Theology has become a hot topic among Jewish publishers these days.  Recognizing a gap between new ways of expressing Jewish commitment and a cogent way of expressing that commitment in words, scholars and writers of every part of the Jewish spectrum are putting forth different metaphors to describe how God and the Jewish people relate. Read more...

This week, I traveled to Tucson, not knowing anyone other than the woman who had scheduled my speaking engagement.  As I walked into the synagogue, I began meeting the members of the congregation, and immediately the connections were made.  One couple was the parents of a rabbinic colleague.  Another man knew a family whom my family had known during my childhood in San Antonio, Texas. Read more...

In Parashat Yitro, the Torah turns from the foundational stories of Western civilization – the Creation of the world and the Exodus from Egyptian slavery – to the rich legislative legacy that implements the Biblical vision of holiness, justice, and peace. Gathering around the base of Mt. Sinai, the Jewish people receive Aseret Ha-Dibrot (the Ten Commandments), and pledge their loyalty to the Covenant offered by God. Read more...

Sitting in my e-mail in-box at the moment is an announcement from the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, telling me that "February is Inclusion Awareness Month." Included in the e-mail is a link to textual and other resources that rabbis can use to teach about this topic, including this passage from Maimonides, in his codification of the Laws of Torah Study: "Every man in Israel is obligated in the study of Torah, whether he is rich or poor, whether he is whole-bodied or afflicted, whether he is a young man or a very elderly man whose strength has failed..." Leaving aside the limitatio Read more...

One of the privileges of being the Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies is my annual trip to Israel. Each winter, I have the chance to visit with our 3rd year students, pursuing our course of studies in Jerusalem. I use the time to meet with leaders of Conservative Judaism in Israel, to confer with rabbis and scholars from other streams of Jewish life, and have a chance to speak at a variety of yeshivot and institutes while I’m there. It is both a joy and a great privilege to be able to spend time in Jerusalem. Read more...