Tag Archives: friendship

A Woman Friend

Posted on December 8, 2020 by Abigail

A Woman Friend To most women, our female friends are of great importance in our lives. If my mother was right when she said, “A friend is a witness to one’s life,” we call in our female friends to witness … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, books, Chivalry, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, motherhood, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, 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, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a woman’s anger, a woman’s world, Abigail L. Rosenthal’s Confessions of a Young Philosopher, allowing rescue, brutal marriage, childhood trauma, complexity and nuance of woman, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, coquetry, cruel mothers, desirability, diplomacy between women, dismissing religion, early disappointments, emotional wisdom, epicurean lifestyle, erotic happiness, feeling abandoned, female friends, feminine abyss, fragility of friendship, friend as witness, friendship, friendship breakup, go with the flow, ideal justice, incoherent narratives, injuries to self-image, insulting self-image, invisible realities, life struggles, living a true story, made up stories, male ambivalence, marital compatibility, marital partnership, men friends, men friends v women friends, Mr Wrong, personal life solutions, practical wisdom, problematic of justice, realm of thought, resumed friendship, self-protection, sounding board, spoiling others' stories, spoiling the story, supportive friendships, tact between women, thinking women, transcendence for women, travel, true story, woman confidantes, woman’s aims, woman’s self-image, women friends, women rescuing each other, women’s idealism | Leave a comment

At a Loss

Posted on December 18, 2018 by Abigail

At a Loss Friends and readers of this column, I am really at a loss. I don’t know what to say as a woman, and I don’t know what to do as a woman. Let me at least tell … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bureaucracy, Chivalry, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Evil, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, slave, 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, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a good life, a woman’s honor, a woman’s options, a woman’s voice, Abraham and Sarah, abusing a woman, atonement, being guilty, Bible study, blaming the victim, brazen response, Bullying, chronological living, counter-accusation, covenantal lineage, Day of Atonement, defeating a woman, defending men, defending women, discounting evidence, distance healing, dominating, email harassment, energy healing, evading the present, facing one’s time, facing the day, fake psychic, false accusations, false piety, feeling guilty, feminine being, feminine presence, femininity defeated, finding community, finding one’s footing, fraudulent spirituality, friendship, grounding one’s life, harassment, human dramas, inverting victimizer/victim relation, knee injury, liberated woman, life’s timeline, lived time, male gallantry, male projects, manipulative claims, men defending women, moral combat, no means no, nostalgia, not as advertised, one’s natural place, online friends, Paper trail, perfectionism, phony healers, prayer healing, predator, pretended atonement, preying on the vulnerable, promise breaking, pseudo-spirituality, purported healer, Rachel and Leah, Rebecca and Isaac, religious charlatans, religious community, religious fraud, respect for women, seduction, self-defense, sexual abuse, spiritual healing, spiritual integrity, stabilities of place, taking advantage, targeting the vulnerable, temporality rejected, the birthright, the Jewish assignment, Torah Study, trouble maker, truth in advertising, truthful witness, unwanted advances, valid complaint, victimizer, virtual spaces, vulnerability, women defending men, women’s biblical assignment, Yom Kippur | 6 Comments

Competitive Friendships

Posted on October 23, 2018 by Abigail

Competitive Friendships When, as a young woman, I returned from a year in Paris with an affair to conceal (because that’s what you did about that sort of thing in those days) my women friends from high school and college … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, Childhood, Chivalry, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, nineteenth-century, novels, Past and Future, Philosophy, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "The Consolations of Philosophy: Hobbes's Secret; Spinoza's Way" by Henry M. Rosenthal; ed. Abigail L. Rosenthal, 19th century sage, academic party, Americans in Paris, assimilationism, Atheism, autobiographical story, “God is dead”, belief in God, bitch goddess, brass ring, brilliant career, broken friendship, companionship, confidants, conversion, cooling friendships, English culture, English Literature, father/daughter relationship, first love, friendship, Fulbright year, group think, Henry M. Rosenthal, inner conviction, Jewish defenses, Jewish identity, Jewish irony, life choice, Life in Culture: The Selected Letters of Lionel Trilling; ed. Adam Kirsch, Lionel Trilling, literary gifts, living at a depth, male friendship, man of God, marital sweepstakes, marriage market, missionary efforts, National Geographic films, only game in town, personal identity, personal pathway, personal transparency, philosopher, popularity, Public Intellectual, rabbinate, Ralph Waldo Emerson, rat race, secret affair, short story, social advantage, social convenience, social life, social wars, standing by your friends, Success, The Menorah Journal, the problematic of branding, theologian, Thomas Altizer, winners and losers, women friends, youthful promise | Leave a comment

What’s Your Evidence?

Posted on October 2, 2018 by Abigail

What’s Your Evidence? In the claims and counter-claims of real life, what is to count as evidence? Recently, I had occasion to try to defend myself to a third party, against the damaging claims of a person who had been … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, bureaucracy, Chivalry, Cities, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, radicalism, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, slave, 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, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a way out, accusations, admissible evidence, Arbitration, argument, artistic film, available options, being believed, believing victims, closing argument, confirming witness, counter-accusations, counter-argument, counter-claims, court case, court papers, credibility, credulity, cross examination, damaging claims, documentary evidence, emotional case, England, escapism, evidence, favorable ruling, finding an opening, friendship, frustration, Gnosticism, grossed out, guidance, hanging in, imperfect world, impossibilities, judge, just and unjust, justice, lawyer friend, lawyers, legal action, legal defense, legal merit, legal proceedings, Maya, no exit, options, Paper trail, probative evidence, real life, reliable witness, repairing the world, scales of justice, self-defense, sense of justice, settlement out of court, showing up, social cut, social establishment, social insignificance, social life, social snub, social weight, staying real, suicide, testimony, testimony under oath, The Bookshop, topdog, underdog, union counsel, unreal world, unreliable witness, utopian, utopian ideology, victimizing, witness, witnessing | 2 Comments

Private Matters

Posted on September 4, 2018 by Abigail

Private Matters The man I love has gone through harrowing surgery this week. It was not one of the operations currently at the frontier of the surgical arts. Once, it was. Now it’s about at the middle. Surgeons do it … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, novels, Ontology, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, 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, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged 'till death do us part, academe, acceptance, action fields, aloneness, beshert, broken history, bypass surgery, cutting-edge surgery, difficult recoveries, facing the abyss, falling in love, falsified life, friendship, Heart surgery, human entanglements, husband and wife, institutional supports, life renewal, life system, limit situations, living artificially, living naturally, long term storage, Manhattan parks and museums, marriage for modern women, marriage vows, meaningful work, mind/body relations, moral accounting, moral record, moral support, New York City life, ordeal, philosophic commitment, philosophical articles, philosophy professor, professor/student interaction, recovery process, relativism, search for truth, short term storage, single life, solitude., state-of-the-art medical care, survivor’s predicament, taking risks, the city one loves, the old neighborhood, true love, truthfulness, untangling life knots, Upper East Side, women’s identity | 3 Comments

Woman’s Search for Meaning

Posted on April 3, 2018 by Abigail

Woman’s Search for Meaning I’ve talked two friends out of committing suicide. Don’t recall exactly what I said, but I do know what went into my general approach. First, I ignored their existential/metaphysical pronouncements, eloquent as they were. Life, they … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Chivalry, Class, 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, Gender Balance, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, Mysticism, non-violence, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, slave, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", absurdity, alternative healing, betrayal of trust, canceled engagements, canceled speech, chance happenings, charlatan healers, clues to the plot, Coincidences, contemplating suicide, correct diagnosis, crisis of meaning, desecration, desecration of woman, despair, dislocation, distance healing, Divine interventions, divine/human partnership, existential anxiety, expectations frustrated, focused mind, friendship, God as Co-Author, hopeful signals, indifferent world, invisible crisis, invisible suffering, life crisis, living one’s story, loss of grip, loss of meaning, meaningful life, meaningless world, mental healing, mental labyrinth, metaphysical materialism, metaphysics, mind and body, mind and matter, Mind Control, MRI's, negative energy, neuropathy treatment, Nor'easter, novelistic lives, ordinary miracles, personal defeat, power outage, precognition, preserving self image, Providential happenings, public speaking, quieted mind, Raiki healing, reorientation, rescheduling, saving the story, search for meaning, self image, sense of self, senselessness, small defeats, speaking events, spiritual malpractice, spiritual seduction, spiritual temptation, suicidal thoughts, suicide, suicide prevention, the right name, Thomas Hardy's Tess of The d'Urbervilles, travel plans, true north, Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, world out of joint | 4 Comments

“You CAN Go Home Again”

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Abigail

“You Can Go Home Again” This week we drove the two hours from Bangor, Maine to the little town on the Narraguagus Bay that I shall call – to shelter its hiddenness – the Town of Downeast. The reason I … Continue reading →

Posted in Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, beauty, Childhood, Contemplation, Culture, Desire, Eternity, Ethics, Faith, Femininity, Freedom, Friendship, Health, Heroes, history of ideas, Ideality, Identity, Immortality, Literature, Love, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Mortality, motherhood, nineteenth-century, Ontology, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, presence, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged 19th century influence, 19th century people, 19th century types, accurate memory, ante-bellum homes, Bangor Maine, barrel racing, camp in Maine, death and absence, death of friends, Downeast colors, Downeast Maine, event memory, filial piety, fishing boats, fog and water, friendship, generational continuity, Henry M. Rosenthal, homecoming, honorary local, inherited values, lobster fishing, local jobs, Maine forests, Maine landscape, memory and space, memory and time, misremembering, Narraguagus Bay, neighborly relations, Nobel Prize, past-to-future ties, people from "away", personal space, philosophy, philosophy students, philosophy teacher, place memory, predatory fish, psychoanalysis, remote places, rental cars, rootedness, small town, small town diner, small town life, summer people, teaching and listening, the art of listening, truth-seeking, Washington County | 4 Comments

“God and Biography”

Posted on June 21, 2016 by Abigail

“God and Biography” When my journal entry doesn’t give me answers to the questions of my day, I sometimes ask myself: What would it have been like for me to live the same events recorded here, if there were no … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, Childhood, Christianity, Class, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, 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, Journalism, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Mortality, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics, Power, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, Violence, War, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Atheism, Bible, biographical subjects, biography, boarding school, British prep school, British public school, bullies, cancer, Christopher Hitchens, classical historians, clerical opinion, corrupted intellect, covenant, covenantal task, crony capitalist, cutting words, Daniel Dennett, deathbed conversion, debating skill, depravity, deserved tributes, evangelical Christians, fame, fashionable dodge, fashionable opinion, friendship, God, God and Israel, God's existence, gossip, grace of spirit, History, homophobe, horizontal explanation, intellectual fashions, intelligent hope, irresponsible gossip, Islamophobe, King James version, Larry Alex Taunton, Larry Taunton's The Faith of Christopher Hitchens, literary celebrities, literary talent, love of words, Loyalty, medicine for the soul, memoir, moral analysis, moral description, moral interpretation, off the record, Ontology, political correctness, psychoanalytic explanation, public atheism, public debate, public opinion, rabbis, racist, received opinion, religious authorities, Richard Dawkins, Roman empire, Sam Harris, secular history, secular humanism, self-understanding, sexist, sinners, social taboos, spiritual implications, spirituality, spritual interpretation, Tacitus, temple newsletter, the Establishment clause, The Four Horsemen of New Atheism, The New Atheism, theism, theologians, tools of a biographer, truth, uncorrupted intellect, unmentionable questions, vertical explanation, women friends, words as weapons | 2 Comments

“Marriage”

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Abigail

“Marriage” Marriage has always seemed to me a great mystery. Clearly it has a political aspect. To most people, this is at least somewhat apparent. In an earlier American era, the negative politics of single womanhood was quite obvious. Take … Continue reading →

Posted in Academe, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Autonomy, Biblical God, Chivalry, Class, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Hegel, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, Jews, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master, Memoir, nineteenth-century, Ontology, Peace, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, Power, Psychology, relationships, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Seduction, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, slave, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a positive mystery, actualized potential, aging virgins, Authenticity, “It’s a Wonderful Life, ” Jimmy Stewart the actor, bashert, biochemical criteria for romance, brides-to-be, busted, change in being, Christmas movies, compatibility criteria, compatibility of philosophers, courage, effort in marriage, falling in love, fear, female friendship, Films, friendship, fulfillment, God & marriage, great wives, happily-married wives, human status, imprudent confidences, intimacy, life capital, loss of friendship, loss of rank, loss of status, marital adventures, marital prestige, Marriage, marriage and status, marriage as destined, mystery, mystery of marriage, narrative, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s House of Seven Gables, necessary pains, necessary secrets, negative politics, ontological change, outranking, paranoia, philosophic friendship, philosophic papers, philosophic prestige, politics of marriage, positive power, rabbinic view of marriage, realistic fear, risks in marriage, romantic eligibility, Salem witch trials, secret of marriage, self-integration, single womanhood, social prestige, social status, spinsters, status of women in Muslim world, suppressed possibilities, talking it out, Texas panhandle, the feminine condition, threatening candor, unearned status, unmarried women, Upper East Side, virgins, wedding rings, white nights, women friends, Yoga centers | 2 Comments

Looking Out for Number One

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Abigail

Looking Out for Number One Quoted in full, Rabbi Hillel’s famous saying goes like this: If I am not for myself, who will be? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when? Though … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Autonomy, Christianity, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Health, Identity, Idolatry, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, life and death struggle, Love, Memoir, Modernism, Mortality, Mysticism, non-violence, Peace, Power, Psychology, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Social Conventions, Sociobiology, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Time, Uncategorized, Zeitgeist | Tagged alternative treatments, baptism, bereavement, Bucks County, cancer standard of care, charity, Christianity, conversion ceremony, conversions, cynicism, death, distractions, Downeast Maine, egoism, farewells, friendship, funerals, grief, horseback riding, indifference, intimacy, Jewish sages, Judaism, life and death, memorials, mikvah, mitzvot, mortal illness, mourning, number one, obsequies, opportunism, personal presence, personal relations, purity, Rabbi Hillel, rabbinic wisdom, religious affiliation, religious conversion, religious obligation, sages of antiquity, selfishness, Shekinah, sickness and health, social defenses, social facade, social static, solipsism, temple congregation, Valery Rybakow, Weltanschauug, worldview | 7 Comments

Tag Archives: friendship

“You CAN Go Home Again”

Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column

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