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Category: Essays

Jewish Wellbeing

Jewish Wellbeing

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Here is a piece I wrote about the Jewish roots of “Wellbeing” over at Medium: This longform essay has a backstory: Two years ago I, a rabbi with a deep love for dance education, had the opportunity to learn in an international fellowship of ten Jewish educators charged with the task of developing “Jewish Pedagogies of Wellbeing.” The organization M “squared” brought together a wonderfully diverse group of scholars and practitioners from England, Israel, the U.S., and El Salvador and…

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How Jewish Educators Can Address the Youth Mental Health Crisis

How Jewish Educators Can Address the Youth Mental Health Crisis

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How Jewish educators can address the youth mental health crisis OPINION HARNESSING JUDAISM How Jewish educators can address the youth mental health crisis By Rabbi Daniel S. Brenner July 13, 2023 SHARE If you have worked with teens at any time during the past three years, then you have probably heard a colleague say something like: “The ninth graders have the emotional maturity of seventh graders.” JORDAN CASSWAY/MOVING TRADITIONS I heard these words recently from a seasoned Jewish educator over…

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Do Jews Believe in Christmas? 

Do Jews Believe in Christmas? 

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    The video above is a little tune from my band Midnight Nosh about the holiday season. It reflects, in some way, my childhood desire as a Jewish boy growing up in the Bible Belt to celebrate Christmas – and the unavoidable comparison of two winter holidays that have very little to do with each other (historically speaking.) On a more serious note, the Xmas season always brings with it questions from neighbors and friends about what Jewish people…

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An Open Letter to NY Giant Geoff Schwartz

An Open Letter to NY Giant Geoff Schwartz

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This first appeared in the New Jersey Jewish News: Dear Mr. Schwartz, When I first heard that you, an offensive guard for the New York Giants, are planning on playing against the Dallas Cowboys on a game unfortunately scheduled to begin after sunset on Sunday, Sept. 13, the first night of Rosh Hashana, I have to admit that I was a bit crestfallen. I know that when you were a college freshman on the University of Oregon team, you took…

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Was MLK Wrong About Non-Violence?

Was MLK Wrong About Non-Violence?

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Fifty years ago, accepting the Nobel Prize for Peace, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made a bold statement about non-violence. On that day in Stockholm, he argued that non-violence was not simply a protest tactic to overcome the oppression of his time but a new way for humans to exist together: “Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression…

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Contraception and Religious Freedom

Contraception and Religious Freedom

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One of the great things about writing for the Huffington Post is that people read what you write. My piece on religious freedom, contraception, and the Hobby Lobby decision went up two weeks ago and already there are  2,300 likes on Facebook and over a hundred comments written on the piece. When Will the U.S. Supreme Court Protect the Freedoms of Religious People Who Use Contraceptives? Posted: 06/30/2014 1:41 pm I must admit that I was shocked to read about…

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