The Irony of Jewish American Heritage Month
On May 2, 2012, President Barack Obama declared: …by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2012 as Jewish American Heritage Month. I call upon all Americans to visit www.JewishHeritageMonth.gov to learn more about the heritage and contributions of Jewish Americans [...]
Social Justice as a Unifying Issue for Dharmic Communities
Religious communities are never the same once they reach America. In my view, they often become even more remarkable. As a third-generation American Jew, it is at times even challenging for me to think of Judaism apart from the American experience. In spite of hardships early on for our community, the search for common threads [...]
Why Count the Omer in Sadness?
After the joyful Seders and family gatherings have ended and we have entered more deeply into the Passover holiday, I often feel jarred by the Counting of the Omer. Traditional Jews mark this time before Shavuot through abstinence: foregoing weddings, cutting one’s hair and even listening to music. Instead, they devote themselves to internal work [...]
Finding Your Voice in an Interfaith World
This is my recollection of co-Founding the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue. Central to this effort was my co-Founder, Stephanie Varnon-Hughes. Without her, this project could never have taken shape. I was sitting in my apartment in Jerusalem, hiding from the world. A war was raging a hundred miles south of me, and another seemed likely [...]
No Bull: A Rabbinic Teaching for Contemporary American Life
In a classic rabbinic tale about human ingenuity and Divine mystery (Menachot 29b in the Babylonian Talmud), God transports Moses forward in time to the study house of the renowned second-century sage, Rabbi Akiva. Moses sits at the back of the classroom and listens carefully to the day’s lesson. Surprisingly, Moses, the great prophet of [...]
Purim: A Serious Misunderstanding Of The Festival’s Mirth
Purim’s cathartic effect is remarkable, providing an opportunity for Jewish communities to parody themselves and their own hierarchies and imbue often-serious religious practices with music and merriment (and traditionally, copious amounts of alcohol and silly costumes). It is in many respects a self-conscious parody of the ancient Persian culture in which one of Judaism’s most [...]
Abraham and a Jewish Theology of Protest
The Torah is filled with examples of prophets who protest in the name of justice. Moses protested the misdeeds of his fellow Israelites. Joshua protested falsified reports about the Holy Land. The very first proto-Jew, Abraham, even protested God when it came to a matter of justice. That God listened and acknowledged Abraham’s insights is [...]
CEO of Home Depot: Purchase Advertising on All-American Muslim to replace Lowe’s
These views are my own. I co-wrote this petition with Frank Fredericks of Religious Freedom USA. State of Formation is in no capacity co-sponsoring this petition, nor is the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue. Lowe’s recently pulled its advertising from the popular television show “All-American Muslim,” bowing to the pressure of Isalmophobes. It is unworthy of [...]
Chanukah’s History: Challenging but Full of Meaning
The history of Chanukah squeezes us between two competing narratives: one of idealization and one of consternation. The former encourages us to view Chanukah as a holiday of liberation, when the Maccabees overthrew their Hellenistic occupiers in pursuit of faith and freedom. The Jews wanted a homeland free of outside ruler and were willing to [...]
Online tools enriching the study of sacred text
This article was co-authored by Matthew L. Skinner. Picture this: an Iraqi reporter becomes interested in the work of a Jewish student in Israel after reading an article about Jewish-Muslim relations in medieval Spain that the student published online. The reporter contacts the student and interviews him about future prospects for Jewish-Muslim coexistence. As the [...]
joshuastanton
Joshua Stanton serves as Program Director and co-Editor of the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue at Auburn Theological Seminary. He is also a Schusterman Rabbinical Fellow and Weiner Education Fellow at Hebrew Union College.
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Contributing Scholars
Dn. MartyI am attending St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary in South Canaan, Pennsylvania, with the hope of becoming an Orthodox Christian Priest. I am interested in how to maintain the integrity of belief while keeping the fellowship of and dialogue with other faith backgrounds.
Arielle RosenbergArielle Rosenberg is a second year rabbinical student at Hebrew College in Boston. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Arielle spent the last decade working as an organizer with migrant and indigenous rights communities in Honduras, Phoenix, Arizona and Seattle, Washington.
Ian BurzynskiIan Burzynski served as the first Assistant Director of Operations for State of Formation. He is a non-profit worker, intercultural communication practioner, and secular advocate for intertraditional engagement. He has worked with Pathways for Mutual Respect and the Cordoba Initiative and now serves as Chief Development Officer at Distressed Children & Infants International.