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Virtual Talmud

I appreciate the detailed statistics from the rabbi. However, they are not relevant to the question at hand. The question is not whether Islam or religion more broadly is not relevant to people’s lives or to the political process. Large numbers of Americans, and it would seem most evangelicals or at least those evangelicals who…

Prof. Mark LeVine should be commended for his cool-headed response to my original post. To be honest, I wrote the post in a very unrabbinic way (too much steam not enough substance) I appreciate the time he took to flesh out his ideas. Honestly, I am receptive to your argument, and much of what you…

I thank the various people, including Rabbi Stern, who have taken the time to comment on my article. However, Rabbi Stern and the others who accuse me of separating politics and religion have not read the article in its entirety. To begin with, the whole first part of the article explains precisely how the two…

Since September 11, there has been a growing coalition between Jews and evangelicals. And in the past few days, we have seen evangelicals rush to support Israel in its war against Hamas and Hezbollah. The Israel/evangelical alliance highlights the complexity of being a religious person. Religion is not just about spirituality, beliefs, and theology; it’s…

Of the many strange bedfellows that politics breeds, one of the strangest in recent memory is the alliance between evangelical Christians, largely in the United States, and the Israeli governments of Netanyahu, Barak, Sharon, and now Ehud Olmert. The reasons for the alliance make a certain amount of political sense–evangelicals gain prestige with their own…

We have entered into a new stage in Middle East crises: The End of War. Yes that’s right: THERE IS NO WAR IN GAZA OR LEBANON. Let me explain. War is defined by the possibility of peace. If there is no possibility of peace, all we are left with is mayhem and violence. When dealing…

UC Irvine historian Mark LeVine, writing on Beliefnet, has once again crafted a beautiful apology for Islamic leadership. Contrary to everything stated by Hamas and Hezbollah, LeVine somehow has managed to argue that “However harsh the rhetoric against Israel or even Jews, it would be inaccurate to assume that Islam is the main motivator of…

Last Thursday was the 17th of Tammuz, the day the walls of Jerusalem were breached 1936 years ago. These three weeks that lead up to Tisha B’Av (the 9th of Av) traditionally are observed as a time of semi-mourning, in memory of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and a reminder that not all is…

For more than a thousand years, the Jewish God was primarily seen and described by Christians as a vengeful God. As Robert Louis Wilken, writing in “First Things,” explains:“One of the first major theological disputes in the early Church centered on the teaching of Marcion. Marcion thought that the Christian Gospel had nothing to do…

I love speaking with seventh-graders about God. They’re so eager to shock the rabbi–they can’t wait to tell me that they don’t believe that God controls the world or, often, that they don’t even believe in God at all. I pause, then offer an invitation: “Tell me about the God you don’t believe in.” The…
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