Faith Matters: The Lightened Yoke Is Love
by | May 20, 2025 10:00 am | Comments (0)
“Faith Matters” is a column that features pieces written by local religious figures.
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Religion
180 Center Steps Up With Free Haircuts, & Much More
by | May 16, 2025 9:34 am | Comments (2)
Lisa Reisman photo
Volunteer Justin Toczydlowski at work at the 180 Center Community Care Day.
On a recent sun-splashed afternoon outside the 180 Center on East Street, John A. was dog-sitting a bull terrier named Cherish when he heard someone calling his name. It was a staff member telling him she had his mail.
“This place is my lifeline,” he said, amid the aroma of hot dogs and festive crush of attendees on Community Care Day. Each day he goes to Bible Study classes at the center. On Sundays, he attends church there. Otherwise, he’s flying a sign on the corner of Long Wharf Drive and Sports Haven.
With its slogan “Turning Lives Around,” the 180 Center, which relies solely on charitable donations, provides free breakfasts and lunches to anyone in need year-round. It also offers a warming center, an intensive 18-month rehabilitation program comprising Bible studies, conflict resolution classes, and prayer sessions for up to nine men, and a Christian 12-step program.
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Amid War, Kyiv's Jewish Community Perseveres
by | May 12, 2025 2:23 pm | Comments (0)
Masorti Olami Kyiv photos
Praying with the minyan at Masoret Kyiv.
Tsenya Garashchenko holds the Havdalah candle, marking the end of Shabbat.
The following article was written by the New Haven Independent’s Kyiv correspondent.
KYIV, Ukraine — Three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv’s Conservative Jewish community is still hard at work continuing the Jewish tradition in the city.
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Mother's Day Mass Q: New Pope, Female Deacons?
by | May 12, 2025 9:22 am | Comments (3)
Allan Appel Photos
The Sullivan family, down from New Hampshire to St. Mary's to visit grandma Jeannie Barry (third from right).
Michelle Florez, and son Deo, at St. Francis on Ferry St.: “If the new pope can shine light on issues, clear people’s minds, and add some hope, that’s what his role should be."
The first American pope, as seen in lobby of St. Stan's.
Let the new pope, Leo XIV, consider elevating Catholic women to become deacons, Jeannie Barry said in the lobby of St. Mary’s Church on Hillhouse Avenue.
Whoa! Not so fast, said Barry’s daughter, Emily Sullivan. Sullivan is a graduate of Thomas Aquinas College, in theology. “Women are equal in dignity but distinctive in their church roles,” she said. “And the church is bound by scripture and tradition.”
Or as Carlos Rodriguez put it more succinctly an hour earlier and at a different church across town, on his way into an 11:00 a.m. Spanish-language mass at St. Francis on Ferry Street in Fair Haven: “It doesn’t matter who the pope is. The pope is the pope and God is God.”
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Art As Prayer
by | May 9, 2025 11:35 am | Comments (1)
David Sepulveda Photo
The artist at BEKI artist talk.
As if on cue, melodic sounds of spring-time songbirds drifted through the windows during a talk by artist Judy Sirota Rosenthal for her presentation of “Art As Prayer, Prayer As Art” at Westville’s Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel.
Missing Catherine
by | May 9, 2025 9:29 am | Comments (1)
Rev. Bonita Grubbs.
“Faith Matters” is a column that features pieces written by local religious figures.
Sunday is Mother’s Day.
According to Wikipedia, in 1868, Anna Jarvis, who had previously organized Mother’s Day Work Clubs to improve sanitation and health for both Union and Confederate encampments undergoing a typhoid outbreak, organized a committee to establish a “Mother’s Friendship Day”, the purpose of which was “to reunite families that had been divided during the Civil War.”
Rosemary Turns 100
by | May 6, 2025 5:16 pm | Comments (3)
Lisa Reisman photo
Rosemary DeCosta Hoke with granddaughter Erika Bogan (right) on her 100th birthday.
If you walk into Beulah Heights First Pentecostal Church on Orchard Street for the worship service on any given Sunday, chances are that an impeccably dressed older woman with twinkling eyes will wish you good morning, welcome you to her church, and encourage you to sit as close as you can to the front.
That woman is long-time parishioner Rosemary DeCosta Hoke who, on a recent Sunday at Beulah Heights, with her 13 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren looking on, celebrated her 100th birthday.
Faith Matters: Scar Glory
by | May 6, 2025 12:37 pm | Comments (0)
(Opinion) “Faith Matters” is a column that features pieces written by local religious figures.
My collection of scars grew this winter when I fell on the ice in my driveway and broke my right elbow. My scar collection includes that one, along with anterior and posterior scars on my neck from four cervical discectomies, a scar on my left knee from the removal of a benign cyst, and a scar on my left foot from a broken fifth metatarsal.
Antisemitism & Anti-Antisemitism Explored
by | May 2, 2025 12:05 pm | Comments (9)
Allan Appel photo
Sam Moyn, M. Gessen, and Zack Beauchamp at Thursday's conference.
It takes perhaps a retired Reform rabbi to see beyond the agonized Talmudic pilpul, that is, the fine distinction-making between antisemitism and anti-Zionism
Yet a major take-away for retired Yale Jewish Chaplain Rabbi Jim Ponet from the two-day conference at Yale this week on “Antisemitism and the Crisis of Liberalism” was precisely that.
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Faith Matters: Beyond Neutrality
by | Apr 29, 2025 11:33 am | Comments (6)
“Faith Matters” is a column that features pieces written by local religious figures.
1,000 People. 30,000 Eggs.
by | Apr 28, 2025 9:30 am | Comments (3)
Laura Glesby Photos
Little kids scramble to look for eggs...
...as Leanna and Tamika Saxon cheer on 6-year-old Halo from the sidelines.
“HALO! HALO!” shouted 8‑year-old Leanna Saxon, cheering as her 6‑year-old niece sprinted from egg to egg.
She was one of about 1,000 people filling the field behind John C. Daniels School on Sunday afternoon for an Easter egg hunt and festival.
Pope Recalled As "Prophetic Voice"
by | Apr 21, 2025 4:22 pm | Comments (5)
Allan Appel photo
St. Mary's Rev. Ryan Lerner: Pope Francis "was a voice speaking bluntly to issues we’re facing -- an end to war and bloodshed, of peace, and especially denouncing sins against the most vulnerable."
Vatican Media
Pope Francis received Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly in a private audience at the Vatican on Dec. 20. Kelly: Pope "supportive of our efforts to help Catholic men be better husbands and fathers."
The Church should be like a field hospital for the wounded of the world. And pastors who guide in Jesus’s name should have the smell of the flock they lead — that is, they should be among and with the people.
Those inspirational paraphrases from the teachings of Pope Francis were very much on the mind of Rev. Ryan Lerner on a sunny Monday morning as he prepared to hear confessions and lead mass at the St. Mary’s Church on Hillhouse Avenue, just hours after the pope’s death.
Norm Pattis Makes An Easter Wager
by | Apr 18, 2025 12:20 pm | Comments (17)
Norm Pattis came to talk about Donald Trump. He ended up talking about the .22 with which he once planned to shoot his stepfather — and what he takes from the story of Jesus’s resurrection about the possibility of a new life.
Welcome The Stranger
by | Apr 18, 2025 10:23 am | Comments (1)
Paul Bass Photo
Rabbi Herb Brockman.
“Faith Matters” is a column that features pieces written by local religious figures.
(Opinion) It was on a cold morning in Sept 2015 that Alan Kurdi’s body washed ashore on a beach in Turkey. Along with his parents and older brother, they were fleeing the violence in their native Syria. Their rubber raft was bound for a “safe harbor” on a Greek island. The boat capsized. Alan and his brother and mother drowned.
The image of a 2‑year-old lying in the sand was captured by a Turkish photographer and was sent around the world. People opened their hearts when they saw the suffering in that image. All these years it never left me.
A Chapel Haven Passover
by | Apr 17, 2025 10:53 am | Comments (1)
Allan Appel photo
Chapel Haven Judaism Club coordinator Rachel McEachern, at Wednesday's seder.
What is the meaning of the egg? What is the meaning of the sprig of parsley? Of the flat bread called matzah? What is a symbol?
In many ways the talky Passover seder — basically a Socratic-style seminar with friendly Q and A along with tasty food and drink — is the perfect activity for young people establishing and improving their social communication skills and exploring the nuances of language and metaphor.
That’s why, of all the different kinds of Passover seders, among the most inspiring to this reporter is the one that unfolded Wednesday night at Chapel Haven Schleifer Center (CHSC), the transitional and residential campus in Westville for people over 18 with disabilities.
Faith Matters: Freedom Struggles & Holy Week
by | Apr 17, 2025 10:05 am | Comments (3)
Rev. Allie Perry.
“Faith Matters” is a column that features pieces written by local religious figures.
(Opinion) While the dates for Passover and Easter vary from year to year, this year they converge.
The eight days of Passover in the Jewish calendar are almost a complete overlay of the seven days of Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Easter, in the Christian calendar. Dates are not the only commonality, however.
More significantly, both these religious observances memorialize sacred stories of freedom struggles and resistance to oppressive empires.
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Faith Matters: On Passover & Redemption
by | Apr 7, 2025 5:57 pm | Comments (3)
Rabbi Schaefer.
“Faith Matters” is a column that features pieces written by local religious figures.
Take A Breath, & "Un-Become"
by | Mar 28, 2025 12:13 pm | Comments (1)
The Meister himself, sage of simplicity.
The sage advice of a medieval mystic came to New Haven Thursday night — in the form of a reminder that being still is hard work, and, when done well, can bring one closer to God.
Faith Matters: Gaza & Ramadan
by | Mar 26, 2025 10:01 am | Comments (13)
contributed photo
Prophet's Mosque in Medina.
“Faith Matters” is a column that features pieces written by local religious figures.
(Opinion) The Qur’an, which was revealed during Ramadan in the sixth century to Prophet Muhammad, is read daily to remind Muslims not only of their commitment to God and His commands but also their commitment to the lives of all living beings.
Since he is mentioned more than any other prophet throughout the Qur’an, Prophet Moses’ life is described in detail throughout the holy text.
Jewish Day School Appoints New Leader
by | Mar 19, 2025 9:23 am | Comments (6)
Chris Aguero.
As a seventh-grader, Chris Aguero had acquired enough Hebrew to use a personally coded script to express his 12-year-old angst — aka kvetching — in his daily diary.
Aguero, now 42, has grown up to become neither spy nor cryptologist but rather the new Head of School of Ezra Academy, the New Haven area’s anchoring progressive Jewish day school.
With Raids Looming, Rabbi Returns To Resistance Trenches
by | Mar 14, 2025 9:31 am | Comments (30)
Paul Bass Photos
Rabbi Brockman Thursday at WNHH FM.
Kica Matos and Rabbi Herb Brockman (at left) with Nury Chavarria in 2017 at Fair Haven's Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal, where she was being housed to prevent federal agents from arresting and deporting her.
Donald Trump is back at raiding immigrant communities and deporting people. So Herb Brockman is back at working with other religious leaders to step in to help targeted immigrants and their families.
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Faith (Still) Matters
by | Mar 11, 2025 2:00 pm | Comments (3)
Note: This is the first installment in a “Faith Matters” column that will include pieces written by local clergy.
(Opinion) – I’ve been contributing to the New Haven Register’s Faith Matters column for over a decade. I have to admit that it came as a great disappointment to me that a decision had been made to discontinue the column.
I have always viewed Faith Matters as a pleasant light in a world filled with far too much bad, sad, and mad news. I was honored to be among its contributors. The decision to snuff that light happened to occur just as it was my turn to submit another column. Twice in the dozen or so years I’ve been contributing, the due date snuck up on me and I found myself having to produce a column in a matter of hours. The first time I got a friendly “where’s your column?” phone call, I was driving. I pulled over, said a prayer and began to write. It was a very decent piece if I do say so myself. No one can tell me that faith doesn’t matter. God helped me get it done!
New Haven's Final Slave Auction Remembered
by | Mar 10, 2025 12:15 pm | Comments (3)
Allan Appel photo
Chief organizer Jill Snyder at Trinity's columbarium.
On March 8, 1825, Lucy and Lois Tritton were paraded through the streets of New Haven, led by a drummer shouting “slaves for sale.”
The mother and daughter were then marched, likely with potential buyers following, the few blocks to the Green. There, by the old sign post near Chapel and Church streets, they were auctioned off for $10 — marking the last slave sale recorded in New Haven, and in the state of Connecticut.
That doleful and spirit-crushing 200th anniversary was marked Sunday afternoon at Trinity Church on the Green by a somber “service of lamentation and healing.”
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Local Ukrainians Mourn 3 Years Of War
by | Feb 24, 2025 4:42 pm | Comments (21)
Lisa Reisman photo
Anna Salemme and Lyudmyla Kobylyanska at Sunday's mass.
Three years after Russia invaded Ukraine — and began a war that President Trump now falsely claims Ukraine started — 75 people gathered on George Street for a somber Sunday mass to try to figure out how best to support the country they love in such tumultuous times.
Switch Flicked For Holocaust Remembrance
by | Jan 27, 2025 9:37 am | Comments (5)
Allan Appel photo
At Friday's ceremony at Chapel Haven.
Roughly 100 people across the generations gathered — with memorial candles, prayers, and hopes — at Chapel Haven Schleifer Center (CHSC), the residential campus for people with disabilities, in order to “Flick the Switch.”
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