Judaism for the Thinking Person

My Kol Nidrei 2025 Sermon on how our phones are amplifying the centrifugal force of the pu... more

This is a revision of a podcast I released several years ago. It focuses on Isaac as the p... more

I relate the debate from Bereishit Rabbah to This American Life episode 550.

Most of us have been avoiding the painful conversations with friends and family over Gaza.... more

Miracle may be the most misunderstood concept in Judaism. While some Jewish sects official... more

In this long section of the Torah, where Miriam and Aaron are disciplined by God for chall... more

Rabbi Irwin Kula reminds us that when we engage deeply with Torah, it can serve "as our mi... more

We have grown accustomed to seeing Ethics and Holiness as virtually the same thing. I show... more

The vast majority of work on Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel is academic:  summaries, clarifi... more

There are two New Years on the Jewish calendar (in addition to the new years for trees and... more

We often fail to appreciate the virtues of the Shepherd period of Judaism, which preceded ... more

If you want to understand the crisis in education, look no further than Natalie Wexler's "... more

The plain sense of the brief Tower of Babel story is that dividing people up by their own ... more

Using the text of Genesis chapter 24, Talmud Bavli Ketubot 82b, and the Conservative Movem... more

How do the ideals of progressivism become the idols of antisemitism? As a rabbi in one of ... more

As a Conservative rabbi in one of the most progressive cities in America, it's been an inc... more

This dvar Torah uses the amazing article by Rabbi David Golinkin on the history of the hal... more

It is commonplace to hear today's Israel-Arab Conflict portrayed as an example of Settler-... more

No Description

As Purim became a holiday of tremendous festivities and lightheartedness, the Rabbis knew ... more