Category: Theology
Why I Keep Coming Back, or: Hooked
This past semester, I completed an ethnographic project on a Sacred Harp singing group in the Boston area, motivated by one central question: what is it about this old-timey style of music with its ar... Read More
On Trauma and Interfaith Grace
I started a course called “Pastoral Care” this quarter, and had no idea what to expect. It is week 2, and it feels like week 9. We tackled “trauma” today, at 9 am on a Friday morning. I had no... Read More
The Night Watch – Psalm 121 and the Practice of Sleep
Over my son, Azriel’s, crib is a richly decorated, laminated legal-size sheet of cardstock on which is printed the Hebrew text of Psalm 121. Before it occupied its current post, it hung over my wife... Read More
The Sacred Art and Duty of Cow Protection
How we treat our mother cow will define the very course and future of our civilization. Wait…the cow? For most Western people, when we think of the cow we think of her as dinner, as the skin beh... Read More
A Divine Call for Affirmation
This past week, Jews around the world commenced the reading of the Book of Exodus as part of the annual Torah reading cycle. This past week’s Torah portion, Parashat Shemot, contain important moment... Read More
Politics of grace
Like many people who celebrate Christmas (or get a holiday for it regardless), I have just headed out of my usual climate to go see family for the time I get off of school. Like many people, I knew ... Read More
Dasani, Mayor Bloomberg, and Reverse Idolatry
Earlier this month, the New York Times published a five-part series on Dasani, an 11-year-old girl living in a homeless shelter in New York City. The series explicates the experience of New York City... Read More
Theology of Failure, pt. 3
When I began seminary, I learned that the Gospel of Mark originally ended without Jesus coming back. Check the footnotes on Mark 16. Verses 9-20 were tacked on to resolve a confusing and terrible st... Read More