Download PDF: Greenstein, A Story of Love and Shame and Love Abstract The search for love can be a constructive hermeneutic force in reading sacred texts. The Zohar, the central text of the Jewish mystical tradition, applies such an approach
Judaism, Jewish History, and Social Justice: How Defining “Who is a Jew?” Tells Us How To Fix The World
Download PDF: Dollinger, Who is a Jew Abstract American Jewish approaches to social justice can best be understood by investigating the various definitions of “who is a Jew?” Those definitions changed over time and place as Jews lived in the
Arboreal Wisdom? Epistemology and Ecology in Judaic Sources
Download PDF: Crane, Arboreal Wisdom Editor’s note: This piece was first presented at a conference on religion and ecology at Emory University titled “The Sacred Mundane” on September 10 and 11, 2015. Practical Matters is pleased to feature some of the reflections from
Hanukkah in America: A History
Download PDF: RV Hoelle, Hanukkah in America By Dianne Ashton New York: New York University Press, 2013. 343 pages. $29.95. Hanukkah is one of the least important festivals in the Jewish religious calendar, yet it is one of the two holidays celebrated
Does Orthodox Judaism Contain Direct, Personalized Experience of the Divine?
Download PDF: Fischer, Orthodox Judaism Experience of the Divine * Editors’ Note: This essay is part of the Roundtable on Ethnography and Religion. Robert Orsi, in his opening essay, writes, “Jesus and the Blessed Mother, the angels and the saints
Exploring Conflict and Peacebuilding through Sacred Space: A Course on World Religions
Download PDF: Exploring Conflict and Peacebuilding Exploring World Religions through the Lens of Sacred Space “Sacred Space in World Religions” is a course taught at Candler School of Theology as a summer intensive. In it, we take advantage of the
When Religion Becomes Lethal: The Explosive Mix of Politics and Religion in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Download PDF: RV Holt, When Religion Becomes Lethal By Charles Kimball San Francisco: Wiley, Jossey-Bass, 2011. 272 pages. $27.95. As the title of the book When Religion Becomes Lethal implies, author Charles Kimball aims to educate the reader about the sensitive relationship between the great monotheistic
Sects and Violence: A Photo Essay on Religion’s Role in Palestinian and Israeli Politics
There are few places in the world so closely identified with religion and violence as Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Yet just as elements of each of the world’s three monotheistic religions have historically committed great episodes of violence in
Visions of Ezekiel: A Documentary Film
About the Film This twelve-minute documentary examines how the practice of the visual arts can involve the religious identities of young people. In this film, created for Practical Matters by independent documentary filmmaker Sonia Narang, an Indian Jewish visual artist works