Monthly Archives: April 2018

Hasidic-Muslim Relations in Ottoman Palestine (Yitzhak Melamed)

Posted on April 30, 2018 by zjb

Super interesting piece by Yitzhak Melamed with texts on the history of Hasidic-Muslim relations in Ottoman Palestine. The first Hasidic masters settled in Palestine in the eighteenth century, even before the movement developed a consciousness of itself as a new … Continue reading →

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Gender of God (Them)

Posted on April 27, 2018 by zjb

The other day in class, I suddenly stopped myself, looked around, and referred to God as “them.” It worked surprisingly well. What would Maimonides think? The students didn’t blink an eye.

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(After Theta Tau) Syracuse University Petition (#RecognizeUsSU)

Posted on April 27, 2018 by zjb

With her kind permission, I am including amazing photographs of #RecognizeUsSU taken by colleague Gail Hamner at the recent town hall meeting to challenge the administration at Syracuse University to take action in the wake of the most recent racism at Theta … Continue reading →

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(Syracuse University) Department Religion (Fall 2018)

Posted on April 26, 2018 by zjb

Because we have to pitch the academic study of religion, flyers for course offerings for fall 2018 in the Department of Religion at Syracuse University are designed to convey an aesthetic. Kudos to Marcia Robinson.

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(Theta Tau) “Kike” (Syracuse University)

Posted on April 24, 2018 by zjb

Re: the Theta Tau incident at Syracuse University, last week the university suspended and has since expelled the fraternity after 2 videos surfaced of fraternity members expressing homophobic, racist, misogynistic and abelist content at an induction ceremony.  In a parody of … Continue reading →

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Death Of Alexa

Posted on April 23, 2018 by zjb

I am ambivalent about this act. On the one hand, it’s a destructive act directed at a machine that has been purposefully gendered as female. It also feels like something of an execution. On the other hand, it has become … Continue reading →

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American Jews Stop Smiling For Netanyahu’s Israel (What is the “Genesis Prize” That Natalie Portman Turned Down?)

Posted on April 22, 2018 by zjb

American Jews need to stop smiling for Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israel. In the recent blowup concerning Natalie Portman and the so-called Genesis Prize, it comes down to multi-million dollar funds with iffy political rightwing connections to rebrand Israel and the Jewish … Continue reading →

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(Jacob & 12 Sons) Savage Jews (Francisco de Zurbarán)

Posted on April 20, 2018 by zjb

What the hell kind of Jews are these? Am not sure I’ve ever seen anything like Francisco de Zurbarán’s Jacob and His Twelve Sons: Paintings from Auckland Castle, which were on view at and soon to leave the Frick. Painted in between … Continue reading →

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Israel-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony (Guest Post by Meirav Jones)

Posted on April 19, 2018 by zjb

Independence Day in Israel always follows Yom Ha’Zikaron or Memorial Day, a somber, affectively charged day on which, primarily, the Jewish tribal majority in Israel mourns its fallen soldiers. Between thoughtlessness and thoughtfullness, this is a highpoint in Civic Religion … Continue reading →

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Affect + Cognition = Affecognitive (Gail Hamner)

Posted on April 17, 2018 by zjb

Affect and cognition would seem to be an oxymoron. Colleague and friend Gail Hamner thinks otherwise, coining the term affecogitive to get at the imbrication of these two phenomena, namely the imbrication of affect into cognition and cognition into affect. … Continue reading →

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