Contemporary Issues

Judaism and the Human Body

Arielle Margolis — Thu, 24 Aug 2023 22:02:41 +0000

Judaism and the Human Body

Arielle Margolis Thu, 08/24/2023 - 15:02

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Abner & Roslyn Goldstine Dean’s Chair

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Vice President, ��ϲ��

Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson (www.bradartson.com) has long been a passionate advocate for social justice, human dignity, diversity and inclusion. He wrote a book on Jewish teachings on war, peace and nuclear annihilation in the late 80s, became a leading voice advocating for GLBT marriage and ordination in the 90s, and has published and spoken widely on environmental ethics, special needs inclusion, racial and economic justice, cultural and religious dialogue and cooperation, and working for a just and secure peace for Israel and the Middle East. He is particularly interested in theology, ethics, and the integration of science and religion. He supervises the Miller Introduction to Judaism Program and mentors Camp Ramah in California in Ojai and Ramah of Northern California in the Bay Area. He is also dean of the Zacharias Frankel College in Potsdam, Germany, ordaining Conservative rabbis for Europe. A frequent contributor for the Huffington Post and for the Times of Israel, and a public figure Facebook page with over 60,000 likes, he is the author of 12 books and over 250 articles, most recently Renewing the Process of Creation: A Jewish Integration of Science and Spirit. Married to Elana Artson, they are the proud parents of twins, Jacob and Shira. Learn more infomation about Rabbi Artson.

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Contemporary Issues

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The definition of what is “religious” shifts throughout the ages. In antiquity, being religious meant offering sacrifices (of children, women, prisoners taken in war) and making regular gifts to the gods. In biblical Israel, it meant being aware of God’s presence, by bringing animal sacrifices to the Temple in Jerusalem at the designated times.

By the Second Temple period, a new emphasis, one of ritual purity, ethical rigor, and obedience to a growing oral tradition became the defining feature of pharisaic religiosity, which the Rabbis of the extended into an emphasis on the performance of mitzvot (commandments) and study as religious acts.

In the medieval period, study and ritual purity remained important, but they were refocused through the lenses of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. Finally, in the early modern age, social justice (for some) and celebration through song and dance (for others) often competed with the earlier identifying features of religiosity.

Jews today have inherited this range of different ways of being religious — from offerings to social justice, from prayer and study to dance, from purity to the performance of mitzvot.

There are many paths of piety rooted in thousands of years of Jewish tradition. On the other hand, America today seems to offer two primary modes of religion: either literalist obedience to a sacred book or in new age exultation of feeling.

In many cases, what American spirituality avoids is the bodily reality of human existence. Too much of American spirituality assumes that “spirit,” a concept originating in Greek thought and Pauline Christianity, is the opposite of “body.” Spirit — we are told — is good, pure and eternal. Body is bad, corrupt and ephemeral.

Given that understanding of spirit, it is no wonder that the wide range of American spiritual movements tend to help free the person from the trap of their own bodies and drives. Cults from eastern religions and from the latest fad all unite in an effort to help us transcend our bodies. How surprising, then, to look back over the list of Jewish spiritual responses and see how solidly rooted in bodies they all are.

A Corporeal Religion

Judaism is a corporeal religion. We know that a spirituality that doesn’t redeem the body with it is merely an escape, and one doomed to failure in the end. That emphasis on the body emerges in today’s portion in the unlikeliest place.

“If a man is guilty of a capital offense and is put to death, and you impale him on a stake [after his having already been executed], you must not let his corpse remain on the stake overnight, but you must bury him the same day. For an impaled body is an affront to God; you shall not defile the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.”

Why is an impaled body an offense against God? Wouldn’t the humiliated corpse serve a valuable preventative function, since all who saw it would resolve not to commit a similar offense? If so, it should be a good thing to leave the body hanging. Besides, the person isn’t the same as the body anyway! The body is relatively unimportant, like a used set of clothing that no longer fits. So who cares about how the body is treated!

Apparently, the Torah doesn’t accept that trivialization of the body. Rashi adds to the Torah that, “It is a slight to the King [God] because humanity is made in the likeness of God’s image and Israel are God’s children.” This may be likened to two twin brothers who resembled each other; one became a king while the other was seized as a criminal and hanged. Whoever saw him exclaimed, ‘The king is hanged.'” This shocking comment implies that our resemblance to God is more than just spiritual, that even our bodies reflect the Divine Image, and therefore deserve reverence and respect.

In Va-Yikra Rabbah, the great sage, Hillel, compares keeping our bodies clean to maintaining a statue of a king. He comments that, “Bathing the body is an obligation, since we are created in the image of the Ruler of the world.”

For that same reason, Jewish tradition prohibits cremation as undignified to the body of the deceased, and Talmudic tradition affirms a physical resurrection of the dead. One need not share every Talmudic belief about the afterlife to recognize great wisdom in preserving a sense of awe and gratitude for the human body.

In an age awash in self-destructive drugs, too busy to exercise or to eat carefully, respect for our bodies is dangerously low on our agenda. Teenagers and women smoke in growing numbers, and alcohol use, too, is on the rise. Biblical and Rabbinic tradition maintain that our bodies reflect God’s image and therefore command respectful maintenance. In addition, our bodies are not our property, but God’s. We use them, as the tenants and stewards of God’s possessions. But ultimately, our bodies must be returned, well-tended, to their original Owner.

Is there a connection between the trivialization of the body in American spirituality and the callous disregard for bodies in American life? Let’s get physical!

Provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, which ordains Conservative rabbis at the ��ϲ��.

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Experiencing the Cloud

Arielle Margolis — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 21:33:54 +0000

Experiencing the Cloud

Arielle Margolis Fri, 03/04/2022 - 13:33

by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Abner & Roslyn Goldstine Dean’s Chair

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Vice President, ��ϲ��

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Contemporary Issues

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��ϲ�� six weeks ago, my daughter was married. As a rabbi, I have performed hundreds of these ceremonies and they are always beautiful and uplifting. The poignancy of the couples’ love, and the extraordinary miracle of jubilant voices of bride and groom resounding, always make me cry. But my job as rabbi is to officiate and be present for others, so I do my best to keep these powerful upwelling emotions in check.

Not so at my Shira’s wedding. From start to finish, I found myself enveloped in a cloud of emotion so overwhelming that my mind stopped its normal functioning. Under her chuppah, I was so beclouded that I mixed up the order of the ceremony (after over 30 years in the rabbinate!). I was so captivated that during the father-daughter dance, we just hugged each other and wept in the center of the ballroom. My love for my daughter became my all. For that moment, there was simply nothing else.

A week later, my 93-year-old father fell and broke both his legs. In the hospital, it quickly became clear that he would never regain his vitality and his life began to slip away. We rushed to his side as his awareness started to wane. Surrounding his deathbed, his children and grandchildren entered the misty cloud of his mortality. The fleeting nature of time made the moments glisten, commanding our attention. In the fog of his rhythmic breathing and moments of awareness, we became fully present. We took turns holding his hands.

I had previously spent hours in my father’s company — sometimes bored, my attention wandering, or making small talk over yet another deli meal. But in those final hours, we strained to attend to him with everything we had. We were totally there — effortlessly, desperately, tenderly. As my father transitioned out of this world, we were sheltered in the shade of his courage, his concern for us, and the rawness of the moment’s emotions.

There are moments in life so sacred that it’s as if a cloud descends and displaces our excuses and indifference, when our experience outsrips our words and our feelings penetrate far beyond the limits of our comprehension. Within that swirling haze, dispassionate analysis retreats and only pure presence remains. In the unvarnished joy of a daughter’s wedding, or the breathless attendance to a father’s dying, these clouded moments dull our thinking minds while peeling back the foreskins of our calloused hearts. Such moments are so real and so raw that they can only be witnessed, not described.

One such moment occurs in this week’s Torah portion when God’s presence enters the Tent of Meeting in the form of, yes, a cloud.

Moses and the Israelites have built an elaborate and beautiful set of structures in which Jewish values could be enacted, where priests and Levites could process offerings from the people and, in burning or waving them, renew the popular sense of God’s intimacy and achieve atonement. Threads of vibrant blue, purple, red and gold created pulsing tapestries that could hold the diverse emotions of the pilgrims and penitents.

But God was not in the tent. The sharp focus on weaves and altars and gold surfaces so captured the attention that it occluded the inner eye. That inner vision needed a veil to diminish the impact of the world on our senses. It needed a cloud.

And in Exodus 40:34, the people got one.

Then a cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter into the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud abode on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Some things we see with our eyes wide open. But the really important things we only see with our eyes shut. The presence of the cloud allowed Moses to focus on the divine, rather than be captive to the spellbinding colors and contours of the fabrics and the metal. It was the shimmering fog that let Moses intuit what can only be felt, beyond words or concepts, a presence that can only be lived.

So it is with a daughter’s nuptials or a father’s passing. Blinded by externals, we can get lost in budgets, menus, guest lists, correspondence, obituaries, or a thousand other details. But a cloud can shift the light and force our vision into a deep dive of feeling and experience. And in that cloud, we encounter what is truly divine.

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Leadership Delegation Conversations with Israel’s New Government

Arielle Margolis — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 23:03:01 +0000

Leadership Delegation Conversations with Israel’s New Government

Arielle Margolis Thu, 07/22/2021 - 16:03

by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Abner & Roslyn Goldstine Dean’s Chair

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Vice President, ��ϲ��

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Contemporary Issues

Summary

This week I participated in a Conservative Leadership Delegation to Israel to confer with Israel’s new President, cabinet ministers in the new coalition government, members of the Knesset from multiple political parties, and leadership of the Jewish Agency. I also spoke on two panels (with JTS’ chancellor and the CEO of the Rabbinical Assembly) on Tuesday evening and again on Wednesday night.

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We met with a full panoply of Israeli leaders from across the political spectrum, inside the new government and in the opposition. I came away inspired by a collective resolve to innovate to improve the lives of all Israelis, Jews, Arabs, Druze, Bedouin, and to better the lives and living conditions of Palestinians. I also heard a common commitment to strengthen Israeli democracy and human rights, to address issues of sustainability and climate change, and to reinvigorate the relationship between Israel and the Jewish people in all our diversity, across the globe. These goals are crucial for the future of Israel’s vitality and democracy.

The 3-day trip was packed with panels and events, including transformative series of conversations, expressing solidarity with Israel in these difficult times, elevating the perspective and interests of Conservative/Masorti Judaism in the eyes of Israel’s new government, and articulating an agenda moving forward. In every conversation, Los Angeles’ ��ϲ�� and its Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies were active and visible in the leadership and engagement on the trip, with Israel’s President Herzog going so far as to comment that the Ziegler School is a well-known and important institution.

Tuesday

On Tuesday, we met for a briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then had a meeting with Minister Nachman Shai of the Diaspora Affairs Ministry. We then enjoyed a private meeting with the new President of the State of Israel, Isaac Herzog, who spent over an hour with our delegation. I had the pleasure of introducing Israel’s president to the bioethics of ��ϲ��’s Ziegler School’s own Rabbi Elliot Dorff, in addition to discussing Process Theology with him.

After a morning of briefings, we returned to the Knesset building to meet with MK Zvi Hauser (a former member of the Kotel Committee) and then with Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Minister of Justice. Both were remarkably candid and open with us.

In the evening, we drove out to the Masorti Synagogue, Yedid Nefesh, in Modi’in for a gathering of all the members of the Masorti congregants throughout Israel. The panelists included the JTS chancellor, the CEO of the Rabbinical Assembly, and myself, moderated by a brilliant Israeli comedian, Moshe Samuels. I spoke about the evolving relationship between Israel and American Jews, and I was able to affirm the range of ways that Ziegler students and rabbis continue to show deep connections of heart, family, and community that animate their rabbinic work and their Zionist spirit. Of course, the letter in the Forward by many rabbinical students (two from Ziegler) and my public response shaped much of our conversation and helped the Israelis see the depth of connection that still motivates our students (including those who signed) and the Conservative rabbinate. I reminded the audience that Ziegler students continue to spend their third year in Israel at the Conservative Yeshiva, continue to serve in Masorti congregations across Israel in partnership with the Masorti Movement, and continue to show support and activism through AIPAC, JStreet, and other pro-Israel organizations.

Wednesday

Day two of this whirlwind trip began with a meeting at the Schechter Institute with the leaders of all the Israeli Masorti organizations, with each having an opportunity to explain their role and current projects to the American delegation. We met with Minister Merav Michaeli, Minister of Transportation, and were scheduled to meet with the Minister of Defense, Benny Gantz, who had to postpone our meeting at the last minute (and how has rescheduled a virtual meeting with us), but we were able to meet with MK Yuli Edelstein, a Likud member of Knesset and the former Speaker. We also met with Tamar Zandberg, Minister of Environmental Protection.

We also met with MK Alon Tal, a professor of environmental studies at Tel Aviv University, and a new member of the Knesset. He is also an active member of a Masorti congregation (and grew up at the North Carolina synagogue that enjoys Ziegler graduate Rabbi Daniel Greyber as rabbi). I have known Alon for many decades and have worked with him on shared projects. He aims to make religious pluralism and environmental issues his primary focus while in the Knesset. We met with MK Gilad Kariv, the first Reform rabbi elected to the Knesset and now the Chair of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. At the last minute, Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid, Minister of Foreign Affairs was quarantined with COVID and will arrange a virtual meeting with us in the future.

The day would not be complete without a private Mincha service for the group, inside the Knesset building. I’m sure that was not the first time someone davened in that edifice, but maybe one of the first times the service was egalitarian!

We completed the evening back at the National Institutions Building in the heart of Jerusalem to attend a reception for the Members of the Executives of the World Zionist Organization and the Board of Directors of Keren Kayemet L’Yisrael. At that reception, I spoke on a panel with the JTS Chancellor and the CEO of the Rabbinical Assembly. Rabbi Stewart Vogel served as the moderator. I focused on the “Core Ideas and Commitments of Conservative/Masorti Judaism and Zionism,” and you can hear that talk (click to hear the podcast).

Thursday

Our third and final day in Israel began at the egalitarian section of the Kotel (Western Wall), a contested area that the previous government of Israel promised to designate as a place for egalitarian prayers. A group of Masorti rabbis and leaders gathered in this beautiful space for morning worship, complete with Torah reading. I was delighted to be called to bless the Torah for the third aliyah which brought to mind the great friends of the Ziegler School – our fabulous lay leadership and supporters – and the generations of great students, many now rabbis, and our brilliant faculty. In my heart, we were standing there together, in the heart of Jerusalem, offering thanks for our loving relationships, our shared vision, and the light we shine together.

After a meeting with the Conservative/Masorti rabbis of Israel and the rabbinic leadership of the delegation, we drove to Tel Aviv and met with Ya’akov Hagoel, Chair of WZO and the Acting Chair of JAFI, and then met with Minister of Intelligence Elazar Stern, who of course did not need to be briefed on our names and bios.

At our last event, we were given a private tour of ANU Museum by its CEO, Dan Tadmor. This renovated museum tells the story of the Jewish people across history, making a point that everyone at the museum should see themselves and their experience reflected in the exhibits themselves. Like the museum’s name indicates, there is only “us” and we all belong.

Finally, after a beautiful sushi dinner, we headed to Ben Gurion Airport and took our long flights home.

Our Agenda

In addition to articulating solidarity with Israel during these difficult times, and support for a broad agenda for justice, peace, and security for all its diverse communities and neighbors, the American delegation raised three explicit concerns with the new government:

We called for the implementation of the Kotel Agreement, nearly 5 years after the initial agreement was ratified (only to be tabled 6 months later). This necessary and timely proposal extends the non-Orthodox egalitarian prayer area for all people near the southern part of the Western Wall.

We urged Israeli legislators to support and defend the rights of Jews who convert or marry. Currently, the State of Israel fails to meet this sacred responsibility when its lawmakers refuse to recognize the practices of much of the Jewish people around the world.

We also raised the issue of government funding. In Israel there is no separation between state and religion. The government funds religious services and staff, but not equally, and not for all denominations. We asked for reasonable funding for Masorti congregations, institutions, and clergy.

In addition to Rabbi Artson the Leadership Delegation included Rabbinical Assembly and USCJ CEO Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, RA president Rabbi Stewart Vogel, USCJ President Ned Gladstein, COO of the RA and Chief Program Officer for USCJ Rabbi Ashira Konigsburg, JTSA Chancellor Dr. Shuly Rubin Schwartz, Mercaz USA Executive Director Sarrae Crane, Masorti Foundation Executive Gideon Aronoff, Masorti Foundation Chair Heidi Schneider. We were joined in Israel by Executive Director of Masorti Israel Rakefet Ginsberg, Vice Chairman of WZO Dr. Yizhar Hess, President of Masorti Olami Sophie Fellman Rafalovitz, Executive Director of Masorti Olami, Rabbi Mauricio Balter, and RA Israel President Rabbi Mikie Goldstein.

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Le-Hayim: Jewish Wisdom for a Time of Pandemic

Michelle — Fri, 13 Mar 2020 19:22:18 +0000

Le-Hayim: Jewish Wisdom for a Time of Pandemic

Michelle Fri, 03/13/2020 - 12:22

by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Abner & Roslyn Goldstine Dean’s Chair

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Vice President, ��ϲ��

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Contemporary Issues

Summary

As published in the Jewish Journal: https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/opinion/312306/jewish-wisdom-for-a-time-of-pandemic/

The Coronavirus is now officially a world-wide pandemic. As I write these words, there are about 130,000 confirmed cases, of whom some 5,000 have died, another 6,000 are considered serious, and about 70,000 people have recovered. 116 countries have been infected (out of a global total of 195). By the time you read these words, it is probably that the numbers will have risen...

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As published in the Jewish Journal: https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/opinion/312306/jewish-wisdom-for-a-time-of-pandemic/.

Some people are responding with a level of panic rarely encountered, while others brush off this pandemic as if already under control. Both responses fail because they see our duty as isolated and individual: as if it’s all about keeping me safe and distracted, regardless of its human cost or global impact. This isolated individual is a biological lie and a cultural dead end. We are ourselves only in relationship to each other and to all creation.

We are taught (Exodus 19:2 and Rashi) that the reason the Torah was given at the foot of Sinai is that at that particular moment, in that particular spot, the Children of Israel came together as one. Transcending their fragmentation and disputes, they circled that mountain united in hope and possibility. It was precisely because we were, for that instant, one united camp, that the One God would be heard.

This moment also calls us to form a united camp: not only the Jewish people, but all humanity coming together in the only kind of cosmopolitan universalism that counts: an affirmation of life, of caring, and of hope.

Bein Adam Le-Havero: Our Responsibility to Sustain Each Other

Finding the Derekh ha-Beinoni, the Middle Path to steer us between the crashing waves of hysteria and panic on the one hand, and the battering rocks of denial and avoidance on the other will require determination and resolve. “We will hear and we will do (Exodus 24:3)” must become the mantra of this season. While it may be tempting to do nothing and to pretend that nothing has changed, we must mobilize the courage to first listen to the health experts and to then transform their guidance into government policy and personal practice.

Each of us must find the inner strength to be Nachshon, the brave Israelite willing to plunge into the Sea so it could part and allow the Children of Israel to pass to freedom. By daring to change our ways, we can take on a life of service for the sake of human health.

In that spirit, we must curtail our exposure to large crowds and to the possibility of infection. The Coronavirus is the new reality, and it won’t go away. But limiting the range of its contagion and slowing its spread will literally create the difference between life and death for many of our vulnerable beloveds (older people, immunologically compromised people, and others). Jewish tradition teaches that love (hesed) is not merely an inner emotion, it is a way of behaving to others that makes the love manifest. We owe these dear ones our compassionate acts of self-restraint and responsibility: repeated hand washing with soap, avoiding touching our faces, greeting others with a wave or smile instead of handshaking or hugging, heightened levels of sanitation at work and in public places, alternatives to public assemblies, staying home when sick or exposed. Our choices can literally redeem the world.

Bein Adam Le-Atzmo: Responsibility to Self-Care

It is not enough to change behavior and to enact policies to care for each other if we don’t also find better ways to care for ourselves. Humans begin to shrivel without contact with each other and without access to the joys of life. In excessive isolation we risk pandemics of the soul.

We must find ways to reach out to each other, to give and receive love and care so that we are nourished for the task ahead. The Biblical image of receiving manna each and every day, and of having to move our bodies to harvest this physical manifestation of love can inspire us through this wilderness as well. Let’s use this time to strengthen whatever daily practice inspires and sustains us: daily prayer, psalms, meditation, exercise, a stroll, good fiction, poetry. Making time for inner renewal and physical vitality will be crucial in the stressful days and weeks to come.

That self- care itself has to keep the limits of our increased isolation permeable and flexible. Connecting to those we love through calls, texts, shared meals (Shabbat, anyone?), streamed movies with family or friends, will keep us alive. These occasions of relating strengthen us for the tasks we face and remind us that this, too, is life. Judaism’s most beloved prayer, the Shehechiyanu, locates God as the one who enlivens us, sustains us, and brings us to this moment. Life is precious and invites celebration.

Judaism creates a calendar filled with opportunities for mindful joy, communal gathering, and celebration. Being more attentive doesn’t require that we stop relating to each other and connecting. We just need to be more creative in making sure that we get what we need.

This pandemic will pass, creating a new normal in its wake. How we respond, supporting the scientists and their research to develop a vaccine, how we modify our behavior to limit the spread of the virus and to dampen its consequences, and how we find ways to feed our souls and to care for each other, these are the challenges and possibilities of this moment.

We do not venture into this fray alone. We walk with each other, carrying a Torah of wisdom and bearing the Divine image that allowed our ancestors to proceed forward to Promise. That Promise beckons us as well. Let’s journey together!

Rabbi Dr. Bradley Shavit Artson holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean’s Chair, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of ��ϲ��.

Pandemic

Wisdom

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Q&A December 2019

Rabbi Artson — Thu, 12 Dec 2019 06:45:19 +0000

Q&A December 2019

Rabbi Artson Wed, 12/11/2019 - 22:45

by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Abner & Roslyn Goldstine Dean’s Chair

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Vice President, ��ϲ��

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Podcast

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Contemporary Issues

Summary

Listen in to December's Q&A with Rabbi Artson and the students of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies. This month's hot topics: the future of Conservative Judaism, December dilemma, Kaddish without a Minyan, Jewish law (halakhah) today, the power of Hanukkah, personal preference vs communal authority, issues about Israel!

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podcast

Self Compassion

Michelle — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 16:53:34 +0000

Self Compassion

Michelle Wed, 10/16/2019 - 09:53

by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Abner & Roslyn Goldstine Dean’s Chair

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Vice President, ��ϲ��

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Podcast

Your browser does not support the audio element.

Contemporary Issues

Summary

The Torah urges us to “love our neighbor as ourselves,” but most of us are not really good at loving ourselves, or treating ourselves with compassion. Rabbi Artson invites us to see ourselves as good, kind, and holy, so that we can take better care of ourselves and each other.

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Compassion

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podcast

Judaism for Those Who Don't Believe in God

Michelle — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 15:28:08 +0000

Judaism for Those Who Don't Believe in God

Michelle Wed, 10/02/2019 - 08:28

by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Abner & Roslyn Goldstine Dean’s Chair

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Vice President, ��ϲ��

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Podcast

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Contemporary Issues

Summary

Religion is too important to leave just to the believers. Even as a human creation, religion is second to none for locating one’s story in a bigger narrative, for connecting us to community and belonging, to inspire us with art and architecture and imagination, and to motivate us to care for those in need.

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Atheism

God

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podcast

September 2019 Q and A

Michelle — Wed, 18 Sep 2019 20:25:54 +0000

September 2019 Q and A

Michelle Wed, 09/18/2019 - 13:25

by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Abner & Roslyn Goldstine Dean’s Chair

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Vice President, ��ϲ��

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Podcast

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Contemporary Issues

Summary

Rabbi Artson’s first Q&A of the academic year. Lively back-and-forth with the Ziegler students on topics for this year’s High Holy Days; rabbinic view of football and concussions; thoughts on rabbinic roles in political debate; what we can hope for in Israel’s election; managing a divisive world; skepticism about marriage and commitments; should Jews be pressured to marry and have babies; the Jewish community of tomorrow and how it must evolve!

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High Holy Days

Israel

Synagogue

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podcast

The Virtue of Character

Michelle — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 17:55:40 +0000

The Virtue of Character

Michelle Fri, 09/06/2019 - 10:55

by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Abner & Roslyn Goldstine Dean’s Chair

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Vice President, ��ϲ��

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Podcast

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Contemporary Issues

Summary

During a period of partisan zeal and assault, too many succumb to the temptation to jettison decency and righteousness for a short term victory. Exploring the wisdom of the Torah, to “love your neighbor as yourself,” Rabbi Artson dives deep into the fusion of the personal and the communal, the private and the public. Future rabbis — and all who love virtue and goodness — have a duty to double down on truth, on strengthening character, personal integrity, human dignity (our own and each other’s), and on implementing love as justice.

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character

virtue

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podcast

Q and A February 2019

Communications — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 17:05:26 +0000

Q and A February 2019

Communications Fri, 03/01/2019 - 09:05

by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Abner & Roslyn Goldstine Dean’s Chair

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Vice President, ��ϲ��

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

Podcast

Your browser does not support the audio element.

Contemporary Issues

Summary

Listen in with the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies for a lively Lunch & Learn! Students grill Rabbi Artson on creating an ethics curriculum for government service, responding to Prime Minister Netanyahu inviting a Kahane party into a future coalition, fighting addictions to technology, making Judaism egalitarian, limits to human knowledge, why is Siri gendered!

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ethics

addiction

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podcast