Tag: America
James Baldwin and the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
The 16th Street Baptist Church sits in the middle of downtown Birmingham, Alabama. During the heart of the Civil Rights movement, when Birmingham was known across the nation as “Bombingham,” march... Read More
What’s the Big Deal About Interfaith Marriage?
I attended the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia. I was amazed by the preponderance of sacred fashion statements (the hats!), the number of New Age practitioners from ... Read More
Religion Is All About Sex?
The Freudian take on religion, that it is all about sex, or more precisely all about repressed sexual urges, is hardly new. Nevertheless, it was somewhat startling when renowned sociologist of relig... Read More
Teaching Heschel and King by Leslie Hilgeman
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” – quote used by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I don’t often write about classes I take at rabbinical school. But every so... Read More
Racism and Pluralism: Two Sides of an American Coin
It is an early Tuesday morning and the sun has just peeked from behind the mountains in the not-so-distant backdrop of my classroom. The course is Inter-Religious Dialogue and Leadership, and today’... Read More
Human Bridge: Two Worlds, One Nation
The most fulfilling and reassuring conversation I had in the days following the 2012 election was with someone whom I deeply disagree with. As a liberal Jew from the Northeast, my beliefs about Americ... Read More
Food Stamp Challenge: Done. Now What?
“Mom, I’m hungry. Can I have your grapes?” “Sure,” I replied—even though I’d been counting on that handful of grapes to carry me through the next few hours until dinner. It was Day 6 of ... Read More
How important is the election: global power or people power?
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel stirs her coffee as British Prime Minister David Cameron passes around a plate of cupcakes. Barack Obama looks up from his notes, smiles and says, “We’ve all ag... Read More