“You must not hate an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in their land” (Deut. 23:8) Don’t hate an Egyptian?? For centuries, the Egyptians had enslaved us. They beat and tortured and eventually tried to exterminate us. Four-fifths of the Torah is taken up with our journey from Egyptian oppression to liberation in the Promised Land. Every year since -- for more than three millennia -- we have retold that story, not merely as a matter of history, but through active, personal identification. Read more...

Religion has the capacity to draw us together, and religion has the equal capacity to split us apart. Religion's critics would do well to acknowledge the benefits that spiritual community has brought to countless lives, the ways that sacred wisdom has inspired people over millennia to acts of goodness and neighborly kindness. Religion's adherents should likewise recognize that the systems that they hold dear have also been responsible tremendous grief, that religion has divided families and nations just as it has brought them together. Read more...

In American ideology, our bodies belong to us. We should take care of ourselves through proper diet, hygiene, sleep, and exercise, and we should avoid smoking, drugs, and too much alcohol, but those imperatives are only so that we can feel good, look good, and live a long life. If we choose to neglect our bodies or engage in activities that will harm them, that may be unwise but ultimately it is our own business. Read more...

In American ideology, our bodies belong to us. We should take care of ourselves through proper diet, hygiene, sleep, and exercise, and we should avoid smoking, drugs, and too much alcohol, but those imperatives are only so that we can feel good, look good, and live a long life. If we choose to neglect our bodies or engage in activities that will harm them, that may be unwise but ultimately it is our own business. Read more...

Any of us in the workforce today know that as companies and corporations strive to meet their bottom line and as employees move freely from one company to another, defining the social contract between employee and employer has intensified and become more complex. As each side protects its own interests, trust and loyalty between employees and employers has become increasingly challenging. While not the only issue, this often plays out in the pay structure and practices. Today, it is not uncommon for companies to delay payment for work until a job is completely done. Read more...