One of the strongest obstacles to positive change is narcissism: our proclivity to give ourselves the benefit of the doubt, based on the feeling that nice people like ourselves couldn’t possibly be doing bad things. In the public arena, this is especially easy to see if you follow the way our leaders use the word …
This weekend I revisited the writings of Martin Luther King, looking for something to read in his honor at a gathering of friends. In my mind, he stands for eloquent justice in the face of stubborn privilege, and as far as it goes, that’s true. But taking him literally, he stands so much more for …
Have you heard the chorus of right-wingers blaming the “Jews and secularists” for ruining Christmas? One of the best pieces on this phenomenon so far is Frank Rich’s column in last Sunday’s \New York Times\. Here’s a taste: “‘Are we going to abolish the word Christmas?’ asked Newt Gingrich, warning that ‘it absolutely can happen …
One mystical idea that interests me is that our experience in the material world resonates with a higher truth attached to the same moment in time. As readers of this blog know, it is my custom to follow the readings from the first five books of the Old Testament and prophetic writings assigned in the …
A couple of friends came over to help us celebrate the third night of Hanukkah. While I fried potato latkes, we talked about one friend’s difficulty in shaking post-election fear and despair — indeed, in facing the horrors of the daily paper. When the holiday began, she’d found herself thinking that lighting the Hanukkah candles …
I love all the little courtesies that lubricate daily life: please and thank you, after you and excuse me — all of them. In fact, my currently emerging curmudgeonly side manifests mostly in the form of regular laments at the decline of ordinary manners. I love to give thanks for help, to express gratitude and …
In preparation for the High Holy Days, the Jewish new year, we are asked to do a cheshbon hanefesh, a soul inventory, as a guide to whatever repair, redirection, rededication we will make for the coming year. I love new beginnings, so this is my favorite time of the year, when tradition supports my repentence …
Political speech is so close to religious discourse. Listening to John Kerry and his friends and family last night was a little like praying: my mind skates over the parts I find disturbing (as during prayers beseeching God to smite our enemies), and lingers, swelling with desire, during the parts that lift my heart. Then …
This is amazing! Check out this beautiful ad created to run on Arabic-language TV, apologizing for what was done at Abu Ghraib in our names. If the clip doesn?t play right away, click on “low” and a low-resolution version will open in another window.