muhammad never traveled to the city of Jerusalem in his lifetime. Yet his dream is celebrated as a spiritual transformation. The Isra and Mi‘raj story describes a spiritual or visionary experience, not a recorded historical journey. Even early Islamic scholars debated whether the event was physical or symbolic. Yet today, Muslims around the world are marking Isra and Mi‘raj as a living spiritual tradition filled with prayer, storytelling, and community rituals around the world.

Zoroastrianism from Iran is the world’s first eco-religion

When Zarathustra started preaching around 1200 BCE in ancient Persia, which is known today as Iran, he wasn't just founding a religion—he was creating the world's first environmental protection movement. Good thoughts, good words, good deeds. But there was a mantra and words to live by: don't pollute the earth, water, or fire. Ever.

What is the Jewish Climate Trust?

Jewish Climate Trust has quickly attracted the attention and support of some of the most influential voices in Jewish philanthropy, drawing backing from prominent family foundations and business leaders connected to the Bronfman and Schusterman philanthropic networks, alongside climate-focused investors and community builders aligned with founding leader Nigel Savage. Together, these donors have committed many millions of dollars to build a serious, long-term climate platform for the Jewish world — not as a symbolic gesture, but as a strategic intervention in one of the defining challenges of this generation.

Female Genital Mutilation still happens — quietly, at home, and across borders in Canada

A service provider explains that women may choose midwives from within their community to keep their status private. Another line cuts to the core: “There’s a lack of understanding… especially psychologically.”

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HelloFresh’s pride prepping ad raises a bigger question: we are we still outsourcing dinner?

The backlash against HelloFresh's Pride Month marketing campaign has sparked a wider conversation about food, labor, sustainability, and whether consumers should reconnect with local farmers, butchers, and home gardens instead of relying on subscription meal kits.

Regenerative Wool or Greenwashing? Zentera Responds to Critics

Zentera responds to questions about ZQ wool, animal welfare, regenerative farming, ethical fashion and the fallout from PETA's New Zealand investigation.

The Ocean’s Hidden ‘Dark Web’ Is Being Fished Before Scientists Understand It

Deep below the ocean's surface, in a dimly lit region known as the twilight zone, millions of fish are being caught every year. Scientists say the consequences are largely unknown.

Barnacle glue could fix coral reefs, inspire new advances in building and medicine

Aalto University researchers create a protein-based adhesive inspired by barnacles and mussels that works underwater and could aid coral reef restoration.

Jaakko Torvinen finds that the next green building revolution is misfit trees

Crooked, forked and curved trees are often treated as second-class timber. They are considered less valuable, and not suitable for load bearing walls or support systems in building. If a tree trunk is not straight enough to become a saw log, it is frequently diverted into pulp production or burned for energy. Now, new research from Aalto University could help change that.

Topics

HelloFresh’s pride prepping ad raises a bigger question: we are we still outsourcing dinner?

The backlash against HelloFresh's Pride Month marketing campaign has sparked a wider conversation about food, labor, sustainability, and whether consumers should reconnect with local farmers, butchers, and home gardens instead of relying on subscription meal kits.

Regenerative Wool or Greenwashing? Zentera Responds to Critics

Zentera responds to questions about ZQ wool, animal welfare, regenerative farming, ethical fashion and the fallout from PETA's New Zealand investigation.

The Ocean’s Hidden ‘Dark Web’ Is Being Fished Before Scientists Understand It

Deep below the ocean's surface, in a dimly lit region known as the twilight zone, millions of fish are being caught every year. Scientists say the consequences are largely unknown.

Barnacle glue could fix coral reefs, inspire new advances in building and medicine

Aalto University researchers create a protein-based adhesive inspired by barnacles and mussels that works underwater and could aid coral reef restoration.

Jaakko Torvinen finds that the next green building revolution is misfit trees

Crooked, forked and curved trees are often treated as second-class timber. They are considered less valuable, and not suitable for load bearing walls or support systems in building. If a tree trunk is not straight enough to become a saw log, it is frequently diverted into pulp production or burned for energy. Now, new research from Aalto University could help change that.

Black fathers live longer than non-fathers, new study

Researchers found that fatherhood was associated with lower rates of early death among Black men, while early fatherhood was linked to poorer long-term health outcomes.

Dan Zaslavsky’s energy tower dream is rising again in Iran and China

The Energy Tower idea never made the leap from drawings and engineering studies to full-scale construction. But nearly two decades after most people stopped talking about it, the concept is quietly evolving in two unexpected places: China and Iran. The concept let dreamers dream and doers do - figuring out more pleasing designs and engineering.

A visit to Amirim, Israel’s first all-vegetarian village in the Galilee

Just 15 kilometers from Tzfat there is a moshav that was founded in the late 50s that was ideologically influenced by organic, vegetarian and vegan principles. My hostess at Ohn-Bar, the tzimmer where I stayed, explained that the people of Amirim were among the pioneers of Israel’s strong vegetarian movement.
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