Religion Dispatches
Why has the Catholic Church made so many controversial statements about Jews as it wrestles with a sexual abuse crisis? One could argue that, in the heart of a wounded Church, a play is being made for the shroud of the victim.
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Doonesbury creator Gary Trudeau picks up an unfortunate thread in his latest cartoon, in which a character ponders the superiority of Jesus to the wrathful OT deity, and inferences are made regarding moneychangers and usury.
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Two new books, one offering a vision of interfaith, universal religion, the other a model of a radically transformed Judaism, attempt to wrestle God into the everyday. Against the ascendancy of the so-called New Atheism, both writers argue for a God who transcends “god-management systems” and whose primary claim on us is through our own spiritual longing.
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In My Jesus Year a young “metrodox” Jew spends a year church-hopping in order to get perspective on his own faith. Sounds daring, but turns out to be a fairly relaxed exercise. Our reviewer proposes a much tougher challenge…
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Last week’s corruption bust is not the tale of a uniquely Jewish form of organized crime, a “Kosher Nostra,” but a sordid chapter in a broadly human tragedy—albeit with a lot of local color.
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During the Bush Administration, Rabbi Melissa Weintraub wrote a definitive condemnation of torture according to Talmudic teaching and Jewish collective memory. With the release of the CIA “torture memos,” these essays are worth revisiting. And, as Israel celebrates the 61st anniversary of its independence how does the Jewish nation itself stack up to these ideals?
Read MoreFrom Kosher to Eco-Kosher to Righteously Kosher, Jews are amplifying the notion of the sacredness of food to include care for workers and the environment.
Read MoreIn hard economic times choices must be made and Jewish philanthropies are letting go of cherished educational organizations. Reminds us of a classical ethical question about survival in the desert…
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On Vanity Fair’s profile of the post-Roth and Bellow generation of Jewish novelists.
Read MoreHaving a lesbian head a transdenominational body opens the door to gay rights across the board—a little like wondering if an Iowa marriage will be accepted in Alabama.
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