The days after the recent grand jury verdict in Ferguson, Missouri, many preachers were faced with a choice: do I talk about Ferguson or not? For many clergy that choice was complicated by a lingering...Read More
Elect or not elect, that is the question. For several years, the question of Calvinism and Arminianism has plagued my mind. By way of introduction, Calvinism is the Christian reformed belief system t...Read More
I knew Rabbi Twersky. We weren’t best buddies, or drinking pals, or even very close, but I considered him a friend. I met him several times in Boston and in Israel and always found him to be a great...Read More
“You can’t teach me anything about Europeans,” once commented the deputy mayor of Jerusalem. Europeans had killed his father. “You can’t teach me anything about Palestinians.” Palestinians...Read More
On Tuesday, the uncle of one of my Arabic-language students was slaughtered by an axe-wielding Palestinian man in Synagogue as he prayed. On Tuesday, the uncle of one of my Arabic students was slaught...Read More
We drive along the barbed electric fence that surrounds the Israeli settlement of Har Gilo. We are headed to the Walajah valley of the Palestinian territory. The valleys are deep and lush with pine ...Read More
We met Shirim at her family’s olive grove plot. It falls just outside the Betar Illit settlement. More accurately, it falls on the entire hill but the settlement imposed itself right on top of the f...Read More
What is that noise? The wind under the door. What is that noise now? What is the wind doing? nothing again nothing. I’ve been having the oddest response to the latest Israel/Palestine crisis: al...Read More
Under the glare of the midday desert sun, I gaze at the life teeming below me. From my perch on the ramparts, I can see the sun sparkling off the brilliant gold of the Dome of the Rock. Jewish men and...Read More
One of the things I love most about Judaism is how we mourn. We do keriya, a physical tearing of our clothes to materially represent our pain. We recite kaddish yatom, a prayer that requires a group o...Read More