How many of us respond to the question, “Do you want to know a secret?” with “No, thank you”? Why do so few of us decline that offer? First, we have a natural curiosity and desire to know. And, when something is referred to as a “secret,” we want to know what others do not … More »
‘I Wander, Therefore I Am’
The Wandering Jew is one of the oldest Jewish stereotypes, one that was used by Christians to define Jews’ centuries of exile and dispersion. The stereotype renders the Jew a perennial wanderer who learned the hard lesson of survival while “on the road.” But this notion of wandering is not simply a consequence of historical … More »
Sin as Corrective: Rabbi Abraham Isaac ha-Kohen Kook
In his three-volume collection of essays, aphorisms, and diary entries published posthumously as Orot ha-Kodesh (Lights of Holiness), Rav Kook (1865–1935) buries what appears to be an incidental comment about sin in a longer discourse on messianism: “Attachment to God, in its most exalted and pristine manner does not stand in opposition, in any way, … More »
It’s Not ‘Tzedakah’ If We Get a Tax Break
We often conflate “charity” with the mitzvah of tzedakah. But while charity is something we all do, it often takes a form that distinguishes it from tzedakah. In contemporary American society, giving and charity are discretionary rather than intrinsic values. They are neither required nor viewed as an obligatory part of citizenship. And they are … More »