Category: Learning
The Self-Hating Jew/The Islamophobe
I haven’t written publicly about my life in Israel since I moved here. The truth is I’m scared to face the inevitable backlash that follows any time you write anything about this country. ... Read More
3 Ways to Be an Ally to People with Mental Illness In Your Church
If you’ve ever struggled with a mental illness and heard people chime in with expressions like “you’ll get through this, just have more faith,” “God will never give you more than you can han... Read More
Parashat Kedoshim and the Admonitions of Amos
Amos is widely and popularly considered to be the social justice prophet. He unequivocally rejects the sacrificial cult of his day, considering service of God to be about justice, rather than about fu... Read More
Staring At the Discipline Gap: What is the right Option?
The option for the oppressed, as is true of all options, cannot be qualified. It can be changed, but once this happens it is not any longer an option for the oppressed. To claim to have a preferential... Read More
How Do We Tolerate the Intolerant?
What do tolerant people do with the intolerant? We tolerate them. We ignore them. We insult them. We try to change them: By explaining. By demonstrating. By oppressin... Read More
Ethics in the Shadow of Gethsemane
Every year at Harvard Divinity School, there is an annual competition for 2nd and 3rd year MDiv students called the Billings Preaching Competition. Being raised Catholic, preaching was never really a ... Read More
“I see the smiling faces, I know I must have left some traces”: A Reflection On Death, God, And Friends
Death is a topic that a lot of us avoid like the plague. It’s not something people are willing to talk about or engage with on a theoretical level, let alone directly when someone you know dies.... Read More
When I Entered A Holy Covenant: A Dvar Torah on Parshat Shmini (Lev. 9:1-11:47)
Four years ago this week–at least by reckoning of the Hebrew calendar–my friend proudly displayed to me a cake she had made for a party I was hosting. “Today, you are a man,” it declar... Read More