Category: News
Recoding the Conflict: What Chanukah Has to Teach Us About How We Speak
When I was young, my dad used to tell us stories. The stories always involved two young children, a girl and a boy, adventurous analogues for my brother and me, who would be sent off by their parents ... Read More
Online Clergy In the Age of I-everything
This past week, The Jewish Daily Forward published an article entitled, “Online Ordained Rabbis Grab Pulpits.” This article profiles several synagogues who, in this difficult economic climate, hav... Read More
The Spiritually Urgent Response To Our Ecological Crisis
Continuing my series on being “A Yogi at Union” with an exploration on the need for an urgent and compassionate call from the spiritual/theological tradition concerning our existential ec... Read More
It is a Shame for Women to Speak in the Church?
This article was first published at “The Bloviating Ignoramus,” a blog for politics and culture. I understand the Church of England’s stance against the ordination of women as an example of bl... Read More
Reflections on Tulsi Gabbard’s Gita Oath by Mani Rao
Last week’s post-election news features Tulsi Gabbard, the “first Hindu-American congresswoman,” who plans to take her oath on the Bhagavad Gita. Gabbard served with Hawaii’s National Guard, a... Read More
Human Bridge: Two Worlds, One Nation
The most fulfilling and reassuring conversation I had in the days following the 2012 election was with someone whom I deeply disagree with. As a liberal Jew from the Northeast, my beliefs about Americ... Read More
Food Stamp Challenge: Done. Now What?
“Mom, I’m hungry. Can I have your grapes?” “Sure,” I replied—even though I’d been counting on that handful of grapes to carry me through the next few hours until dinner. It was Day 6 of ... Read More
Reflections on Social Media and Politics
Note: this essay draws on material originally published in two posts on my personal blog, Historicisms. Having just read Mark McCormack’s post, “Dialogue in the Age of Unfriending,” ... Read More