Human Conflict is Sin
Summary: I realize that I’ve written a number of posts dealing with the subject of sin, and the struggle to overcome the barriers that divide human communities was the denouement of “A New World: Tear...
View ArticleIsrael and Zionism
Summary: There is a crisis in Zionism combined with a worldwide crisis filled with sectarian and nationalistic wars, disease and economic malaise. Yet, part of the crisis of Zionism stems from a...
View ArticleBoycott the Kotel
Summary: I am calling on people to boycott the Kotel, the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. I do so reluctantly, with both sadness and trepidation, since this spot has had and continues to have a...
View ArticleThe Anthropic Principle: Consciousness Creates the Cosmos
Summary: I’m increasingly intrigued by what appears to be a rising confluence of science and theology. From Albert Einstein to Steven Hawking, there appears to be an emerging view that reality arises...
View ArticleE.J. Dionne, a Rabbi, Pope Francis and Lord Krishna
Summary: No, they don’t walk into a bar, but Pope Francis is back in the news by way of a New Year’s Day piece by Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne. A committed Catholic, Dionne is attracted to...
View ArticleCan Jews Be Christian? Can Christians Be Jews?
Summary: This piece has been with me for some time. I’ve been sitting on it, concerned that my all-inclusive, non-sectarian religious humanism might be compromised by posting it on this blog. Yet, when...
View ArticleA Diet for the Soul
Summary: I have to admit, I wrote this piece about 10 years ago. It’s actually a bit silly—meant to be humorous—and I’m not sure it really belongs on The Religious Humanist blog, but then again, it is...
View ArticleThe Spirit of Food and Eating
Summary: Food and eating are basic elements of human survival; mundane, quotidian acts that provide the nutrients required for all life. Yet all humans—even the most detached secular humans—participate...
View ArticleWhat Scares Me about Iran? Not Iran... so much
Summary: There is nary an American who is not concerned about a nuclear Iran. We all recall the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut by Iranian ally Hizbollah, not to mention the continuing...
View ArticleKing David and Oedipus Rex
I've just published a piece on the website TheTorah.com. I argue that the so-called Succession Narrative of King David, from his affair with Bathsheba to the succssion of Solomon, is a rather late...
View ArticleForeign Policy or Mythology?
Summary: We hear it all the time: the evil empire, the axis of evil, the big Satan, the little Satan. How many times have we heard and read that Iran is the most evil regime in the history of humanity....
View ArticleThe Divine Attributes (middot)
Summary: In my essay “The Anthropic Principle: Consciousness Creates the Cosmos,” I pondered the possibility that it is human consciousness that creates the cosmos. In this piece, I suggest that human...
View ArticleEden: A Mythical Journey
In the beginning was the One Hovering above the indistinguishable darkness Essential, unitary Being Unfathomably deep Impenetrably dark Wind-blown and chaotic Alone and undifferentiated Yet the One...
View ArticleWhat's in a Name?
Summary: The death of Leonard Cohen led me to connect to one of his most popular songs, “Hallelujah.” He questions the fallacy of naming God in a particular way, and encourages us to recognize divinity...
View ArticleFlying Serpents
I would invite my readers to check out two pieces that I have written for thetorah.com, a website with articles written by historical-critical Bible scholars for a general audience.The first piece is...
View ArticleArticle 9
I would invite my readers to check out an article that I've written for the Forward's online "Scribe" forum responding to Michael Steinhardt's June 9 interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in...
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The Religion of Climate Change
Summary: Much of climate change denial is fostered by religious fundamentalists, who, in their insistence on biblical inerrancy, are convinced that science in general, and, therefore, the science of...
View ArticleBeware the Christian Zionist
I would like to inform my readers that I have been accepted as a blogger for The Times of Israel, an online English-language Israeli media platform. The blog post warns us to beware of the apocalyptic...
View ArticleThe Seraphim of Isaiah 6
I seem to be obsessed with biblical serpents, perhaps because of my interest in the biblical story of the Garden of Eden and its connection to world mythology. Meanwhile, I've published another article...
View ArticleCosmic Oneness
Summary:Western theology has been infected with a vision of divinity that is supernatural, hierarchical and patriarchal. Having explored the works of Father Diarmuid O’Murchu and a bit of the modern...
View ArticleRuth and Hesed (חסד)
This essay looks at the use of the word hesed in the Book of Ruth. Normally translated “loving kindness,” I argue that the word indicates human relationship characterized by pure faithfulness and...
View ArticleDid the Canaanites Have More Fun?
SummaryDuring a Bible study class in my synagogue, a participant raised the idea that perhaps the ancient Israelites adopted foreign religious practices because “the Canaanites had more fun.” When...
View ArticleEliminating the memshelet zadon
Summary:The Jewish High Holiday liturgy includes a plea to God to “eliminate the memshelet zadon from the land.” The phrase memshelet zadon has been translated in a variety of ways. I would translate...
View ArticleThe Challenge of Monotheism
Summary:I argue in this essay that monotheism, more so than polytheism, involves a certain danger of spilling over into religious imperialism, that is, the impetus to suppress other forms of religious...
View ArticleJewish Shabbat and Christian Sunday
I recently taught an online course for the Osher Adult Learning Community sponsored by Johns Hopkins University. The course was titled “Judaism and Christianity: How Did the Ways Depart?” It was based...
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