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Most Recent Views
- Reclaiming Israel’s Reputation
- Translating the Bible for Our Era
- Who Counts? We all do.
- Immigration and the Image of God
- God’s Silent Speech — and Ours
- Keeping the Peace in Troubled Times
- Fighting Racism Starts in the Heart
- Is Lone-Wolf Judaism a Thing?
- Chaos and Creation, from Genesis to Today
- Do You Want to Believe?
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Category Archives: Jewish Philosophy
Immigration and the Image of God
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
Keeping the Peace in Troubled Times
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
Chaos and Creation, from Genesis to Today
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
Morality Needs Both Logic and Feeling
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
Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Philosophy, The Jerusalem Post
Tagged Adam Smith, B.F. Skinner, Descartes' Error, Ethics, Feeling, Heschel, Hillel, Logic, Moral judgment, Morality, Mr. Spock, Psychology, Star Trek
1 Comment
Ben Franklin’s Jewish Values
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
Are We Free to Choose?
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
Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Philosophy, The Jewish Journal
Tagged Autonomy, Divine foreknowledge, Exodus, Free Will, Freedom, Jewish Philosophy
4 Comments
