Turning Aside: A Little Bit of Sacrifice
I’d originally planned to post the first installment of a three-part “How I Came to Judaism” essay this week, but yesterday’s parsha, Va Yerah, inspired me to write instead about notions of sacrifice, reconstitution, and death. (Regular Tablet Magazine readers may note that the William Blake watercolor that illustrates this post was recently featured there, illustrating “Counter Revelations,” a nice introductory piece by Adam Kirsch about Robert Alter’s new translation of the Hebrew “Wisdom … [Read more…]
Conversion to Judaism: Fact and Fiction
Fiction: Orthodox Judaism is a “higher” or “more serious” level of Judaism than Conservative, Reform, or Reconstructionist and that, therefore, an Orthodox conversion is a “higher” or “more serious” level of conversion. Fact: Of all the fictions about the process of converting to Judaism, this is perhaps the most insidious. For many people, the reality that an Orthodox Jewish worldview and lifestyle does not feel authentic to who they are leads them to avoid conversion … [Read more…]
Turning Aside: The Burning Bush
Thank you, Avi, for the opportunity you’ve granted me to contribute to JewsByChoice.org on a regular basis. I hope that “Turning Aside (אסרה)” will resonate with readers and will provoke thoughtful discussion. The name “Turning Aside” references Exodus 3:3, part of the famous episode in which Moses, while tending his flock of sheep on Mount Horeb, experiences revelation in the form of a burning bush. “Moses said to himself, ‘I must turn aside to see this … [Read more…]
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