Tag Archives: commitment

“Believe You Me”

Posted on May 9, 2017 by Abigail

“Believe You Me” In “Treachery and Transcendence,” last week’s column, I wrote about the disappointing “new treatment” for my walking handicap. Despite all, I decided to continue it for another week or two, just to see if it could be … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bureaucracy, Chivalry, Christianity, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, scientism, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a patient's trust, action, Ambiguity, antecedent conditions, Arc of the Covenant, Ark of the Covenant, bad check, belief, broken promise, bystanders, chosen people, commitment, credance, credibility, demoralization, demoralizing experience, desert wandering, determinism, Divine mission, Egyptian bondage, Emmanuel Levinas, enabling, experimental treatment, fate of Korah, freedom, holiness, human worth, iatrogenic, interpersonal relationships, Israelites, Jean-Paul Sartre's Being and Nothingness, Korah's rebellion, land of milk and honey, Levite rebellion, Levites, lying, manna, midrash, misplaced help, moral dispute, Moral evaluation, moral responsibility, Moses, Moses' humility, Moses' leadership, Mount Sinai, nocebo effect, nullified promise, Numbers 16, parting of Red Sea, passover night, philosophers, placebo effect, plausibility, playing devil's advocate, prayer guidance, promise, promissory note, psychology, rebel faction, repairing the breach, repairing the world, Sartre's "the serious man", spiritual competition, spiritual envy, spiritual mediator, spiritual rank, spiritual track record, temptation, the Other, the ten plagues, Torah Study, transcendence, treachery, trust, truth, univocality, walking handicap, words | 2 Comments

Getting a Grip

Posted on January 17, 2017 by Abigail

Getting a Grip Our temple had the guest visit of a kabbalist over the weekend. It was very creative on the part of our leadership to invite him, so I hate to say this but – everybody liked it but … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, Bible, Biblical God, Christianity, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, Mysticism, non-violence, Ontology, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, scientism, Seduction, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, terrorism, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged American Philosophical Association, Analytic philosophy, anti-semitism, anti-war, anti-Zionism, APA, approved views, Biblical literalism, Biblical narrative, Biblical prophecy, commitment, contagious thought, elite opinion, encounters with God, esoteric interpretation, experience of God, fashionable causes, Feminism, genocidaires, genocide, genocide’s rationale, hatred, hatred of Jews, Holocaust dismissal, informal fallacies, Jewish survival, Kabbala, meditation, meta-narrative, moral pretense, moral seriousness, morphic fields, Moses, Mt Sinai, paradox, political courage, prestigious lectures, principle of charity, racism, Rubert Sheldrake, Sinaitic revelation, spiritual universalism, spirituality, the Holocaust, The Longest Hatred, the new anti-Semitism, the prophets, union with the divine, world history, world of action | 4 Comments

The Moral Drama of the World

Posted on October 4, 2016 by Abigail

The Moral Drama of the World It’s Erev Rosh Ha Shana (the eve of the Jewish New Year 5777) and here I am, not in synagogue tonight, because I have a column to script. Likewise tomorrow I’ll be late for … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, Biblical God, Chivalry, Christianity, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Love, Martyrdom, master, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Mortality, non-violence, Ontology, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Seduction, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "the evil tongue", "the natural attitude", "the phenomenological reduction", Abigail's Adages, aggression, anti-Semites, anti-semites at Trump rallies, attachment, BDS anti-semitism, BLM anti-semitism, bracketing, closing argument, college campus anti-semites, commitment, defamation, derogatory speech, detachment, doing philosophy, Edmund Husserl, Erev Rosh Ha Shana, Evil, false and defamatory, fighting back, give it your all, gossip, High Holidays, hope and fear, intrigue, Jewish acculturation, Jewish life, Jewish mainstream, Jewish New Year 5777, lashon hara, life review, loss of reputation, making the case, manipulation, martial arts, moral drama, non-resistance, objectivity, oldest hatred, personal enemy, Persuasion, philosophy's practical uses, prayer guidance, professional defenses, Reform temple, reputation, rumors, self-defense, slander, social defeat, social defenses, social self-defense, Submission, synagogue services, synagogues, temple, Terror, the moral drama of the world, the new anti-Semitism, turning the other cheek, usefulness of philosophy | Leave a comment

“Grace Under Pressure”

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Abigail

“Grace Under Pressure” About one of her heroines, novelist George Eliot writes: “Her full nature … spent itself in channels which had no great name on the earth. But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, Chivalry, Class, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Freedom, Friendship, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Heroes, hidden God, History, Idealism, Identity, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Law, Legal Responsibility, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, memory, Mortality, Oppression, Past and Future, Political, Power, promissory notes, Psychology, public facade, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Seduction, self-deception, Social Conventions, Sociobiology, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Theology, Time, Utopia, Work, Zeitgeist | Tagged 586 B.C.E., 70 C.E., accounting, Bible class, bitterness, blame, bookkeeping, call to preach, career choice, careerism, commitment, congregants, consolation, conversion, covenant, default, defeat, Dorothea Brooke, Exodus, fame, fame and obscurity, First Temple's destruction, George Eliot's Middlemarch, gossip, gossips, group solidarity, group therapy, Haggadah, hero, heroine, hidden lives, identity, identity change, insolvency, inspiration, institutional solvency, job search, life blow, life commitment, obscurity, Passover, presence, rabbi as teacher, rabbinate, rabbinic career, rabbinic job search, rabbinical Call, rabbinical rulings, rabbis, reassurance, resolve, saving remnant, Second Temple's destruction, seder, servitude in Egypt, shepherd of souls, solvency, Success, sustenance, teacher, Torah Study, unhistoric acts, unleavened bread | Leave a comment

Tag Archives: commitment

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