Category: Theology
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
On Divine Exile and the Sacred Act of Welcoming (Part I)
This is the first part of a two-part post. In “Man’s Quest for God”, a series of essays on prayer, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel writes: “The Shechinah [Divine Presence] is in exile, the world ... Read More
The Myth of a Judeo-Christian Tradition
In the United States, it’s common to hear frequent and impassioned references to the concept of ‘Judeo-Christian’ culture, ethics, or values. Any cursory review of American media wil... Read More
Receiving Life and Dealing with Death: Impurity!
Yeshayahu Leibowitz explains that the reason to couple the Torah portions of Tazri’a and Metzora (Leviticus 12:1-15:33) in the Jewish communal reading of the Torah is that they both deal with b... Read More
Seventy Times Seven, or Why Religious Communities Need to Get Smarter About Mental Health, Right Freaking Now.
We are all humans. All humans make mistakes. Mistakes can (and should, in my opinion) be forgiven. That being said, this does not give us license to keep on making these mistakes. There is part of a l... Read More
Who is my neighbor? (Syria edition)
As the conflicts in Syria and Iraq have become increasingly sectarian over the last few years, feeding off one another’s dynamics and international rhetoric and involvement, stories about the pe... Read More
Understanding the Aga Khan’s Speech in History
Recently, the Aga Khan gave a speech at Brown University. As the head of a community of Muslims spread throughout the world, a community to which I belong, the speech needs some reflection. As the Ima... Read More
Streams Run Uphill
In an excellent new book, Streams Run Uphill: Conversations with Young Clergywomen of Color, Ruth-Aimée Belonni-Rosario writes about the promises and pitfalls of colonialism in her own spiritual jour... Read More