I was reading the Roman historian Suetonius (around 69-122 CE) on the twelve Roman Caesars, and I came across this, “Tiberius abolished foreign cults in Rome particularly the Egyptian and Jewish, forcing all those who embraced superstitions to burn their religious vestments and other accessories.” I couldn’t help but laugh. Rome was the most superstitious of cultures and Suetonius himself…
The Lesson of Ukraine
The brutal violence of Putin ( against dissidents as well as Ukraine) cannot be justified on any moral grounds whatsoever. The indiscriminate murder of women and children trapped and unable to escape, sheltering from constant bombing, the dislocation of millions of refugees, and the sheer evil of the revolting Putin defies all human standards of decency. All wars are horrible…
Superstition
I have always said that what’s wrong with Judaism is not the ideas or the texts, but the people who misapply or distort them. Of course, you could say that too about every philosophy, every political theory, and every institution. When it comes to religious experience, I side with the mystics. But when it comes to practice, I am a…
Did it Really Happen?
The Book of Esther is a great story, of incompetent government, attempted genocide, personal intrigue, salvation, and celebration. A clash of cultures between a drunken, self-indulgent, material regime, and a pious, God-fearing, restrained alternative. Goodies versus baddies. Neither Jewish nor Persian evidence sheds any light on the historicity. Was it true and does that matter? Given that rabbinic sources were…
Binding Isaac
I was reeling from the inhuman aggression of the maniacal Strangelove Putin on an independent country causing the deaths of hundreds of children when I thought of the words of Leonard Cohen in “The story of Isaac.” You who build the altars nowTo sacrifice these childrenYou must not do it anymoreA scheme is not a visionYou never have been temptedBy…
Death
Last week’s blog about Organ Donation got me thinking about death and to what extent it matters and to whom. And the invasion of Ukraine made me wonder what is worth dying for. I recalled a story in the Talmud about Bar Avin, who said that when a person dies, we should cry for those who are left behind and…