Tag Archives: mitzvot
Are People Really Good at Heart?
Are People Really Good at Heart? “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” These words — set down as a belief, not a question — are among the last lines in the diary … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, action, afterlife, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, childhood, chivalry, Christianity, cities, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, films, 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, immortality, Jews, journalism, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, martyrdom, masculinity, memoir, memory, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, non-violence, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, poetry, political movements, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, scientism, secular, seduction, self-deception, social construction, social conventions, 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, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged acts of kindness, American idealists, being set up, believing illusions, believing the best, Bergen Belsen, betrayal to the Nazis, Black American Exiles, concentration camp, death in the desert, defenselessness, Egyptian authorities, enabling, enabling evildoers, Fulbright scholars, gestures of kindness, good-heartedness, hiding from the Nazis, Holocaust victims, human goodness, human kindness, human nature, idealistic values, Isis attack, John Armstrong, kindness as natural, Kindness Tour, kindness tourists, Lauren Geoghegan and Jay Austin, life lessons, lowering defenses, misguided trust, mistakes of kindness, mitzvot, mortal miscalculations, naivete, non-violence, Parisian expatriate, reforming evildoers, repairing the world, Richard Wright, safeguarding good people, satyagraha, saving good people, The Diary of Anne Frank, the goodness of others, The Shoah, thirst and exposure, tragedy, trusting people, Tweety bird
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Kosher?
Kosher? O dear. This is what you call a “vexed” topic. A couple of years back, in my temple’s Saturday Torah Study, we came to verses that spell out what you are and aren’t supposed to eat, if you’re Jewish. … Continue reading
Posted in absurdism, academe, action, alienation, anthropology, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bureaucracy, childhood, Christianity, cities, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, existentialism, exploitation, faith, femininity, freedom, friendship, guilt and innocence, health, Hegel, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, institutional power, Jews, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, memoir, memory, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mysticism, ontology, oppression, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, poetry, political, politics, politics of ideas, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, scientism, secular, self-deception, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, 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, twentieth century, twenty-first century, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged apostles quarrelling, Atheism, Bible study, Book of Acts, filial piety, Galatians, keeping kosher, keeping the law, kosher, kosher kitchen, mitzvot, observant Jews, real and false gods, secular gods, secular Jews, secular readers, secularism, Torah Study
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Looking Out for Number One
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
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