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Category Archives: Books
Virtual Book Club: Crisis of Zionism Chapter 3
This is a short chapter, and it sets up what, it seems to me, should be a straw man, but actually isn’t: the argument that American Jews should never criticize Israel. For Beinart the notion that American Jews should never … Continue reading
Virtual Book Club: Crisis of Zionism Chapter Two
Explanation of Virtual Book Club here. Discussion of Introduction and Chapter One here. This was a confounding chapter for me. On the one hand, Peter Beinart wants to argue that the situation we are in right now is—as the title … Continue reading
Virtual Book Club: “Crisis of Zionism” Intro and Chapter One
I have to admit that the Introduction to “Crisis of Zionism” made me nervous. And maybe not in the way you might think. Beinart opens the book with two formative experiences, one Jewish, the other—broadly speaking—liberal. (Throughout the book Beinart … Continue reading
Virtual Book Club: The Crisis of Zionism
Over the last month or so, Peter Beinart’s book The Crisis of Zionism, has inspired a tremendous amount of conversation, denunciation, and prognostication. (I love that last word.) I have read a lot about the book, and I have read … Continue reading
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Recommended Reading
I just completed a terrific and somewhat unsettling book on the history of cancer called The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee. There is a lot to say about this book, and I certainly recommend it to pulpit clergy, … Continue reading
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Re-Reading High School
When I was in high school (a time which–amazingly–began twenty years ago this fall) my English classes read a lot of great books. Of course, I did not think so at the time. Great Expectations was “long”, Romeo and Juliet … Continue reading
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Game of Thrones and Cornelius Vanderbilt
Okay, okay, so I admit to going for the shock value in the title of this post. I mean, if a title that links a novel by George R. R. Martin with one of the greatest American tycoons of the … Continue reading
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Two Kinds of Civil Rights
Via Andrew Sullivan, I see that today is the birthday of Bayard Rustin who died in 1987. As I have mentioned previously, I have been reading Parting the Waters, a big, excellent book on the Civil Rights movement. One of … Continue reading
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The Speech
As I’ve noted before, I am reading Taylor Branch’s remarkable book Parting the Waters, the first in a trilogy about Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement. The book is marvelous, and just absolutely packed with detail and moving … Continue reading
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Fishbowl Life
I’m working my way through Tyler Branch’s Parting the Waters, the first book in his trilogy about Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement. The book is great so far, and I have already learned a tremendous amount about … Continue reading
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A Great Book
Being a rabbi, it’s important to read books that have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Jews or Judaism. It is an important reminder to me that there is a whole wide world out there that doesn’t care whether or … Continue reading
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