Category Archives: Jewish Philosophy

Immigration and the Image of God

Posted on February 28, 2017 by

My new blog post for The Jewish Journal: Surprisingly – or maybe not – many of our current debates were foreshadowed by ancient rabbinical disputes. One such foreshadowed debate was our national conundrum about immigration, legal and otherwise. In his … Continue reading →

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God’s Silent Speech — and Ours

Posted on February 22, 2017 by

My latest blog post for The Jerusalem Post: What exactly is “the word of God?” And can it teach us about happiness and tolerance? Jewish Studies scholar Shaul Magid doesn’t address the second question in “The Word of God is … Continue reading →

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Keeping the Peace in Troubled Times

Posted on January 30, 2017 by

My latest blog post for The Jewish Journal: Angry disagreement now dominates our national discourse, with emphasis on the “angry.” We feel, with William Butler Yeats, that “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the … Continue reading →

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Chaos and Creation, from Genesis to Today

Posted on December 6, 2016 by

My new blog post for The Jewish Journal: You might not expect it, but the very first words of the Torah explain how social change works. The most familiar English rendering is “In the beginning, God created the heavens and … Continue reading →

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Morality Needs Both Logic and Feeling

Posted on November 17, 2016 by

My new blog post for The Jerusalem Post: As a child, I was a big “Star Trek” fan. I never wanted to be like Captain Kirk. The world was full of Kirk wannabes. My hero was Mr. Spock: stoic, brilliant, … Continue reading →

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Ben Franklin’s Jewish Values

Posted on November 6, 2016 by

My latest blog post for The Jewish Journal: American founder Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) wasn’t Jewish, but he might as well have been. He shared many of Judaism’s key moral values. One of our most central values is moral seriousness: the … Continue reading →

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Are We Free to Choose?

Posted on September 14, 2016 by

My latest blog post for The Jewish Journal: Do you have free will? That’s an easy question. Of course you do. Here’s a harder question: What is free will? That’s where most of us get into trouble. Common sense tells … Continue reading →

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