Today I became a member of an ‘outreach advisory board’ for the new doc called The Calling by Daniel Alpert. Alpert’s brilliant idea is to track a few students over three years or so as they become religious leaders. So far, he’s followed a young Pakistani Imam-to-be at Hartford Seminary, a Latino Theologian (I wrote Novice earlier – out of ignorance – my apologies Steven) at a Catholic seminary in San Antonio and a guitar playing rabbinical student at JTS….
I’m still waiting to hear if the Jewish Week is running my essay on Qatar – so please stay tuned! So in other news….I sat in on a brilliant talk by my former teacher Rabbi Dr. Art Green whis weekend at Montclair’s Shomrei Emunah. Green spoke about the Zohar, and the idea that the sexualized feminine imagery of the mystics is a counter-narrative to the cult of Mary in Spanish Catholicism. Then Kabbalists in Turkey form a counter-narrative to the…
I write from the exquisite conference center of the Four Seasons hotel in Doha. In the hours before the conference began, I swam in the Arabian Gulf, played squash with Saeed Khan (a Pakistani Muslim who now lives in Detroit) went Oud shopping in the shuq with Rabbi Roly Matalon, and watched a few Arabic music videos on one of the two 54 inch plasma screens that adorn the massive room that the Emir has graciously set aside for me…
Dear readers, I’m leaving for Doha tonight – to speak at a religious dialogue conference. Here’s a draft of my speech – which may go through some changes in flight….I’ll update on my return. Daniel Inter-religious Dialogue and Environmental Protection Doha Conference on Religious DialogueApril 26, 2006 Address by Rabbi Daniel S. BrennerAuburn Theological Seminary – New York City I begin with words of prayer from Psalm 148: Exaltations to the Holy One! Mountains and hills, fruit trees and all…
Thank you to all 2,000 plus of you who have stopped by Reb Blog! Wishing you all a joyous holiday associated with eggs. Love, Daniel
The Amphibian Haggaddah This is the part of the seder when we close our eyes and imagine the Guangzhou Baiyun District Xinshi Xinye Plastic Factory.We follow the cement steps to the third floor,Climbing past the roar of giant machines on the first,the huge exhaust fan on the second,opening a beaten-in aluminum door to reveal a vast storeroom.A room full of….. “…and the frog arose and covered the land of Egypt” (Exodus 8:2) the frog?One big frog, Rashi says.And the Egyptians…
I was reading the fantastic blog Velveteen Rabbi and she had a link to a Radical Torah piece by Rabbi David Seidenberg on Passover and social responsibility. Since I did a text study on this theme a few years back, focusing on three midrashim from Shmot Rabba, I thought I’d share them below… 1) And…Moses…went out to his brothers and looked upon their burdens… What did he see? He would look upon their burdens and cry and say, “I feel…
While I couldn’t go to Seville for the 2nd Imams and Rabbis for Peace Conference (I was in Florida at the RRA Conference) it is great to see that the event is continuing, and generating some good press. On Engaging America, the piece that I wrote on the first congress is being featured along with some other press.
I just returned from the Embassy Suites Hotel in Deerfield Beach, Florida, a resort which recently was overrun by ninety-seven sandal wearing reconstructionist rabbis. It was the annual convention of the rabbinic body I am a member of – the RRA – Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association- and I had the honor of co-chairing the show with Rabbi Vivie Mayer, a colleague from Connecticut. The highlight of the conference for me was watching the 87 year old Rabbi Jack Cohen (pictured here-…
Tommorow I’ll be speaking to documentary film makers at a forum with Robert West, the executive director of Working Films – a documentary film collective that works on issues of social activism.