Strangers in an All Too Familiar Land
I spent the last two weeks in a land named holy by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, seeking peace, understanding, wholeness. My travels took me through countless narratives, religious expressions, political stalemates, cultures, and the lives of people who reside at the center of all that is holy about this part of the world. This was [...]
Traveling to a Holy Land
On Saturday, I will depart for a two-week journey through the Holy Land of Israel/Palestine. As the days countdown, I am mindful of the very complex journey this will be for me and the other students and professors from my seminary. I decided to write this post not just to get out some of my [...]
“Just to Make a Statement”: Power, Sincerity, and the Women of the Wall
The Chief Rabbi of the Western Wall claims that Women of the Wall “don’t come to worship, they come to demonstrate.” But what he chooses not to see is that separating worship from politics is a luxury reserved for powerful people with normative practices. If you’re a member of a group that’s “out,” accessing the same prayer sites, practices and rituals, in order to worship with the same level of respect and dignity as the “in” group necessarily becomes a political action.
Evil Rising From Where We Tried to Bury It
In 1945, as Allied forces were closing in on him, Adolf Hitler took his own life. His death seemed to symbolize the end of the Nazi Empire. In recent times, there appears to be a Rise of the Evil Hitler represented. Through observing the motivations or pressures of Anders Breivik and other various crimes of Hate, we can come to one conclusion: we must do what Anders could not, Love Our Enemies.
Politicians Say the Darndest Things
Politicians say the darndest things. Of course, it’s never as cute as when kids say the darndest things. In fact, it’s usually downright awful. For example, on Sunday, Representative Todd Akin, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Missouri, was quoted as saying, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to [...]
The Israeli Chroniclers and the Am Ha’Aretz of Palestine
He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors’. Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder If I could put a notion in his head: ’Why do they make good neighbors? Isn’t it Where there are cows? But here there are no cows. Before I built a wall I’d ask to know What I [...]
Multiple Belonging: Thoughts on Belonging to More Than One Religion
I am in the process of articulating how I can be both Christian and Jewish without being a “Jew for Jesus.” Many people hail from a smattering of religious influences and heritages. The current model of religious identification has us choose one or none. But there has to be an intellectually credible, spiritually legitimate way [...]
Speaking of Israel
More than one of my politically and religiously liberal friends, when I told them I was converting to Judaism, gave as one of their first responses, “What about Israel?”
Good question. What about Israel?
I’ve understood all along that committing to the Jewish people and tradition also included coming into relationship with Israel—but the history and the issues seemed so complex that I have been reluctant to say much, to anyone, about anything related to the “Jewish state.”
From Redemption to Revelation: how do we get there, together?
The period of Counting the Omer (we count 49 days from the second day of Passover to Shavuot) in which we currently find ourselves is a reminder of the road between redemption and revelation. It seems only fitting, then, that two of the most contentious days in our calendar occur in this period between Passover and Shavuot. Just as soon as we’ve put our matzah away and finished the last of the macaroons, Yom Ha Zikaron (Israeli Remembrance Day) and Yom Ha Atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) are just around the corner. For many North American Jewish communities, how to observe these days has become a topic of heated debate. We find ourselves on the same journey from freedom to revelation, but with very different ideas of how to get from the Sea to the Mountain.
“Abrahamic Partnerships in Pursuit of Peace” By Yehezkel Landau
Yehezkel Landau is a Faculty Associate in Interfaith Relations at Hartford Seminary. In June, 2002, I spent six days at a place that is holy for me: the Community of Grandchamp, a convent of Protestant nuns in Areuse, Switzerland. It may seem odd that a deeply committed Jew finds a Christian monastic community a sacred [...]
Contributing Scholars
Oliver GoodrichOliver Goodrich, 31, is currently pursuing an MEd in Religious Education at Boston College’s School of Theology and Ministry. Prior to his studies at BC, Oliver worked for a decade in music ministry and college student development in the Boston area.
Christina YostChristina Yost is a first year M.Div. student at Methodist Theological School in Ohio and received her B.A. in Pre-Theology and Psychology at Ohio Wesleyan University. She is pursuing ordination in the United Methodist Church and is currently a certified candidate in the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference.
Allana TaylorAllana Taylor completed her Masters degree in Divinity at the University of Chicago in 2012 and is currently living in Norman, Oklahoma with her wonderful husband Kyle and their one-year old gift, Isaac. She served as the Communications intern for the Council for a Parliament of the World's religions in 2010-2011. In the fall of 2012 she was a participant in the Middle Prairie Institute for Religion and Public Life's, a non-partisan think tank, annual session. Though her academic interests focus on Islamic Law and the modern state, she has also done research on the intersection of law and culture and questions of institutional justice versus morality. She identifies as an atheist, but is committed to inter-religious engagement and dialogue and is determined to be part of that conversation.