Worth a good look, Alan Brill interviews Tomer Persico –primarily about Judaism, Jewish renewal, democracy, secularism and post-secularism, spiritual cosmopolitanism, and religious ethno-nationalism in Israel. The interview includes a discussion of Tomer’s new book, in Hebrew, about the history of Jewish meditation.

As introduced by Alan,

“Tomer Persico knows the insides and outs of the contemporary Israeli religious scene. He is a keen observer of the various spiritual trends in both Orthodox and secular society writing about them in the media, in scholarly articles, and on his important blog. He writes a widely read blog, — occasionally he writes in English for his English language blog or his posts are translated in English by the papers, but the good stuff is in Hebrew–which presents an entrance into the many facets of contemporary Israeli spiritually.  I know some people who only read my blog and his blog. If you don’t know about his blog, then you should. Besides, observing the religious world, Persico teaches at Tel Aviv University and is a fellow at the Hartman institute. His voice is a growing influence in Israeli culture as an exemplar, in that, he is a secular Israeli who turned to Jewish spirituality who provides the Israeli audience with a glimpse into the best (and worst) of Judaism.”

Except for the Hebrew and other biographical details, the same could be said about Alan as a keen observer of contemporary Jewish life.

It’s a two-part interview:

Part 1

Part 2