Category: Challenges
“Are You a Christian?”
I can picture it now: the old man with a scowl eyes me suspiciously from the bed as I stand in the hospital room doorway. He has just come out of open heart surgery, or has been given a terminal cance... Read More
Making Male Circumcision Humane: A Jewish Moral Imperative
This article was co-authored with Anne C. Epstein, MD, FACP. Human rights start at home. We must defend them for children in our community as much as adults in others. Day eight in the life of Jewish ... Read More
Webb vs. Web: In Defense of Not Being Right
You’re sitting at your computer trawling your daily litany of internet-check-in and networking sites, be them a flutter of tweets or tumblr-fulls of diggs and books of faces. There’s a link from s... Read More
A “Muslim Problem” at Christmas?
"This is a time of giving and providing for those who cannot provide for themselves." Not an uncommon sentiment over the Christmas season. Words you're likely to hear in most church halls and sound by... Read More
Ridiculous Encounters of the Inter-Religious Kind
Well this is my fifth post on this inter-religious site, so I thought I might share some thoughts on the topic. I’ve intentionally kept my first four posts tradition-specific. I’m a United... Read More
Embracing the Imago Dei With(out) our Hair
I am 23 and my hair is thinning. Noticeably. At first, I was not okay with this. I am too young and the old legend about male pattern baldness running through maternal lineage had proven to hold... Read More
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Revised: Is Atheism the New Gay in the US Military?
Maybe you’ve heard of this, but even if you haven’t, the story isn’t news. It is just another version of the now ancient tradition of justifying war through religious belief. We owe the latest v... Read More
Jews and the Need For God: Modern Lessons from Moses Maimonides
Judaism is an action-oriented religion. We have, according to the Talmud, 613 Commandments — not just a top-10 list. In rabbinic courts, your actions can be praised or punished. Faith is a mean... Read More