The Future of Judaism in America: What Would You Say?
Patheos has become the leading portal on the web for thought from the world of religion – the good, the bad, and the ugly. A short while ago, the editors sent a challenge to...
The Pew Christian Report: What It Means For Them And For Us
First Pew came for the Jews; then Pew came for the Christians. Martin Niemöller didn’t really say that – but he could have. The famed Pew study of Jewish religious life and attitudes (Pew1)...
A Magical Encounter
Walking home from Shacharis one morning last week, I had an interesting interaction with a little non-Jewish boy. Turning a corner, I found myself facing a middle-aged woman, clearly from the Indian subcontinent, wrapped...
Gay Marriage Decision Interview
I was interviewed by phone on a Jewish cable television program last week about the recent US Supreme Court gay marriage decision. The interview, along with one of a Conservative movement representative, can be...
Sorry. More on Obama and Oren
I find it an odd enterprise to defend a book’s claims by recourse to… the book’s claims (and the congratulatory words of the author’s friend). So I will limit myself to facts, not Mr....
Tikvah Fund Institute for Women
It is a woman’s prerogative, they say, to change her mind. The same ought to hold for a women’s program. Happily, the Tikvah Fund, the group that is responsible for the most intellectually stimulating...
Reaching for the Truth
All of us can, at most, “Strive for Truth” [It’s a borrowed title], and so I appreciate Rabbi Shafran’s clarification of his position. And to the best of my recollection, there hasn’t been a...
I’m Afraid It Is So. Sorry.
My esteemed friend Rabbi Yaakov Menken, below offers kind words about me, for which I thank him; and takes strong issue with my defenses of President Obama’s Israel record against some of the attacks...
Say It Isn’t So, Rabbi Shafran
Rabbi Shafran is someone I have admired for decades. His witty, moving, and inspirational biography of the journey of a Jewish convert, Migrant Soul, emerged when I was still a yeshiva student, and when...
Non-Crime of Omission
I have to admit that there was one assertion in Michael Oren’s recent book, “Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide,” that disturbed me greatly. As I wrote two weeks ago, I found his...