There used to be the myth that Jews don’t drink.
Maybe it still exists, but in my circles, Jews drink. Social gatherings for the younger generation are often around the “social lubricants” like bars and restaurants or home-based book clubs and study groups where beer, wine and liquor eases the conversation about Jewish identity.
And in […]
Looking up for a brief moment during my morning prayers, I saw Al Franken’s face staring at me. The words, The Truth, the title of his new book, complemented his smiling mug.
Now, I love Al Franken. I think he’s hilarious. And I’m even old enough to remember him from the early days […]
Two members of the Brooklyn Jews Board, Jo Ann Mort and Jason Gitlin, are journalists with an ever deepening portfolio of analyses on contemporary events in Israel.
Here are links to two articles written by Jo Ann over the weekend, appearing in the LA Times and the American Prospect as well as to Jason’s article which […]
When I was in rabbinical school, one of our rites of passage was composing and delivering a Senior Sermon to the entire College. It was a daunting and somewhat terrifying task–to expose my theological thinking to the faculty, fellow students and community.
I drew the Torah portion Hayyei Sarah–Genesis 23.1-25.18–(which was the reading for this […]
One indication of a shift in Israeli political culture that is taking place can be found in the story of Ahlama Peretz, the wife of the recently elected leader of the Labor Party, Amir Peretz. As proof that a new generation of leaders is emerging in Israeli political life, her story shares many qualities […]
Nearly thirty years ago the Reform movement publicly declared that children of intermarriage are Jewish as long as they are raised as Jews. This was known in Jewish circles as the Patrilineal Descent ruling, which was a return to the Biblical definitions of Jewishness, though a contradiction of rabbinical rule, which traced Jewish identity […]
Sorry for that hiatus.
I spent a few days in Milwaukee and Green Bay, paying homage (or, as one friend put it, giving the proper KAVOD) to Brett Favre, the Green Bay Packers quarterback, who is sure to retire after this season. The last time I was in Green Bay for a game must have […]
One of the most gratifying aspects of teaching is watching lights turn on in the minds and souls of people who are confronting texts and ideas on an adult level for the first time.
Last night’s class was just one example.
We’re in the middle of a three week unit on Torah and focused for most of […]
I just got back from Toronto, a city I’ve learned to like very much, where the General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities was held. This is the big Jewish convention held each year for the Federation system and their agencies. It’s underwritten by many of the mega-donors of American Jewish life and […]
How can I resist?
Here is where the Wisconsin pride emerges and I open myself to the charge that, proud as I am of living in Brooklyn, my roots are my roots.
This week’s New Republic has as its cover story Michael Crowley’s article, “Hillary Slayer: How Russell Feingold Could Topple Hillary Clinton in ‘08.”
What better […]