Arlene Goldbard

I’m part of a discussion elist for progressive Jews, and like a zillion other online groups, we’ve been posting messages about the Terry Schiavo case (may she rest in peace). Over the weeks of its unfolding, people have sent eloquent expositions of their own widely divergent views to the list, from those who feel the [...]

Our cultural moment is characterized by public displays of incredibly intimate information. People outdo each other in telling all, including gruesome tales of abuse and even voluntary self-debasement recounted with relish. Just look at the nonfiction best-seller list.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I’m a private person (that’s become such a cliche, [...]

The news of the world is so instantaneous, multifarious and bizarre that it provides corroboration for almost any mood. Maybe it’s just my temperament, but when I feel disgruntled, instead of looking at my own choices, I am often tempted to lay it off on man’s inhumanity to man, and the news usually gives me [...]

The Jewish holiday of Purim begins on Thursday evening, so as every year, my thoughts turn to the tale of identity and redemption it commemorates.
A few years ago I took a course in midrashic writing (writing that elaborates biblical texts) from a well-known poet who decided to use \Megillat Esther\/the Scroll of Esther — [...]

I’m taking time off, as I wrote a few days ago, which means that beyond the non-negotiable obligations on my calendar, I’m doing only what I enjoy — nothing that feels like drudgery. One of the things I enjoy most is being reminded to keep my eyes wide open.
Time off means that life suddenly [...]

I’ve been thinking about the ways we are shaped by whatever we resist.
Because of anomalies in the Hebrew calendar, the anniversaries of my parent’s death fall a week apart, the 20th and 27th of the month of Adar, which this year begin on two successive Monday nights, 28 February and tomorrow. My father died [...]

The headlines from Lebanon have propelled my imagination years into the past, to the period in the late eighties and early nineties when my current ideas about social change first took shape. In news photos, we see massive crowds in Beirut, waving flags and asserting their right to self-rule like so many figures out of [...]