I’ve never considered myself immune to our society’s consumerist culture. I want. Always have. When I was young I used to pour over the American Girl catalog. In middle school, I obsessed over the Delias clothes catalog. Today, cookware and furniture are the most common items of attention. The subject may have changed, but the … More »
“Rabbi Chanina bar Pappa said: Whoever derives benefit from this world without first reciting a blessing is regarded as if he has stolen from God and the community of Israel” (Berachot 35a-b). The relationship between the recitation of blessings and God is clear, for God is the One who created the fruit of the vine … More »
Sometimes I feel like corporations think we can consume our way to a better world. If we only buy the right (green/local/organic/fair trade) products, we will make things better. Or we buy something and it makes a donation to a cause. What a bargain! I got to take something home and someone else got helped. … More »
We are blessed (I think) to live in an age of an endless supply of information on any given subject. “To google” something means to know, somewhat definitively, an overabundance of perspectives on a topic. In the Information Age, there is no down time from the possibility of knowing. It’s possible to research a question … More »