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There’s that word again: maverick. Used in Thursday’s Vice-Presidential debate, by Gov. Sarah Palin six times to describe herself and her running mate, Senator John McCain, who she described as “the consummate maverick.” But where does the term come from and what does it mean? According to John Schwartz’ New York Times article, it’s a…

The answer is, yes. And the real issue is how supporters of Israel understand what it means to “support Israel”. Is it a function of pressuring the State of Israel to do what it “should do” from the perspective of those who do not live there? Or is it about supporting the decisions of the…

How can a candidate proclaim a faith which teaches about all aspects of life but tell us that those teachings will not shape their approach to governing the rest of us, who may not share that faith? If they genuinely believe, how do they bracket those beliefs when it comes to making public policy? And…

Religulous is to religion as rape is to sex. Like the versions of religion and religious people in Bill Maher’s Religulous which opens Friday, rape is a terrible thing which must be recognized and combated. But it hardly defines the range of possible sexual experience. Neither do the violent, small-minded, fear-driven forms of religion upon…

There are many customs on Rosh Hashanah: blowing the shofar, eating apples dipped in honey, and long hours of prayer and meditation. But until I watched the cartoon adventures of Todd and God on You Tube, I never knew that taking communion was one of them. What else would you call the practice of God…

The shofar is the most widely recognized symbol of Rosh Hashanah, and has been synonymous with Judaism since antiquity, when it was used to marl Jewish graves more often than the Star of David. So how we use the shofar probably says something larger than the evocative drama it provides on the High Holidays. From…

There have been many questions about the idea that all things are forgiveable. This comment by J, is a good example. I hope my response to J is helpful to all of you who are wrestling with this idea, and perhaps a bit fearful of what embracing might entail. You are right to recognize that…

As the Jewish people spend Tuesday and Wednesday celebrating Rosh Hashanah, the New Year, we ask ourselves the most important questions about the year ahead and what we hope to make of it – questions including who shall live and who shall die. Now, Jewish terrorists in Israel have offered their own twisted version of…

This You Tube video, entitled Israelis for Obama is amazing. It does not provide a great deal of new information about his policies, which are not all that different from McCain’s when it comes to Israel. It does something far more important. It shows the Israel to which Obama is committed i.e. pluralist, sophisticated, multi-lingual,…

I was asked by John Meacham of Newsweek, what I thought about John McCain and Sarah Palin’s desire to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion. Here is my response. If John McCain and Sarah Palin believe that human life begins at conception, then they should not only support overturning…
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