Current Affairs – Page 3 – Rabbi Jon 's Website and Blog

January 2, 2025

College: Wrapping Up “Justice”

For much of Justice, certainly the last many weeks of the course while I was a freshman, my main interest was finding a good philosophical justification for distributive justice. Both of my papers were critiques of libertarianism, attempts to buttress the politics I had (and have). The choices in the class were between a Rawslian… Continue reading

College, Current Affairs, Equality, Ethics, Freedom, Money, Tzedek, USA

January 2, 2025

A Year of Jewish Ethics #8: War and Peace

The word Shalom is probably the most widely-known Hebrew word, among Jews and also people who aren’t Jewish. Shalom means peace, and because of that Shalom is also the word for greeting someone and saying goodbye. Shalom means not just peace but wellbeing and wholeness, so when we see someone we are expressing our hope… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Calendar, Current Affairs, Ethics, Israel, Jerusalem, Parashat Hashavua, Peace, Torah, Vayishlach, War

December 25, 2024

A Message for the Start of Chanukkah 5785 (2024)

This is the note I sent our synagogue community today, before the first candle of Chanukkah. Chag Urim Sameach! Dear Friends: Tonight begins Chanukkah, the festival of light and miracles and hope. This year Chanukkah comes at a time of ongoing war in Israel, and at the end of a difficult year for Jews everywhere.… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Calendar, Chanuka, Chanukkah, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Holidays, Hope, Israel, Jerusalem, Power, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

November 21, 2024

A Year of Jewish Ethics #4: Are You Responsible for Your Group?

What responsibility does an individual have for the faults of a whole group? In the first part of Bereshit, the book of Genesis, there are at least two stories that touch on this question directly. One is the story of the Flood, the Mabul in Hebrew, and the other is the situation in Sodom and… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Current Affairs, Ethics, Middot, Parashat Hashavua, Tikkun Olam, Vayera, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

November 20, 2024

What I Wish President Biden Had Put More at the Center

I am pretty sure that from very soon after President Biden was inaugurated, I wrote and/or said that he had one essential mission, one which he was uniquely situated to do. To bring to bear his basic decency and his long experience with so many different types of people and groups in our society, and… Continue reading

Community Relations, Current Affairs, Election, Leadership, Peace, USA

November 20, 2024

Back to College: From Aristotle to Rawls

So back to Justice. I’m trying to see if there’s anything from Aristotle that is in the notes but didn’t stick in my mind back then. One thing I see is the distinction between habits and character. Which is really what distinguishes Aristotle from any old consequentialism. One ought to act the way a virtuous… Continue reading

College, Current Affairs, Ethics, Freedom, Justice, Middot, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek, Youth

November 15, 2024

Avraham: Extraordinary Compassion and Justice in the Same Chapter

This is the draft of my D'var Torah for tomorrow, focusing on Genesis 18 within Parashat Vayera. One afternoon when Avraham did not feel at all great, two things happened. First, he saw three strangers going along their way and he ran out to them to bring them home. Second, and right after, he had… Continue reading

Current Affairs, Election, Justice, Love, Middot, Parashat Hashavua, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek, USA, Vayera

November 14, 2024

A Year of Jewish Ethics #3: Is Anger a Moral Emotion?

Emotions are a part of ethics. We can’t completely disconnect the principles we want to be guided by from the feelings we experience when someone is living up to those principles or violating them. But does emotion help us act more ethically? I am recording this not long after the 2024 election, when anger… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Anger, Current Affairs, Ethics, Lech L’cha, Maimonides, Middot, Parashat Hashavua, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

November 13, 2024

After the Election: Take Love Seriously. Give Love Wildly.

This was my Dvar Torah last Shabbat, November 9, the first Shabbat after Election Day 2024. First I want to say that the operation of a democracy is awe-inspiring. To experience a day when 300-million-plus people bring something of moral significance to a crescendo all at once. To contemplate what goes into that, philosophically… Continue reading

Current Affairs, Election, Inclusion, Love, Middot, Prayer, Shabbat, USA

November 13, 2024

Catching Up in College: Justice

I have more than a month of “Justice” to catch up on, after I took what I thought would be a short break for the Jewish holy days during which I’d catch up every few days. I’ll try not to do that again. It's also more than interesting that I have been thinking about this… Continue reading

College, Current Affairs, Ethics, Freedom, Justice, Maimonides, Tzedek, USA, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

November 13, 2024

Catching Up in College: Justice

I have more than a month of “Justice” to catch up on, after I took what I thought would be a short break for the Jewish holy days during which I’d catch up every few days. I’ll try not to do that again. It's also more than interesting that I have been thinking about this… Continue reading

College, Current Affairs, Ethics, Freedom, Justice, Maimonides, Tzedek, USA, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

November 4, 2024

Pre-Election Reflection for Before and After the Vote

Here's the note I sent to the congregation today. You can see the gatherings referenced in the letter at tbanashua.org Dear Friends: Tomorrow is of course Election Day. I imagine that almost all of you know who you will be voting for. Though if you are still deliberating about any of the choices and are looking… Continue reading

Current Affairs, Election, Freedom, Leadership, Peace, USA