American Muslims are now experiencing public questions about their loyalties, verbal harassment, threats of vandalism and violence, and proposals of special legislation directed at them. If this reminds you of the situation of Jews in 1930s Germany, it should. And if so, it then becomes our job, our duty as Jews, to intervene - to do now what we wish people had done then. To give our best and our holiest gifts to this task.
Read moreIn the Mosque: How Good, How Pleasant
On my way there it occurred to me that I hadn't thought through the question of whether I would participate in any of the prayer or just be an observer. Would I get down? When I'm in a church, I sit respectfully, I listen for points of connection, but I never kneel. But that's different - in a church it is either an image of Jesus or a symbol representing his divinity that is the thing people are kneeling before. That is a way of understanding God that I cannot share.
Read moreChanukah 5776: Being the Light
I have been stuck with the lurking thought that somehow, as we have our umpteenth post-shooting debrief, we're missing a bigger picture. That what's going on is bigger than we admit, the arc much longer, the cycles ancient and unstoppable.
Read moreThe View from the Ladder
While Jacob is pinned to the ground by gravity, the holiness that circulates through him gets a higher, better, longer view. It escapes the particulars of Jacob's life and Jacob's fears and Jacob's habitual thinking. And perched above those things, it has a chance to bring back something fresh.
Read moreYear of the Good Word
Now wouldn’t it be nice if our words had veto power? If they could refuse us if they disagree with the purpose we’re putting them to. What if I opened my mouth in anger at my kid or unthinkingly in sarcasm and found that my words weren’t even there, that they had absconded to some margarita bar somewhere on the far side of my cerebral cortex, waiting for me to chill out. Wouldn’t that be nice?
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