Category: Social Issues
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
Privilege, Peace, and What South African Violence Has to Say to the World
Recently, a colleague of mine related the story of how she posed this interesting question to her college students: “Can peace exist when poverty remains?” As the facilitator of a project the stud... Read More
Scribbles From the Basement – Raising Awareness of Sexual Assault
Many women have a basement. A basement which holds a secret compartment where they keep all of their hopes, dreams, and fears hidden and locked away for fear of how their colleagues and friends may vi... Read More
Choosing Sides in Baltimore
Like so many cities and communities over the past year that have come to our national attention, Baltimore is suffering. But what is happening on the streets of Baltimore is different from what is be... 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
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