Category: Congregation
The Peace and Violence of Christmas
At church this Christmas Eve, we read one of my favorite passages. Isaiah 11:1-10 begins by prophesying the coming of the Messiah, the Rod of Jesse, and it ends with that unsurpassable vision o... Read More
Tsunami 10 Years On – Learning about Relationships
The anniversary of the tsunami is always a bittersweet memory for me. While I will remember the lives of my family members who passed away on that fateful day, it also serves as a paradigm shift for... Read More
Sanctuary for Immigrants By Michael Ramberg
I have served as campus rabbi at Ursinus College for just four months but I already have been fortunate to work with lots of incredible students committed to repairing the world. Some of them have con... Read More
Is God Afraid of Sexuality? – Part 2
A few weeks ago, I was inspired to begin exploring the relationship between sexuality, religion and fear. In Part 1 of my essay, I purposefully chose an image of God that was a man with a stern expre... Read More
Life is Hard Here — Dispatch from Palestine
The heavy rain doused the aluminum-roofed shack. Rivulets carved paths through the thick mud around the house. But inside, the house was cozy, comfortable. Thick carpets and bouncy velvet couches make... Read More
The Beginning of a Settlement — Dispatch from Palestine
Mahmoud’s family lives one Palestinian hill over from a newly-forming illegal Jewish settlement. Six Jewish settlers arrived about a year ago with tents and made a primitive campsite. All year they ... Read More
“Come and see, then go and tell”–Dispatch from Palestine
The Tent of Nations is an organic farm on a long narrow strip of Palestinian land that has held its deed since 1917, through four occupations: Turkish, British, Jordanian, and Israeli. It is placed in... Read More
Walt Disney’s Theology of Hope, pt. 2
Read Part I here. I truly believe Walt Disney was one of the great visionaries of the American landscape. I would locate him in a rather small handful of great minds that include Thomas Jefferson, Ben... Read More