Religion and Diplomacy; Hiring the Homeless; High Holidays

Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie, founder and leader of the Lab/Shul community in New York City, talks about the necessary spiritual and mental preparations to undertake in advance of the Jewish High Holy Days (October 2-12), from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur. The rabbi holds a boot camp filled with workshops, food, and music to encourage introspection, repentance, and honesty.

While many cities in the U.S. have moved to criminalize homelessness, imposing fees for lying down, camping and begging, Albuquerque, New Mexico has taken a different approach. It has initiated a program it calls “There’s a Better Way,” picking up homeless individuals and transporting them to jobs that pay them in cash at the end of the work period. Correspondent Lucky Severson reports.

This week, the US State Department sponsored a conference in Washington on the intersection of religion and diplomacy. Clergy, faith-based activists, academics, and diplomats attended. Critics have long charged that the US government has not done a good job in acknowledging the role of religion in foreign policy. Correspondent Kim Lawton talks with, US Special Representative Shaun Casey.

“There’s something about the shofar that is like the chatter of children. It’s the crying of babies. It’s the mother giving birth. It’s the grief wailing. It is a human, primitive voice.”