Tuohy Center for Interreligious Understanding

10/04/2026

09/25/2026

09/20/2026

The Tuohy Center for Interreligious Understanding was proud to represent John Carroll University with our Fall 2026 Breaking Bread fellows Ethan Gallo and Sihma Islam, and our 2025-2026 Bridgebuilding fellow Rasmia Alnadi at the Interfaith Summit in Oberlin College this weekend. Our Associate Director Dr. Semiha Topal led a breakout session to facilitate the world-building game called "Building Belonging" to demonstrate how the "Campus Dialogue Games" booklet created by the Bridgebuilding Fellows can serve as an effective tool in fostering interfaith understanding and pluralism. We extend our sincerest thanks to the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life - Oberlin College for organizing this wonderful summit and the Worldviews & Interfaith Social Ethics (WISE) Center at Baldwin Wallace University for participating in our session and playing with us!

09/11/2026

Rosh Hashanah is a two-day festival that marks the Jewish New Year according to the Hebrew calendar. The celebration begins at sundown with the blowing of a ram’s horn (shofar) in the synagogues and includes evening candle lightings, sharing meals, and asking God for a year of peace and blessing.
Meaning “head of the year” or “first of the year,” the festival begins on the first day of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, which falls during September or October. Rosh Hashanah and the new year 5786 begins at sundown on the eve of Tishrei 1 (Sept. 11, 2026) and ends after nightfall on Tishrei 2 (Sept. 13, 2026).
Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of the world and marks the beginning of the Days of Awe, a 10-day period of introspection and repentance that culminates in the Yom Kippur holiday, also known as the Day of Atonement.
Work is prohibited, and religious Jews spend much of the holiday attending synagogue.

09/11/2026

Nayrouz, also known as the Coptic New Year, is a feast celebrated by Coptic Orthodox Christians to mark the beginning of the Coptic calendar, usually falling on September 11th (or 12th in a leap year). It commemorates the martyrs and saints of the early Church, especially those who suffered under Roman persecution during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. The name "Nayrouz" is derived from the ancient Egyptian word for new waters, linking the celebration to the Nile’s annual flooding, which brought fertility and renewal. The day is observed with church services, prayers, hymns, and the reading of the Synaxarium, honoring the courage and faith of the martyrs. It is both a spiritual and historical celebration of renewal, remembrance, and hope.