Young Jewish Adult – Page 4 – Rabbi Jon 's Website and Blog

December 12, 2024

A Year of Jewish Ethics #5: The Binding of Yitzchak

It’s impossible to talk about Jewish ethics and the book of Bereshit without addressing the story of the binding of Isaac, Akedat Yitzchak or simply the Akedah (found in Genesis 22:1-19). Avraham hears a call from the Divine to take his son to the top of a mountain and offer him as an offering.… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Calendar, Ethics, Middot, Parashat Hashavua, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

December 4, 2024

College: Piaget

Yes, I literally just wrote about the prior notes and theory minutes ago! I've always loved Piaget, even after all the critiques of the narrowness of his focus and of his research base. I rely on him all the time. Looking at the notes, I see immediately two things. One that I forgot, which is… Continue reading

College, Education, Psychology, Science, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

December 4, 2024

College: Organismic-Developmental Theory

I guess I'll say it was inevitable I'd fall behind but I am determined to catch up well before the "semester" ends. Fortunately, when I was in college reading period was after winter break… Heinz Werner's organismic-developmental theory seems like something I used to understand and now can't quite piece together. I'm pretty sure it… Continue reading

College, Psychology, Science, 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 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

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

Back to College: The Self in Psychology and Philosophy

I’m noticing in my first semester of college review that I first learned two aspects of the same things at the same time. In developmental psychology, it was humanistic psychology, of the Lewin-Maslow varieties. It’s exciting to see in my notebook a half-page with my first encounter with “hierarchy of needs”, “self-actualization”, and “peak experiences.”… Continue reading

College, Education, Equality, Ethics, Psychology, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

October 30, 2024

A Year of Jewish Ethics #2: Moral Psychology (and Good Enough?)

Image of superhero is designed by Freepik This series of short teachings about Jewish ethics is mostly about the “what”, the principles of action. But that can’t be disentangled from moral psychology, which is the inner experience of trying to do the right thing. Torah discusses moral psychology as well as moral principles. As the… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Current Affairs, Ethics, Middot, Midrash, Noach, Noah, Parashat Hashavua, Psychology, Torah, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

October 28, 2024

Catching Up in College — My College Notes Project Continued

I got behind a few weeks on my project to read along in my college notes from of the current date in my first year. Now that the Jewish holy days are over, and despite all the demanding important things out in the world, I'm catching up today. First to psychology. I don't think I… Continue reading

Bioethics, College, Education, Gender, Psychology, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

October 9, 2024

A Year Later, Back to Moshe’s Final Words of Blessing — Rosh Hashanah 5785 (2024) Day 1

On Simchat Torah morning, after we parade with the Torah scrolls, we gather around to read the very last words of Moshe Rabbenu, Moses our teacher. The man who could hardly speak departs with an original song – his words, not God’s. And his last sentence in life begins: Ashreicha Yisrael, Mi Chamocha. Happy… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Calendar, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Gaza, High Holidays, Holidays, Hope, Interfaith Dialogue, Israel, Leadership, Moshe, Power, Rosh Hashanah, Terrorism, Torah, Yamim Noraim, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

October 6, 2024

A Prayer For All of Us Who Are Mourning A Year After October 7

A year of mourning has a rhythm, supposedlyA bass line laid down by SagesTo help the heart re-pace itselfSo the heart can help the bodyMetabolize absenceLet go the face, the name,The vocal signatureLet them travel the neuron network pathwaysFor 7 days, for 30; 11 months, a yearFind their way to the assembly pointAt the node… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Calendar, Current Affairs, Dreams/Dreaming, Gaza, Israel, Jerusalem, Peace, Young Jewish Adult, Youth