Mining our Political Past for Spiritual Sustenance
A few weeks ago, I completed my final assignment from my third semester of rabbinical school (which ended in January). I’m not one to put things off like that, but this was a special assignment. It involved sitting in a Brooklyn apartment with close to twenty young Jews (and maybe a couple non-Jews?) studying the [...]
The Election of the New Hope: Dispatch from Rome
Last night I went to Saint Peter’s Square in Rome. I hoped to to see the black smoke of the papal conclave. I figured the dark puff would roil out from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and the sorry crowd would disperse into the dusk. I heard the smoke would disperse around 4:30pm so [...]
Online Clergy In the Age of I-everything
This past week, The Jewish Daily Forward published an article entitled, “Online Ordained Rabbis Grab Pulpits.” This article profiles several synagogues who, in this difficult economic climate, have chosen to hire rabbis who were ordained by online, non-traditional seminaries which very few are familiar with and whose qualifications for ordination differ quite significantly from those [...]
Accessing Mystery through Dialogue
Some of my favorite experiences in graduate school are the periodic instances in which a statement by a professor is greeted with a gasp of surprise from the class. To give a little backdrop, I am currently getting my Master’s degree at the Catholic University of America in Theology. The program is combined with the national [...]
I-Banker’s Hours, Non-Profit Pay, Totally Rational
This article was solicited by the Amherst College Economics Department to highlight the work of some of its alumni. An edited portion of it was printed in its recently released Handbook. I, for one, think that it’s completely rational to work for non-profit pay with a degree that prepared me for investment banking. While I [...]
Intimidated of Our Own Scripture
This is a strange thing for a Sikh to confess. I used to be really intimidated by our scripture – the Guru Granth Sahib. I would feel unworthy sitting before the Guru, and I was absolutely terrified of making mistakes while reading from the scripture. And even though I learned to read and speak the language from [...]
Including Ourselves: A Lesson from an Elevator-Ride
It’s not uncommon for kids to ask their parents about “that thing” on my head. In most instances, the parents look at me uncomfortably, embarrassed that I might be offended in some way. I’ll usually acknowledge their discomfort with an awkward smile before looking away and pretending not to notice as they try to discretely [...]
Holiness and Removing the Stumbling Block — Parashat Kedoshim
Parashat Kedoshim (Leviticus 19:1-20:27) is read this week as part of the annual Torah reading cycle in the synagogue. As is the case most years, it is read in conjunction with the parsha or Torah portion which proceeds it—Parashat Acharei Mot (Leviticus 16-18) which is also read on Yom Kippur. Parashat Kedoshim is a parsha [...]
Jews and Muslims in America: More in Common than We Think
Contrary to common assumptions, many Jewish and Muslim Americans enjoy warm relations. Yet we are only beginning to understand how and why this is so. A Gallup report released last week goes a long way to explaining this unexpected trend and shows that the two communities have more in common than is often thought. The [...]
An Atheist and Franz Kafka’s “The Castle”
This was first presented as “The Power of Kafka’s Castle,” at the Conference on Retaliation, California State University Fullerton, January 28, 2011. It was later revised and presented as “Kafka’s Castle: Revisited,” at The Balancing Act Conference, Claremont Graduate University, March 26, 2011. It is now going to published as “Kafka’s Castle: Revisited,” in Voices of Claremont Graduate [...]
Contributing Scholars
Martha SchwehnMartha Schwehn Bardwell is an MDiv student at Luther Seminary and is pursuing ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). She lives in St. Paul, MN with her husband, Sam.
Nate KratzerNate is currently the social justice minister and youth director at Third Lutheran Church in Louisville, KY. He is pursuing a Masters in Public Policy at the University of Kentucky. He frequently does research and writing for the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Programs, and he blogs at: http://faithandpublicpolicy.wordpress.com/
Ryan BellRyan Bell is the Senior Pastor of the Hollywood Adventist Church in Los Angeles, CA. A recent doctoral graduate from Fuller Theological Seminary, he teaches part-time at Azusa Pacific University and is active in congregation-based community organizing and interfaith peacemaking work around the city.