As I write this, I am simultaneously: 1. Compulsively checking my email, Twitter, and Facebook. 2. Waiting for an “important” text message to determine my weekend plans 3. IMing with several co-workers 4. Flipping through Internet radio to find the perfect balance of “listenable, without requiring too much thought” music I have, it seems, a [...]

You know how Godwin’s law says that every internet argument eventually breaks down into someone calling someone else Hitler or a Nazi? This is one of my greatest pet peeves in life, because it’s not just online arguments that devolve into Holocaust finger-pointing…you can find this stuff all over our culture. Want to paint someone [...]

Yesterday, Rabbi Jill Jacobs wrote about Sukkot and social justice. Her most recent book, Where Justice Dwells: A Hands-On Guide to Doing Social Justice in Your Jewish Community, is now available. I started Where Justice Dwells: A Hands-On Guide to Doing Social Justice in Your Jewish Community with a question: Does place matter? In today’s globalized [...]

This year, I’ve been obsessing about Psalm 27, the one that starts out “The Lord is my light and my salvation,” which traditional Jews recite every morning of the month of Elul. No coincidence that it’s been popping up a lot — check out this great spoken-word version of the psalm from Danny Raphael, and [...]

You know the Sabbath Manifesto — the project that seeks to introduce people to relax, rest, and get back to basics, and to “tune out” for one day? It’s basically what us Hebrews refer to as “Shabbat” — but a sort of modernized, remixed Shabbat for the 21st century. Shlomo Carlebach once pointed out that [...]

“Words are the guides to acts; the mouth makes the first move.” –Rabbi Leon da Modena Find more Wise Fridays wisdom on MJL.  

There is a great Jewish tradition to dedicate the 29 days in the month of Elul to study and prepare for the coming high holy days. The time is supposed to challenge us to use each day as an opportunity for growth and discovery. Each day, Jewels of Elul brings you a different thought. This [...]

On Monday, Darin Strauss wrote about wrestling with faith. I’ve done an informal poll — I admit, it’s very informal — among Jews I know: What do we believe? A pretty fundamental question, right? And yet there is no consensus of belief, even regarding the most bedrock principles of faith. What’s more, this belief discrepancy [...]

Darin Strauss’s most recent book, Half a Life: A Memoir, is now available. He will be blogging all week for the Jewish Book Council and MyJewishLearning‘s Author Blog. Faith is a private issue. At least, I consider it to be one. (Try telling that to Tea Party evangelicals, though…) I consider myself a Jewish writer—even if my characters [...]

“But if you search there for the Lord your God, you will find Him, if only you seek Him with all your heart and soul.” –Deuteronomy 4:29 Find more Wise Fridays wisdom on MJL.