April 6, 2001 - As the sun sets on Saturday night, Jews will gather to celebrate the first night of Passover. The eight-day festival begins with family and friends participating in a ritual meal called a Seder. The leader of the Seder tells the story of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. The Jewish slaves didn't have time to allow their bread dough to rise. What resulted was a flat, cracker-like bread called matzah. Chaim Goldberger (Hy-am) is a modern orthodox Rabbi at the Kenesseth (Ken-ess-et) Israel Synagogue in St. Louis Park. He says that in observing Passover, Jews are commanded to eat matzah. Opening excerpt: The Torah tells us that there is a link between dough and a human being; mixing a dusty flour with water to create bread and humans. Yeast makes bread rise and is the human equivalent for ego. Unleavened bread takes the ego out of the bread and human…
April 26, 2001 - As part of Mainstreet Radio series "Broken Trust: Civil Rights in Indian Country,” MPR’s Bob Rhea reports on the fight for religious freedom of Native Americans, including those incarcerated.
May 7, 2001 - An MPR special: A Simple Buddhist Monk. The special is about buddhism and the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet and Nobel Peace Prize winner.
May 7, 2001 - MPR’s Marisa Helms reports on a two day conference on Tibetan medicine, which coincides with Dalai Lama's visit to Minnesota. The healing practices are one of the oldest forms of medicine, dating back to the 4th century AD. The main components involve dietary and lifestyle changes, herbal medicine, and massage. Minnesota has the country's second-largest Tibetan Buddhist community.
May 9, 2001 - On his third day in Minnesota, the Dalai Lama addressed a joint meeting of the Minnesota Legislature, touching on his constant themes of human rights, faith and each person's responsibility to make personal change. He also met with Governor Ventura, and made his third public speech at the University of Minnesota.
August 27, 2001 - MPR’s Kaomi Goetz reports on how some Hmong face cultural hurdles to mental health care. A murder case of a Hmong immigrant that stabbed to death two of her children illustrates a larger problem confronting the Hmong community…how to recognize and effectively treat mental illness.
September 7, 2001 - Cathy Wurzer visits St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi, which is installing a 1927 Casavant pipe organ, one of the largest of its kind in the upper Midwest. The instrument was restored by Schantz Organ Company in Ohio. It has more than 7,000 original and restored pipes, the smallest the size of a pencil...the largest 32-feet high weighing over 1,000 pounds.
October 17, 2001 - Mainstreet Radio's Jeff Horwich reports three professors and a student are filing a lawsuit in federal court against St. Cloud State University and the entire MnSCU system, alleging that the school has done too little to deal with antisemitism on campus. St. Cloud State has been studying the problem for more than a year, but those suing the school say the time for studying is over.
December 12, 2001 - As part of Mainstreet Radio’s “Our Town” project, MPR’s Jeff Horwich profiles the Stearns county town of St. Anthony, in the which mainstreet is a church, a bar, and not much else. Horwich visits both…and finds a community.
April 24, 2002 - Patrick Schiltz, Interim Dean of the University of St. Thomas Law School, talks about the American Catholic Cardinals meeting with the Pope in Rome to discuss sex abuse by priests.