More than a century ago, Martin Buber worried about a crisis in modern life: how would increased alienation and “social distance” of modern societies affect the well-being of humanity? Both in his writings on the notion of dialogue and his writings on Judaism, Buber speaks about the spiritual dimension of human relationships as the basis...
To create meaningful and lasting change in our world, we can never dilute the messages we so believe in. Instead, we must work hard to make those messages accessible to people of a variety of social and political backgrounds, relying heavily on our most sacred tactic: the “miracle of translation.”
As a whole, the rabbinic discussions about Sodom demonstrate that, for the rabbis, the true definition of “sodomy” is toxic selfishness combined with an extreme devotion to property rights.
A D’var Torah for Rosh Hashanah by David Arnow, Ph.D. From climate change and the erosion of democratic norms to the resurgence of antisemitism and the fight for human rights, one thing is clear: If despair triumphs over hope, we’ll never overcome the challenges we face. Hope enables us to envision a better future and...
Looking back can be terrifying. We are further protected by being a part of the covenantal community, thus we can look back safely, unflinchingly, to the very real horrors that have shaped our communities and our lives.
Real intimacy — with the Divine and with each other — is an ability to say I will show up, but only if I can demand that when there is destruction there is rebuilding, when there is grief there is space to mourn, when there is heartbreak there is space for healing.
July has been a hard month. Elie Weisel passed away. Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were senselessly shot and killed by policemen. Women wearing tallit, kippot, and tefilin while praying with the Torah were shouted down and called “Amalek” by fellow Jews at the Kotel. Eight police officers, five in Dallas and three in Baton...