Category: Topic of the Week
The Dangers of Nostalgia
Earlier this year, I went to a talk at Boston University with Iraqi translator and writer Sinan Antoon on the topic “Translation and the Work of Mourning.” While his remarks as a whole w... Read More
Both Feet; All In: In Defense of ‘Do What You Love’
In the wake of commencement season, there have been a number of articles discussing the cost of education, employment prospects, and ultimately, whether it’s really as wise and noble as we’ve beli... Read More
Parashat Bamidbar: Army, nation and the pursuit of peace.
Army. This is the first word in my reading of Parashat Bamidbar, and it’s the most remarkable word. It is of course not a new word in the Torah, but it is a new concept. The Israelites are turni... Read More
Genocide and Others
After visiting the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem I must have been visibly upset. An Israeli woman who was part of our tour group, knowing my Jewish heritage, approached me to ask who in my family wa... Read More
When did “never again” become “not again?”
I should be an optimist. Every movie and TV show shows the big guy as jolly, right? Furthermore, I’m a socialist who believes another world is possible through collective action, and a humanist ... 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
A Vegan Patriot Celebrates Thanksgivukkah: Conservation, Abundance and Oil
On Nov. 27, I will proudly drive to New York for Thanksgivukkah, powered by vegetable oil that I collect and filter through Patriot Earth Fuel, a (very) small business I operate in Boston. This year, ... Read More