Episode 97.

Burying a child is an unimaginable trauma that no parent should have to face. My guest today, Zeyneb Sayilgan, has sadly needed to endure that pain and grief twice. Through it all, her Muslim faith has sustained her and provided a path for healing. She has joined me to talk about her experience of loss and subsequent growth, as well as the related Islamic beliefs about death and the afterlife. We also touch on where the beliefs are similar to those in Judaism. Zeyneb brings both personal experience and knowledge to this complex topic.

Highlights:

• Zeyneb’s personal religious and cultural background
• Engagement with death in the Muslim community
• Comparison of death practices and attitudes in different countries
• Parallels and differences with Jewish and Christian practices
• Detailed overview of Islamic funeral practices
• Community healing through grief
• Life's value: time and eternity

Bio:

Zeyneb Sayilgan, Ph.D., is the Muslim Scholar at ICJS, The Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies in Baltimore, where her research focuses on Islamic theology and spirituality as articulated in the writings of Muslim scholar Bediüzzaman Said Nursi (1876-1960). She is the host of the Podcast On Being Muslim. You can read her publications on her blog.

References:

• https://religionnews.com/2024/05/15/what-the-dead-teach-us-about-life-a-view-from-islams-last-rites/
• https://uscatholic.org/articles/202410/what-catholics-can-learn-from-muhammad-about-grief/
• https://muslimmatters.org/2024/12/13/death-the-greatest-teacher/

Social Media and other links for Zeyneb:

• On Being Muslim podcast
• Zeyneb’s blog
• ICJS website – www.icjs.org

Suggested episodes on Living Our Beliefs:

• Elissa Felder episode
• Bonus episode on Tahara

Transcript on Buzzsprout

Social Media and other links for Méli:

• Website – the Talking with God Project
• Meli’s email
• LinkedIn – Meli Solomon
• Facebook – Meli Solomon

Follow the podcast!

The Living Our Beliefs podcast is part of the Talking with God Project.

Episode 96.

Have you lived in more than one country? Do you participate in interreligious dialogue or are you interested in it? Have you studied religion or theology? Not very many people can say yes to all of these questions. But my guest, Judith Pajo can. Born in Germany, she has nevertheless lived many years both there and in the U.S., shuttling back and forth since childhood. Raised Catholic, she has also studied theology and cultural anthropology in both countries. Judith now conducts interreligious research at Pace University in New York. With these elements as our focus, Judith and I explored her peripatetic upbringing, her current scholarship on interreligious and intra-religious dialogue, and the impact of that exploration on her Catholic faith.

While this conversation was recorded weeks ago, the recent death of Pope Francis makes it particularly timely.

Highlights:

• Diverse experiences of Catholicism.
• The impact of mobility on religious experience.
• Sound and light over words and other distractions.
• Language diversity in Catholic practice.
• Impact of October 7th attack on interfaith dialogue.
• Researcher risks and faith struggles.
• How interfaith dialogue reshapes religions.
• Research outcomes and future directions.

Bio:

Judith Pajo, PhD, grew up in both Germany and the United States. She studied Catholic theology and cultural anthropology on both sides of the Atlantic and has been teaching at Pace University in New York City for over fifteen years, with shorter stints at NYU and Fordham. Her new research on interfaith dialogue among Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Europe and North America, conceived a little over a year ago, is transforming her Catholic faith as she integrates more elements from the other Abrahamic religions into her practice. She is also guiding undergraduate students in conducting interviews with individuals from diverse faith traditions. The research group itself is an interfaith initiative; no two members share the same faith, but they are discovering that they have much in common. She is currently working on an article about cultural transgressions in interfaith work. What does forgiveness look like in practice? How do we continue interfaith dialogue? Judith lives in Queens, NY.

References:

• Church of the Reconciliation, Berlin
• Second Vatican Council

Suggested episode on Living Our Beliefs:

• Mookie Manalili episode – Catholic life

Social Media and other links for Judith:

• Profile at Pace University
• LinkedIn – Judith Pajo

Transcript on Buzzsprout

Social Media and other links for Méli:

• Website – the Talking with God Project
• Meli’s email
• LinkedIn – Meli Solomon
• Facebook – Meli Solomon

Follow the podcast!

The Living Our Beliefs podcast is part of the Talking with God Project.

Episode 95.

What comes to mind when you hear the term mysticism? Perhaps you imagine a yogi sitting cross legged in meditation, or people sitting in a circle chanting. Several religions have mystical practices, Sufism in Islam, and Zen Buddhism, for instance. Whatever the particulars, they generally share a desire to become one with the Divine and valueing of spiritual rather than intellectual understanding. Today, my guest, Lex Rofeberg, has joined me to talk about Jewish mysticism, its history, core books, challenging concepts and risks to followers. As a rabbi ordained in the Jewish Renewal movement, he is both a practitioner and critic of Jewish mysticism. Lex is co-host of the Judaism Unbound podcast and the Un-Yeshiva – a link is in the show notes. He is also an active proponent of learning from other faith traditions. In this, he shares my philosophy that learning about other paths is beneficial and does not pose a risk to your beliefs or practice.

Bio:

Lex Rofeberg (he/him) serves as senior Jewish educator for Judaism Unbound, a digital-first Jewish organization. He co-hosts and produces its weekly podcast, facilitates many of its digital rituals and events, and oversees the UnYeshiva: a digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning. He graduated from Brown University with a degree in Judaic Studies, and was ordained as a rabbi by ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal. A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Lex lived for two years in Jackson, Mississippi -- working for the Institute of Southern Jewish Life -- and he currently lives in Providence, Rhode Island with his wife.

Highlights:

• Embracing Jewish pop culture.
• Pantheism, panentheism and monotheism.
• Embodied worship and pantheism.
• Oneness and separation of the sacred and the profane.
• Hasidism, neo-Hasidism, and Chabad.
• The Zohar and Kabbalah.
• Reckoning with harm in by charismatic leaders.

Social Media links for Lex:

• Website – JudaismUnbound.com
• Bluesky – @lexaphus.bsky.social

References:

• Living Our Beliefs – Yusef Hayes episode on Sufism
• Living Our Beliefs – David Green on the Tanya and Chabad

Transcript on Buzzsprout

Social Media links for Méli:

• Website – the Talking with God Project
• Meli’s email
• LinkedIn – Meli Solomon
• Facebook – Meli Solomon

Follow the podcast!

The Living Our Beliefs podcast is part of the Talking with God Project.