The requirement of performing the Pilgrimage to Mecca is not only demanded of all Muslims. It is absolutely forbidden to all non-Muslims. Mecca is closed to non-Muslims, as is Medina, Islam’s second most holy city. Of course, the existence of a “forbidden city” is an open provocation to a certain type of explorer and adventurer. One such man, Sir Richard Burton, secretly made the trip.

Burton was one of the great adventurers of nineteenth-century Britain. He had extensive experiences throughout Asia and Africa: he served as a captain in the army of the East India Company; he produced the first complete translations of the 1001 Nights (also known as the Arabian Nights) and the Kama Sutra; he served on the expedition that discovered Lake Tanganyika in Central Africa. He was also one of the few foreigners to see the pilgrimage to Mecca. Disguising himself as a Sufi mystic named “al-Hajj ‘Abdullah’,” Burton made his way to Mecca in the early 1850′s. It was a dangerous experience, and Burton had to take numerous precautions to avoid being found out. (He not only had to disguise himself in traditional dress; he had to learn all the intricate rituals of Islam so he could fit in with the other pilgrims.) Despite the dangers involved, Burton made it back to England, where he wrote about his experience in his Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Medinah and Meccah. Read it here.

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The only known photograph of Joseph Smith, maybe.

In 1994, a photograph was discovered in the archives of a Mormon church in Missouri. Comparisons with the death mask of Joseph Smith, the prophet of the Church of Ladder-Day Saints — more commonly known as the Mormon Church — suggested a match. Mormons worldwide were excited, but the Church would not officially confirm that it a photograph of their prophet was found. Compare the photograph above to the image of the death mask below. What do you think?

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As every British schoolchild knows, King Henry VIII had six wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr. There’s a fabulous story behind every one of these marriages and separations, but the one with the greatest bearing on The Protestant Reformation occurred in 1533, with Henry’s separation from Catherine and marriage to Anne Boleyn.

Henry had been married to Catherine of Aragon for 16 years when he met Anne Boleyn in 1525. (He and Catherine were married when Henry was only 17 years old.) The King was infatuated, and Boleyn was in no position to resist her monarch. There was, of course, the matter of Henry’s current marriage. A divorce was out of the question, so the King beseeched his Pope for an annulment: a Papal decree that, really, this decade-and-a-half long marriage never happened. For a number of preposterously complex reasons — that nearly claimed the life of the Church of England’s Cardinal at the time (Thomas Wolsey) and did claim the life of his successor (Sir Thomas More) — an annulment was not forthcoming.

In a move that would have enormous consequences for the history of Protestantism, Henry took another approach. The Church of England would heretofore be rules by the King’s, rather than The Holy See in Rome. In 1533, Parliament recognized Henry’s separation from Catherine and marriage to Boleyn, and by the following year, the Church of England was entirely in the King’s hands. In the words of the British polemicist Christopher Hitchens, The Anglican Church is a church built “on the family values of Henry VIII.”

In 1536, Henry decided that his marriage to Anne was the result of witchcraft, and he murdered her. On to Jane Seymour…

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If you have eyes and have ever walked through an ultra-Orthodox or Hasidic Jewish neighborhood, you have probably noticed that its denizens follow the beat of their own sartorial drum. You might also have wondered if the women’s enviably shiny coifs women were the result of some magical kosher shampoo and if you could find it on the internet.

I admit that I was a bit disappointed to learn that the perfect tresses I had so admired were actually wigs (called a sheitel), which are worn daily in observance of the principles of modest dress under ultra-orthodox and Hasidic religious law. The religious reason for covering the head is the preservation of modesty, because it is believed that a woman’s natural hair is very alluring to the opposite sex and should only be admired by her husband. In keeping with this law, women start to cover their hair after they get married, with either a sheitel (wig) or a tichel (scarf). In some groups, such as Satmar, women crop their hair and wear a tichel. Some women opt for a snood (not to be confused with the computer game!) which is a beret-like hat with room for long braids under it.

The ‘Sarah Palin Wig,’ based on the hairstyle of the Last Frontier State governor and GOP vice presidential candidate, is the latest head covering to take the Orthodox community by storm. Released to great fanfare in 2008 by Sheitel.com, a Brooklyn wig shop and Web site for Orthodox Jewish women, the highly coveted coif is made of 100% human hair and available for $795 (marked down from $895). Boruch Shlanger, one of Sheitel.com’s owners, attributed its popularity to the fact that, “it is very easy to maintain, and a very classic look, yet fashion forward!” He was also quick to note that the new Palin wig isn’t necessarily pandering to customers’ political leanings, stating that, “we believe that good fashion taste trumps all politics.”

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Good Friday is the Friday immediately proceeding Easter Sunday. It is celebrated traditionally as the day on which Jesus was crucified. . On this day Christians commemorate the passion, or suffering, and death on the cross of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Many Christians spend this day in fasting, prayer, repentance, and meditation on the agony and suffering of Christ on the cross. Many Christian churches celebrate Good Friday with a subdued service, usually in the evening, in which Christ’s death is remembered with solemn hymns, prayers of thanksgiving, a message centered on Christ suffering for our sakes, and observance of the Lord’s Supper.

While The Bible does not explicitly instruct Christians to remember Christ’s death by honoring a certain day, it does allow for discretion on this and other related matters. Romans 14:5 tells us, “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” Rather than remembering Christ’s death on a certain day, once a year, the Bible instructs us to remember Christ’s death by observing the Lord’s Supper. First Corinthians 11:24-26 declares, “…do this in remembrance of me…for whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

Why is Good Friday referred to as “good”? Because Christians believe that the results of Christ’s death were very good! According to Romans 5:8, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” First Peter 3:18 tells us, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.” Thus, Christians believe that Jesus “had to die” so that humans could be forgiven for their sins. Don’t worry, I have always been as confused on this point and I am sure many of you are….. For additional clarification, the biblical account of Jesus’ death on the cross, or crucifixion, his burial and his resurrection, or raising from the dead, can be found in the following passages of Scripture: Matthew 27:27-28:8; Mark 15:16-16:19; Luke 23:26-24:35; and John 19:16-20:30.

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On March 24, 2010, only a week before the start of the Jewish holiday Passover, the Chief Rabbinate in Israel has issued a dire warning to its citizens: be on the lookout for pirate matzah. Israeli police had raided a warehouse containing a 7-ton stockpile of matzah with fake kosher certificates, and feared that this could represent a fraction of the pirated matzah on the market. The rabbinate has tried to ease the public’s anxieties by publishing color photos of the fake matzah packages and by ordering local rabbis to post the statement in synagogues and other prominent places to warn Orthodox Jews to avoid the faked product. The unleavened bread is a main feature of the eight-day Passover holiday, which is celebrated each year in the early spring, beginning on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan. It commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt (which is described in the book of Exodus).

The Cliff Notes version of this epic saga is as follows: After enduring many decades of backbreaking slavery at the hands of the Egyptians, God sent the prophet Moses to Egypt to free his chosen people. God instructed Moses to deliver the following crystal clear warning to the Pharaoh, “Send forth my people, so that they may serve Me!” Suffice it to say, the Pharaoh scoffed at Moses’ many entreaties and refused to free the Israelites. God then unleashed upon Egypt ten devastating plagues, afflicting them and destroying everything from their livestock to their crops.

Finally, at the stroke of midnight of Nissan 15 of the Hebrew year 2448 (roughly 1313 B.C.), God unleashed the last and most horrible of the ten plagues on the Egyptians; the death of all of their firstborn sons. God of course “passed over” the homes of the Israelites- hence the name of the holiday. Brought to his knees by the ravages that the ten plagues had wrought on his kingdom, Pharaoh finally relented and practically chased all of his Jewish slaves out of Egypt. In fact, they fled Egypt in such a hurry that the bread they had baked in preparation for their trek did not have time to rise before their departure for Mount Sinai and their birth as God’s chosen people.

The highlight of Passover is the two “Seders,” observed on the first two nights of the holiday. The Seder is a fifteen step tradition that is directly tied to the special food that is prepared to relive and experience the freedom that their ancestors gained that night. Thus, the Jewish Passover Seder includes the following rituals: eating matzah (a type of extremely bland unleavened cracker that must be made from kosher flour); bitter herbs (to symbolize the bitter slavery endured by the Israelites); and the drinking of four cups of wine or grape juice (to help wash down the bone-dry matzah and of course in celebration of “newfound freedom”). Dinner is accompanied by the recitation of the Haggadah, a liturgy that describes in detail the story of the Exodus from Egypt.

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On Palm Sunday Christians celebrate the Triumphal Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, the week before his death and resurrection. For many Christian churches, Palm Sunday, often referred to as “Passion Sunday,” marks the beginning of Holy Week, which concludes on Easter Sunday. According to the Biblical accounts of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, crowds of his followers greeted him with waving palm branches, and by covering his path with palm branches. Immediately following this great time of celebration in the ministry of Jesus, he begins his journey to the cross.

In remembrance of this event, we celebrate Palm Sunday. It is referred to as Palm Sunday because of the palm branches that were laid on the road as Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem. Palm Sunday was the fulfillment of the Prophet Daniel’s “seventy sevens” prophecy: ” Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times” (Daniel 9:25). John 1:11 tells us, “He (Jesus) came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” The same crowds that were crying out “Hosanna” were crying out “crucify Him” five days later (Matthew 27:22-23).

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