This was written shortly after my book, Leviticus: You Have No Idea was published almost a decade ago. To read the full book review, click here or on the image below.
Review of my Leviticus book from Progressive Christianity Network Britain
Tag: religious pluralism
Leaked Transcript of Israeli Police Interview of Conservative Rabbi
Note: Translated from the Hebrew. All names have been changed.
Officer 1: Let the record note that we’re beginning this interview at 05:44 local time and we are recording this conversation. We have a few questions for you, Rabbi Schechter. Where were you between 19:00 and 20:00 on the evening of June 5, 2018?
Rabbi: At the Beach Plaza Hotel near Haifa.
Officer 1: And what were you doing there?
Rabbi: Officiating a wedding between two Jews.
Officer 1: Who said you could do that?
Rabbi: Well, I’ve been doing it for 35 years.
Officer 2: Answer the question!
Officer 1: No, it’s okay, Rafi. He’s cooperating. Rabbi, can I get you anything? Cigarette? Coffee? Bamba?
Rabbi: No thank you.
Officer 1: Are you sure? There’s nothing like Bamba–
Officer 2: Stop coddling him, Shmulik. Rabbi, why did you do it!? Tell us now or it won’t go easy for you!!
Rabbi: The wedding?
Continue reading “Leaked Transcript of Israeli Police Interview of Conservative Rabbi”
Hymns to an Unknown God
About a decade ago I found Sam Keen’s book, Hymns to an Unknown God: Awakening the Spirit in Everyday Life at a thrift store, and read it with great appreciation. It probably gets pigeon-holed under “New Age” and therefore, for some people, not taken too seriously. But whatever categories it does or doesn’t belong in, I love the book and have found it really, really helpful. More to come on this soon.
Okay, I’m finally getting to writing about Keen’s book a bit.
I’m just going to share some of my favorite quotes from the book.
“I don’t pray to some super-power to make things better. But I open myself to the power that infuses and informs all life and pray to be relieved of the bondage to myself.” (p. xviii)
“[Paul] Tillich was lecturing to us about the importance of understanding that all religious statements were symbolic. They are linguistic lace, allowing only a hint of the fabric of the mystery of being. No religion possesses any literal truth, he said, and warned us against the idolatry of religion. He advised us to look for the presence of the sacred in the everyday secular world.” (p. 2) Continue reading “Hymns to an Unknown God”
The Accidental Rabbi 