It’s Not All About Psychology
We were in Phoenix, waiting for the connecting flight to Philadelphia, when we noticed a young couple and their little girl on the seats across the aisle…
Finding Faith in California
By now, we’ve been home from California for over a week. But what an odd five days we had there! I’ll give you the condensed version. For…
God Makes Marriages: Reflections on My Anniversary
Thursday, January 20th, was the 23rd anniversary of the day Jerry and I got married. In rabbinic tradition, God makes marriages. In fact, that would be the…
How I Got My Philosophic Theme
As far as I can recall, it was a specific event, leading to a particular experience, that gave me the defining theme of the work I’ve done…
Stand on the Rock
If I could, I surely would stand on the rock where Moses stood. I don’t know which rock the singer had in mind. The great rocky crags…
Best of Times, Worst of Times
We’re living through what are - like all times - the best and worst of times. As our calendar enters the new year, we can’t help asking…
Bad Faith at Sartre’s Café
It may be of interest to note that post-World War II feminism (the “second wave”) was written-into-being by Simone de Beauvoir, a gifted French philosopher, in The…
Situated in History
This might be an unusual trait, but I am someone who has trouble knowing who she is, and what life asks of her, until she gets some…
Christians, Jews, and The Great Rift
I prefer to think of that world-historical-fault-line as a long, reparable misunderstanding. Whether or not that’s the right view, personally I want to patch it up. Yet…
The Soul Writ Large
Plato wrote a dialogue on political justice. In English it’s titled The Republic. Besides Socrates, the major speakers are Plato’s two brothers. They are trying to solve…
Desire, Distraction and Dialectic
I have a woman friend whose mother hated her in the womb. Surely an exaggeration! — you may protest. Well, I met the lady only once, but…
Thankfulness
The other day, in the Saturday morning Torah Study class at my Reform temple, we were studying the verses on the ancient temple cultus detailed – and…
Two Types of Intelligence
We’ve been in California this past week. That’s where I go periodically for neuropathy treatments. This time, the improvements weren’t merely measurable but also experiential. For example,…
Pixels Thin and Thick
On the day I got married, Jerry said to me after the ceremony, “Look in the mirror!” Puzzled, I pulled down the car mirror, looked, and said…
Sin and Covenant in Voegelin and Levinas
To sin is to make a wrong choice. It’s not a mistake. The enactor of a choice that is merely mistaken hasn’t chosen to make the mistake. …