One day you’re in a sniper hole with your crosshairs on a man, the next you’re at home seeing things like that in movies and trying to decide what to have for lunch. The surreal[…]
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Month: March 2014
Koheleth’s The very strangeness…in its literary and religious context in the Bible is part of its fascination”
The very strangeness of the work in its literary and religious context in the Bible is part of its fascination. The author’s mood of doubt and pessimism is one into which many reflective persons fall[…]
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“American culture rides forward on stories about sudden fame and bold ascent…TED is a display case for such stories”
American culture rides forward on stories about sudden fame and bold ascent – the singer who invents a new style of celebrity, the unknown actor rising with a quirky TV show, the kid who shapes[…]
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“the best way to reach Jews who do not feel at home in Judaism is to do compelling Jewish work in public”
I have always believed that the best way to reach Jews who do not feel at home in Judaism is to do compelling Jewish work in public: to contextualize Judaism within the marketplace of ideas;[…]
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“Shabbat, as seen through the Mishnah, does not prescribe actions”
Shabbat as framed by the opening mishnah of Tractate Shabbat is not something that is “done”; it is a space within which everything that is done is Shabbat. Certain things must not be done. There[…]
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Both autism and psychopathy entail a lack of empathy. Psychologists, though, distinguish between….
Both autism and psychopathy entail a lack of empathy. Psychologists, though, distinguish between the “cognitive empathy” deficits of autism (difficulty understanding what emotions are, trouble interpreting other people’s nonverbal signs) and the “emotional empathy” deficits[…]
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Edgar Bronfman preferred “a serious discussion of texts to song and prayer”
For myself, prayer and spirituality are not the primary way I connect with Judaism. In my own Jewish practice, I prefer a serious discussion of texts to song and prayer and find my strongest connection[…]
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How one reads Shavit’s chapter on Lydda is a Rorschach test of one’s Israel politics
One chapter has garnered more attention than others. It is the one serialized in the New Yorker in October 2013, on the expulsion by the nascent Israeli army of the Arab residents of the city[…]
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“Judaism has a great deal to offer even those who consider themselves secular”
Judaism has a great deal to offer even those who consider themselves secular. It emphasizes practice over belief. We are allowed to doubt even the existence of God and commanded to ask questions. Even a[…]
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The more Adam hated himself, the more he hated everyone else: killing others and suicide were both crucial
Adam Lanza … committed three distinct atrocities: he killed his mother; he killed himself; he killed children and adults he’d never met before. Two of these acts are explicable; the third, incomprehensible. There are many[…]
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