Tag Archives: liberalism

Geography of Poverty (Matt Black at St. John the Divine)

Posted on February 29, 2016 by zjb

If you’re in the neighborhood, I think they’re still there. Head down W.110 Street between Amsterdam and Columbus/Morningside Drive. St. John the Divine has assembled these photographs and put them on view outside along the large retaining south wall of … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

(Event) Christian-Muslim-Jewish (Ansche Chesed) (Feb 19-20)

Posted on February 18, 2016 by zjb

Hey New Yorkers, there’s a big event with Mary Boys and Abdullah Antepli at Ansche Chesed about Christian, Jewish, and Muslim interfaith learning and common community building. If liberal religion has a future, this is going to be a part of … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

New York Times Guns Editorial

Posted on December 5, 2015 by zjb

“Morality” or “politics”? It’s important to get the concept right. So while it was bracing to see the New York Times put up on the front page an editorial against the gun pandemic in the United States, they nonetheless got … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

Yossi Sarid z”l

Posted on December 4, 2015 by zjb

“Along the years, and with the approval of Menachem Begin, I made a name for myself as the most gifted speaker in parliament. When I would rise to the podium to speak as one of the younger MKs those days, … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Catastrophe Affect & Human Values (Responding to the Middle East Today)

Posted on November 30, 2015 by zjb

I’m not sure about these confessional remarks. On the one hand, the thoughts reflected here cut what is probably too wide a swath through a highly reified and mediated conceptualizations of “Islam” and “the Middle East,” while reflecting my own … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Morality, Religion, Politics (Congressman Jerrold Nadler on Iran Deal, Israel, & Syrian Refugees)

Posted on November 21, 2015 by zjb

It was very moving to hear Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) before a full house this Shabbat at Ansche Chesed explaining his vote in favor of the Iran Deal, his thoughts about Israel and Palestine, and his support for Syrian refugees. Delivered from … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

State Society Religion (Islamic Political Thought) (Patricia Crone)

Posted on November 11, 2015 by zjb

Definitely one of the most exciting and thought-changing books I’ve read in a long time, the late Patricia Crone’s God’s Rule — Government and Islam: Six Centuries of Medieval Islamic Political Thought can be looked at as a massive corrective to … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Fantasy & Reconstructing Muslim-Jewish Relations (Imam Abdullah Antepli)

Posted on September 9, 2015 by zjb

Maybe a step forward demands not a little fantasy. Here are two super interesting pieces with and about Imam Abdullah Antepli on [2] Islam and Jews, Judaism, and Israel, [2] what’s ailing Islam today, [3] and the pivotal importance of … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Enlightenment Universalism, [Islam] & Europe’s Embarrassment (Itamar Mann)

Posted on September 2, 2015 by zjb

As people en masse drown at sea and dead bodies wash up on shore, as people suffocate to death in trucks along highways, was the discourse of universalism in Europe always in name only? Vouched for by two European Studies friends on FB, … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Fire Island Synagogue (American Judaism Summer Lab)

Posted on August 4, 2015 by zjb

Maybe a synagogue should be more like a summer camp –open, relaxed, free, intentional, and come-as-you-are-off-the-beach. You can read here about Shaul Magid, Basya Schechter, and the history of the Fire Island Synagogue. Let’s call it aesthetic Judaism for the … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment