Tag: consumer culture
An Improvised Family: Yom Kippur with Rome’s Progressive Jews
Normally people do not go to Rome to refrain from eating. But it was Yom Kippur, and I was on my way to afternoon services at Beth Hillel, Rome’s new progressive Jewish community. My long walk to th... Read More
When in Rome, Do as the Progressive Roman Jews Do
I was late to Rosh Hashanah services at Beth Hillel, Rome’s new progressive Jewish community. I meant to leave my apartment at 6pm but I scooted out the door by 6:45pm, realizing that the mistake wo... Read More
The Roman Jewish Vigil for Israel
In the Piazza della Rotunda of the Pantheon, at the heart of Rome, there was a rally in support of Israel held by the historic Roman Jewish community. Traces of trauma from World War II are here, sca... Read More
Why Church?
For a class I am currently taking about young adult ministry, we were given the simple prompt, “Why church?” Below is my response to this simple yet profound question of whether or not the Churc... Read More
Unrateable Terrors
I help teach a university course on The Holocaust in Historical Context. It is, it should be, impossible to remain unaffected by immersive study of Western Antisemitism and how religious, economic, po... Read More
Why Religion Should Not Try So Hard to Be Cool
Every September college students confront a myriad of student activity organizations, each competing for student loyalties. While campus religious groups might be considered realms for quiet reflectio... Read More
Jesus and the Moneychangers in the Scrovegni Chapel
In the summertime I visited Padua and went to the Scrovegni Chapel, dated 1305. In the past 40 years the frescos have begun to crumble, and curators have researched atmospheric problems in order to co... Read More
Virtue is its Own Reward: Why Michael Pollan’s “Cooked” is a Religious Text
After perhaps my 20th snide comment about something in "Cooked" that annoyed me, my fiancee asked me if I would please shut up and allow her to enjoy her food porn. This is an entirely reasonable req... Read More