Chevre, With this post our Elul learning comes to a close. In this last post I’ll share Prof. Nussbaum’s constructive ideas. Having demonstrated the problems inherent in anger and transactional forgiveness, she offers two better alternatives. The first is...

Chevre, In part three of our Elul learning series, I’ll share Prof. Nussbaum’s critique of the usual styles, as I’ll call them, of forgiveness. Nussbaum describes these as utilizing “transactional-forgiveness.” And she rejects them for what she sees as their moral...

Chevre, In last week’s post, I presented Prof. Martha Nussbaum’s critique of anger as a force for justice. In her book Anger and Forgiveness: Resentment, Generosity, Justice, Nussbaum rejects anger as a motivational force, as a practical force and as a moral force in...

Chevre, A new book is out: Grace Will Lead Us Home: The Charleston Church Massacre and the Hard, Inspiring Journey to Forgiveness, by Jennifer Berry Hawes. It tells the remarkable story of how some survivors (and family members) of the murderous rampage at that church...

Chevre, This Sunday begins the month of Elul - twenty-nine days leading up to Rosh Hashana and the period of our most intense introspection and reflection. That period of time can be most productive, spiritually speaking, when we build up towards it. Similar to a...

Chevre, “Moses spoke to the heads of the Israelite tribes, saying: This is what the Lord has commanded: If a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath imposing an obligation on himself, he shall not break his pledge; he must carry out all that has crossed his lips....

Chevre, While my last suggested reading list was on the heavy side, today's list is a little lighter while still not your usual "beach reading." While talking with Bonnie during our recent Panim-el-Panim meeting, she mentioned her interest in reading some contemporary...

Chevre, I understand that some people oppose the immigration into the U.S. of people from other countries for a variety of reasons. Some of those reasons are honorable – wanting the rule of law to govern the process, the potential cost of integration, the challenge of...

Chevre, At the beginning of the summer, newspapers and magazine post their recommendations for summer reading.  I admit, I’m a little late but I thought I’d share with you anyway. Lest you think that all I read is the heavy stuff that will follow this, I began the...