Category: Judaism
“When You Stand Praying … Forgive”
In summer of 2017, my wife and I taught a Sunday school series on the Jewishness of Jesus. It was not the first time we taught this topic. This delightfully progressive and thoughtful group was quick ... Read More
A Personal God Is The One I Know
My God is a personal one. I speak to God. Or, at least, I worry to God. And God calms me, when I let Them in. When I feel low – racked with fear or worries or questioning – I take these knotted co... Read More
Being Teachable in Polarized Times
Shammai's error was to systematically give up on the teachability of his opponents...Hillel's practice suggests that we should delay as long as possible dismissing someone as a fool or foreclosing con... Read More
“Rabba?” The Orthodox Union Grapples with the Possibility of Female Rabbis
The recent decision by the Orthodox Union (OU) to mandate that female members of the Orthodox community cannot serve as clergy has been making headlines and prompting discussions of the correct roles ... Read More
Reflections on being a proud Jew in uncertain times
Mark Oppenheimer, in his article for the New York Times entitled “Reclaiming ‘Jew,’” states that Jews should be proud to call themselves Jews, rather than only state that they are “Jewish,... Read More
Jewish Responses to Trump fears: Dialogue and Action
Among the progressive streams of Judaism, there is now a feeling of being overwhelmed by all the different challenges President Trump has either created or increased in both the political and cultural... Read More
Special Purim in a New American Reality
This piece was written by Joshua Langer, one of the 2016-2017 Bridge Fellows. Throughout Jewish history, there are at least 100 known examples from a category of holidays called Special Purim. These S... Read More
Speak Truth to Power: Pro-Refugee Protesting Experience
Recently, my wife and I attended a protest to express our opposition to President Trump’s executive order to ban refugees from the seven Muslim-majority countries on the list it contained. The prote... Read More