Category: Social Issues
Yom Hazikaron: Experiences of an Immigrant who Learned to be a Mourner
Managing Editors Note: Israeli Memorial Day – Yom HaZikaron – is observed this year from the eve of Sunday, May 4th through the end of the daytime on Monday, May 5th. I was born and raised... Read More
Donald Sterling and Matthew the Tax Collector
This has to be said up front: Donald Sterling’s comments were as grotesque as his lifestyle is abhorrent and his worldview is depraved. There is no way around this fact. In a private-turned-public s... Read More
An Open Letter From a Rabbi to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver: A Jewish Response to Donald Sterling
Dear Commissioner Adam Silver, Thank you for taking such swift and just action against Mr. Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, for his disparaging remarks against black people. Th... Read More
Opening the Blinds and Saying “Never Again”
With each passing year, technology becomes faster, more intuitive, and more social. With ever-evolving technology, we like to think that large-scale atrocities simply cannot happen – we would be... Read More
Beware Standby Mode
Earlier this month, State of Formation and the Journal of Inter-Religious Studies graciously offered me the chance to join them in a tour of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum followed by a discussion o... Read More
On Loving the Stranger — Parashat Kedoshim
This week, we are returning once more to Parashat Kedoshim, filled with its many interpersonal mitzvot. In the opening verse of the 19th chapter of Leviticus, God enjoins us to be holy, for God, Godse... Read More
On Divine Exile and the Sacred Act of Welcoming (Part II)
This post is a continuation of Part I. It is my intention to now explore and explicate concrete ways in which we, as individuals and communities deeply concerned with the well-being of others and of o... Read More
From the Ground Up: An Insider’s Perspective on a Roman Catholic Laity Grassroots Campaign
I am part of a group called Catholic RENEWAL, which seeks to act as a forum for progressive Roman Catholics to come together in fellowship and advocate for various causes, such as inclusion of women i... Read More