Culture
A Spot at the Kotel Won't Save Us: A Crisis in American Judaism
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My contention is that these crises signify not the end of liberal Jewish identity in America, but its new beginning.
Non-Violent Communication (NVC)
Tolerance
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The next time I saw those bullies,
I was at a party and I asked them to battle me…
but this time it wasn’t a fake boxing match
It was a fight in song, a fight in word, a fight in dance, a fight about
peace, and a fight about real history…
Culture
Oh Crap! I’m Triggered Again, Part Two: Free Speech Slamdance
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In my last essay, I wrote about the hair-trigger in my mind activated by recent events in Charlottesville and beyond. Something happens, sparks fly, and centuries of inherited trauma catch fire, fueled by the pain my young self suffered as a first-generation Jewish-American growing up in a community that made us unambiguously other. Obviously, I’m not the only one being overtaken by reactivity these days. We’re in a time of heightened susceptibility. This moment is throwing into high relief essential questions of value and meaning, of harm and healing.
Culture
Remembering the Holocaust: Doing Justice to its Memory
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Through the process of remembering, I want to live a life that does justice to those memories.
Culture
Oh Crap! I’m Triggered Again, Part One
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Holding steady when the ground is moving is normally part of my stock-in-trade.People often ask me for something to help put their own fears into perspective. Usually I am willing and able to oblige. Mostly I try my best to see the bigger picture, and mostly that effort pays off. But not now. I was staying more or less centered until a few days ago when something caught me off-guard. In the middle of a conference call, I got a text message carrying information that turned out not to be true, that the Barcelona terrorist who mowed down 13 lives like grass had been heading for a kosher restaurant on Las Ramblas, hard by the assassin’s abandoned car.
Culture
Charlottesville and Thuringia
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The sirens and shouted curses from Charlottesville resounded all too audibly even here in far-off Germany. Little imagination was required; how well we know such brutal faces, twisted with hatred, the racist epithets and threats!
Gender and Sexuality
Why Patriarchy Is Not about Men
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I see this as the core source of violence: the physical, emotional, and spiritual brutalization of boys and men.
Non-Violent Communication (NVC)
Addendum to Privilege, Responsibility, and Nonviolence
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After posting my recent post, I received a comment that completely surprised me, in which I was challenged about what I thought was the opposite of what I said.
Non-Violent Communication (NVC)
Privilege, Responsibility, and Nonviolence
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When I manage to enhance my capacity to hear the contents of what people from marginalized groups share about their experiences, regardless of how it’s presented, two things happen…
Culture
The Psychology of Disrespect
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Social researchers have uncovered one important reason why. Many individuals have a profound insecurity about whether they themselves are respected.