Preface For the last couple of years I’ve been meaning to keep a Ramadan journal of spiritual reflections. It seemed like a natural outgrowth of the “tweeting the Qur’an” initiative. It’s al...Read More
As I write this, it is erev Tisha b’Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, on which we commemorate a host of tragedies that have befallen us throughout history, primarily the destructions of bo...Read More
Pope Francis just blessed thousands of Harleys in Rome. Millions say a blessing over meals every day. And when we sneeze, there’s always someone quick to say, “God Bless You!” ...Read More
Earlier this May, the Minnesota state legislature legalized gay marriage, making Minnesota the twelfth state (in addition to Washington, DC) to recognize same sex marriages. A couple of days after the...Read More
Humor; humor is difficult. Religion; religion is difficult. They can both be reassuring, and discomfiting. They can affix labels, or they can liberate. They can be subversive, or they can uplift the d...Read More
In Parashat Emor (Leviticus 21-24), read this past week in synagogues around the world, we are introduced to the relatives for whom Kohanim (priests) are permitted to mourn, as well as a list of vario...Read More
The Princeton New Jim Crow Project is a coalition of local organizations working for awareness and reform of injustices in the criminal justice system. The group takes its name from Michelle Alexander...Read More
A few months ago when the request came on the State of Formation email group for reviewers for a book called ‘Project Conversion’, my literary greed took the better of me as I rushed to get hold o...Read More
With almost daily reminders that War is Coming, it gets hard to imagine an alternative. Over the last month our media has been banging the drums of war suggesting that Kim Jong-un is borderline psycho...Read More
There are two kinds of people in this world. Devotees and demons. I think this is absolutely true. But let’s parse this out a bit. First of all, what is the source of my seemingly eccentric an...Read More