Cross-posted on True Ancestor In a previous post, I’ve explored the ideas behind a book that looks at the cross-currents of genes, identity and values and tries to answer the question, “Who is a Jew?” The answer, according to that post, and the book discussed therein, was “almost everyone.” A new and perhaps even more compelling [...]
Jewgenics, Part II: Genes, Identity, History — and a compelling book on the subject
June 18, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Why I didn't go to the AIPAC conference
June 3, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Cross-posted on True Ancestor The short answer: because I’m lazy, because the One True Wife and I had a fight and I didn’t want to travel with her, and because I’m busy. The longer answer, packed inside the shorter one: I don’t like being part of Jewish efforts at political influence. It’s not a bad [...]
Remember to Remember
May 2, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Cross-posted on True Ancestor They said it couldn’t happen. Some are still saying it never did. Many claim to have witnessed it, survived it, fought against it. They are heroes to many, but sometimes they are called fools, liars or worse by many others. Every year, those who perished are commemorated. As the grass blushes over [...]
Embracing Our Inner Reverend Wright
April 15, 2008 By Leave a Comment
This is a post I wrote on True Ancestor, and modified for (what I think is) an interesting zine, the New Vilna Review. Comments welcome, as long as they’re made in the spirit of civil discourse (right, Avi?).
Why God Sent the Jews to Buddhism
April 7, 2008 By Leave a Comment
On Saturday night, I went to B’nai Joshua/Beth Elohim (BJBE) in nearby Glenview to attend a concert/performance of Soul on Fire. It’s a musical and narrative piece written and fronted by Danny Maseng, an inspired teacher and musician, and a cast of several others, including BJBE’s cantor, Jennifer Frost. Danny was for years a committed practitioner of Zen, as was I. [...]
A Banned Book That Brings a Vanished World to Life
March 14, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Cross-posted on True Ancestor More often than not, banning books only tends to bring them more readership and their authors more attention and acclaim. And you can only hope that’s the case with Making of a Godol, a book by the son of a world-renowned rabbi and Torah scholar — a rich and unusually historically [...]
Welcome to the Hunted
March 7, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Dear Fellow Jews by Choice: My previous post seems terribly self-indulgent, especially in light of yesterday’s slaughter at Yeshiva Mercaz Harav in Israel. I was at a dinner last night where a rabbi led us in Kaddish, after saying how “ironic” it was that the killing came on the Rosh Hodesh of Adar Sheni. I [...]
