While Catholic and Islamic services are different, many of our practices are the same, and I felt overwhelmed by a feeling of our shared human endeavours to get closer to the divine.

Sometimes the hours tick away quite slowly and you find yourself obsessively checking the clock, almost willing it to hit 6 p.m., when you can gorge on smoothies and quesadillas. "The Fast" in the Baha'i Faith is certainly misnamed. It should be called "The Slow" for the way time plods throughout the day.

My spirit was unusually burdened. Being burdened is different than being saddened or concerned. A burden calls for action and movement.

I've gained a strengthened sense of personal achievement, value and increased confidence because I succeeded in bringing a positive impact on communities in East Africa.

Soon, I will be landing in Kuala Lumpur and settling into my hotel room to observe the holiest of Jewish days while amongst the Islamic people. I am looking forward to the adventure.

Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, is observed in 2012 from sundown Sept. 25 to nightfall Sept. 26. The Hebrew date for Yom Kippur is 9-10 Tishr...

Of course, I have the luxury of choosing to take the Food Stamp Challenge or not, but in taking the Food Stamp Challenge, I want to experience first-hand over a longer period what hunger is like for people who have no choice.

I've attended Yom Kippur services as a congregant for many years, and I've also conducted Yom Kippur services when serving as a pulpit rabbi for several years. From both ends I can tell you: Yom Kippur can be rough.

Although I only fasted for three days, the experience has stayed with me, so that even now, weeks later, I am still reflecting on that time. There is much to be learned from Ramadan.

This is a very important time not just for my family, but for every Muslim family throughout the world to celebrate and pray together.

During this auspicious month, we're reminded of the tools to honor God throughout the year. Rather than reboot one time a year, consistent maintenance is good practice for the spirit and contributes to the productivity of our spiritual operating systems beyond Ramadan.

There is no better way to understand someone than to just put yourself in their shoes, even if it is only from sunrise to sunset, even if it's only for a day. For those of you who do not think they have the discipline or ability to do this I urge you to try.

The 2012 Olympics present for Muslims a rare moment to look in a global mirror and see a self image that fills us with awe, pride and deep humility.

Lamentations, one of the five scrolls in the Jewish Bible, is a response to the destruction of the first Temple. Written in a dense, terse, poetically rich and complex five chapters, it has been a challenging text since its appearance.

Let us use Ramadan as a time to purify our souls and refocus our attention on God. Let us audit ourselves and see where we are in our journey to God.

On Tisha B'Av, we are left with ruins, the emptiness remains. We are left with what was, with the past as such. But what is a ruin?

What happens to the significance and meaning of a tradition when affluence, technology and cultural change divorce it from its original meaning and place in our lives? For many modern-day Jews, old ways can feel stale.

Muslims today find themselves in a place where our narrative is being told by others. Many equate a normative understanding of Islam to something that is radical in its nature. Most of time we find ourselves reactively saying what we are not.

The search for beauty, the desire for beauty, the love of beauty all lead to the same destination -- God. I hope in this month of Ramadan, Muslims find it in their hearts to reflect on the relationship between aesthetics and spirituality.

If you find it hard to forgive someone, don't make it worse for yourself by thinking you are doing something wrong. Give yourself the time needed and speak to people who make sense.

As the New Moon glimmered, the Jewish and Muslim communities both entered a solemn month, known to one as Ramadan and to the other as Av. In both, fasting takes on great importance as a way of focusing spiritual energy.

Fasting brings with it a heightened level of introspection and it seems that each year I learn so much about who I actually am and what I am capable of doing and staying away from. It also seems like once the month is over, I forget a lot of what I learned.

As millions of fellow Americans spend the next few days in striving to improve their physical, moral and spiritual faculties, they will also be expressing their gratefulness to America's pluralistic ideals and multiculturalism.