A select portfolio of my writings, regularly updated. For more complete listings, follow the links to my author archives at the publications below.
Tablet Magazine | Archive
Einstein's Last Speech (4/17/13)
On Israel’s Independence Day in 1955, Albert Einstein was scheduled to address the American people on ABC, NBC and CBS. His speech--a passionate plea for peace and defense of the fledgling state of Israel--had been written in conjunction with the Israeli consulate and famed Ambassador Abba Eban. But on April 18, eight days before Einstein was to deliver it, the physicist died suddenly at the age of 76. Here's what he intended to say.
America's Anti-Gun Theocrats (3/19/13)
The charge that faith leaders are inappropriately meddling in our politics is one that only seems to be leveled at religious conservatives and not at their liberal counterparts. For the overwhelming majority of critics, it’s not really the fact of religion’s involvement in politics that’s troubling—it’s the “wrong” religious views being involved in politics. Take a closer look and one finds that their cries of “theocracy!” tend to be motivated more by partisanship than principle.
The Orthodox Go To Washington (3/5/13)
“The official buzz is Iron Dome, but the unofficial buzz might be velvet dome,” said Rabbi Levi Shemtov, a longtime Chabad emissary in Washington, D.C. (who famously kashered the White House kitchen), referring to the velvet skullcaps worn by the numerous Chabad attendees. “You used to see maybe a couple dozen yarmulkes at the AIPAC conference. Now there are many hundreds.” Cited by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren here.
Judaism's Epic Food Fight (2/21/13)
Pulitzer Prize winners and public intellectuals, from Alan Dershowitz to Steven Pinker, attempt to settle the age-old culinary question: latkes or hamantaschen? “I would argue that the real significance of the Latke-Hamantaschen debate is that it cannot be resolved,” said Aaron David Miller, former Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiator under three U.S. presidents and six secretaries of state. “But it’s a debate that’s simply too important to abandon.”
Treasury's First Orthodox Chief (1/10/13)
Jack Lew, President Obama’s current chief of staff and his pick for Treasury secretary, is the highest-ranking Orthodox Jew in the history of the U.S. government. It’s a distinction that imposes some unusual burdens—like having to dodge opinionated congregants who try to accost him about politics in synagogue. “Your friends protect you—they sit around you and make it a little harder for strangers to come and give you a hard time,” he explained to me. “I just tell people, ‘If I wanted to work on Saturday, I have this 24/7 job. I come to shul to pray.’”
Religious Revolution in Israel (12/26/12)
An unlikely alliance of renegade rabbis and right-wing politicians seeks to strip Israel's ultra-Orthodox religious establishment of its power and reform the country's corrupt Chief Rabbinate. Here's what this means for Israel, American Jews, and the upcoming Israeli elections.
Not Another Rabbi for Obama (9/4/12)
At this moment, there are over 600 rabbis signed on as “Rabbis for Obama.” But Rabbi David Wolpe, who will be delivering a prayer Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention, isn’t one of them--and he insists his blessing is not a political endorsement.
GOP Convention's Rabbi-in-Chief (8/27/12)
Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik--religious bridge-builder, incorrigible contrarian, conservative political activist and scion of a famous Orthodox dynasty--will give the opening invocation at this year's Republican National Convention.
Don't Know Much 'bout Orthodoxy (8/21/12)
Reporters stereotype Orthodox Jewish women as meek, isolated, and without serious careers. Have they met any?
The Scientific Case for Circumcision (6/27/12)
“Male circumcision is a highly significant, lifetime intervention. It is the gift that keeps on giving. It makes sense to put extraordinary resources into it.” Who would you guess recently offered this paean to foreskin fleecing? A rabbi? An imam? Nope. Try U.S. AIDS coordinator Eric Goosby at a health convention last month for top officials from 80 countries.
See also: "Leading Pediatric Group Endorses Circumcision" (8/24/12)
The Most Anti-Israel President (4/10/12)
According to op-ed pages and partisans, Barack Obama has bullied the Jewish state more than any president in history, while Benjamin Netanyahu has been Israel's most intransigent Prime Minister. They said the same about Ronald Reagan and Menachem Begin.
Protocols of the Elders (2/16/12)
In America today, there is a small group of privileged citizens who wield disproportionate power over the rest of the country and seek to bend national policies to suit their collective will. Bound together by clannish, somewhat secretive ritual practices, and disproportionately represented among the nation’s wealthy and its political class, this population uses its largess and extensive influence to mold America to its perfidious ends. Their ultimate aim is to take over the United States. I am talking, of course, about Mormons.
On Israel’s Independence Day in 1955, Albert Einstein was scheduled to address the American people on ABC, NBC and CBS. His speech--a passionate plea for peace and defense of the fledgling state of Israel--had been written in conjunction with the Israeli consulate and famed Ambassador Abba Eban. But on April 18, eight days before Einstein was to deliver it, the physicist died suddenly at the age of 76. Here's what he intended to say.
America's Anti-Gun Theocrats (3/19/13)
The charge that faith leaders are inappropriately meddling in our politics is one that only seems to be leveled at religious conservatives and not at their liberal counterparts. For the overwhelming majority of critics, it’s not really the fact of religion’s involvement in politics that’s troubling—it’s the “wrong” religious views being involved in politics. Take a closer look and one finds that their cries of “theocracy!” tend to be motivated more by partisanship than principle.
The Orthodox Go To Washington (3/5/13)
“The official buzz is Iron Dome, but the unofficial buzz might be velvet dome,” said Rabbi Levi Shemtov, a longtime Chabad emissary in Washington, D.C. (who famously kashered the White House kitchen), referring to the velvet skullcaps worn by the numerous Chabad attendees. “You used to see maybe a couple dozen yarmulkes at the AIPAC conference. Now there are many hundreds.” Cited by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren here.
Judaism's Epic Food Fight (2/21/13)
Pulitzer Prize winners and public intellectuals, from Alan Dershowitz to Steven Pinker, attempt to settle the age-old culinary question: latkes or hamantaschen? “I would argue that the real significance of the Latke-Hamantaschen debate is that it cannot be resolved,” said Aaron David Miller, former Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiator under three U.S. presidents and six secretaries of state. “But it’s a debate that’s simply too important to abandon.”
Treasury's First Orthodox Chief (1/10/13)
Jack Lew, President Obama’s current chief of staff and his pick for Treasury secretary, is the highest-ranking Orthodox Jew in the history of the U.S. government. It’s a distinction that imposes some unusual burdens—like having to dodge opinionated congregants who try to accost him about politics in synagogue. “Your friends protect you—they sit around you and make it a little harder for strangers to come and give you a hard time,” he explained to me. “I just tell people, ‘If I wanted to work on Saturday, I have this 24/7 job. I come to shul to pray.’”
Religious Revolution in Israel (12/26/12)
An unlikely alliance of renegade rabbis and right-wing politicians seeks to strip Israel's ultra-Orthodox religious establishment of its power and reform the country's corrupt Chief Rabbinate. Here's what this means for Israel, American Jews, and the upcoming Israeli elections.
Not Another Rabbi for Obama (9/4/12)
At this moment, there are over 600 rabbis signed on as “Rabbis for Obama.” But Rabbi David Wolpe, who will be delivering a prayer Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention, isn’t one of them--and he insists his blessing is not a political endorsement.
GOP Convention's Rabbi-in-Chief (8/27/12)
Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik--religious bridge-builder, incorrigible contrarian, conservative political activist and scion of a famous Orthodox dynasty--will give the opening invocation at this year's Republican National Convention.
Don't Know Much 'bout Orthodoxy (8/21/12)
Reporters stereotype Orthodox Jewish women as meek, isolated, and without serious careers. Have they met any?
The Scientific Case for Circumcision (6/27/12)
“Male circumcision is a highly significant, lifetime intervention. It is the gift that keeps on giving. It makes sense to put extraordinary resources into it.” Who would you guess recently offered this paean to foreskin fleecing? A rabbi? An imam? Nope. Try U.S. AIDS coordinator Eric Goosby at a health convention last month for top officials from 80 countries.
See also: "Leading Pediatric Group Endorses Circumcision" (8/24/12)
The Most Anti-Israel President (4/10/12)
According to op-ed pages and partisans, Barack Obama has bullied the Jewish state more than any president in history, while Benjamin Netanyahu has been Israel's most intransigent Prime Minister. They said the same about Ronald Reagan and Menachem Begin.
Protocols of the Elders (2/16/12)
In America today, there is a small group of privileged citizens who wield disproportionate power over the rest of the country and seek to bend national policies to suit their collective will. Bound together by clannish, somewhat secretive ritual practices, and disproportionately represented among the nation’s wealthy and its political class, this population uses its largess and extensive influence to mold America to its perfidious ends. Their ultimate aim is to take over the United States. I am talking, of course, about Mormons.
The Atlantic | Archive
'Homeland' is Anything But Islamophobic (12/18/12)
Homeland is no gung-ho salute to US militarism and tactics in the war on terror, nor a black-and-white portrayal of “good” Americans versus “evil” Muslims. On the contrary, the show problematizes the security state, reveals the horrific collateral damage of America’s drone program, and pointedly demonstrates how such unaccountable power invariably leads to corruption. In episode after episode, the human propensity for monochromatic moral thinking—an “us or them” mentality—is shown to be the true villain, rather than one particular nationality or ethnic group.
A version of this piece also appeared in The Guardian (12/23/12)
Why 'The West Wing' is a Terrible Guide to American Democracy (10/1/12)
Building a democracy around The West Wing's version of politics is setting one's self up for disappointment. The show overstates the power of personalities to triumph over fundamental political realities. It exaggerates the import and impact of presidential rhetoric. And it concordantly minimizes the internal and external obstacles even the most well-meaning and capable politicians face when attempting to make policy. Such creative liberties add up to a romanticized portrayal which leads viewers to expect more from their elected officials and government than either can reasonably deliver.
What Tony Blair Can Teach Mitt Romney About Faith in Politics (5/24/12)
Pundits say a politician can't run for office successfully while running away from his religious beliefs. The former prime minister offers a surprising counterexample.
Homeland is no gung-ho salute to US militarism and tactics in the war on terror, nor a black-and-white portrayal of “good” Americans versus “evil” Muslims. On the contrary, the show problematizes the security state, reveals the horrific collateral damage of America’s drone program, and pointedly demonstrates how such unaccountable power invariably leads to corruption. In episode after episode, the human propensity for monochromatic moral thinking—an “us or them” mentality—is shown to be the true villain, rather than one particular nationality or ethnic group.
A version of this piece also appeared in The Guardian (12/23/12)
Why 'The West Wing' is a Terrible Guide to American Democracy (10/1/12)
Building a democracy around The West Wing's version of politics is setting one's self up for disappointment. The show overstates the power of personalities to triumph over fundamental political realities. It exaggerates the import and impact of presidential rhetoric. And it concordantly minimizes the internal and external obstacles even the most well-meaning and capable politicians face when attempting to make policy. Such creative liberties add up to a romanticized portrayal which leads viewers to expect more from their elected officials and government than either can reasonably deliver.
What Tony Blair Can Teach Mitt Romney About Faith in Politics (5/24/12)
Pundits say a politician can't run for office successfully while running away from his religious beliefs. The former prime minister offers a surprising counterexample.
The Jewish Review of Books | Archive
No Sex in the City: On Srugim (Spring 2010)
Srugim is the kind of show that doesn’t usually make it to television, even in Israel. Your conventional network docket does not have a slot for a “faith-based soap opera,” and for good reason—between disinterested non-religious viewers and easily offended religious ones, there would seem to be a very small demographic for such programming. But Srugim—the title refers to the knitted kippot worn by modern Orthodox men—never did get the memo, and its first season garnered praise, as well as a sizable audience, from all corners of Israeli society and even some American viewers, who watched it online.
Srugim is the kind of show that doesn’t usually make it to television, even in Israel. Your conventional network docket does not have a slot for a “faith-based soap opera,” and for good reason—between disinterested non-religious viewers and easily offended religious ones, there would seem to be a very small demographic for such programming. But Srugim—the title refers to the knitted kippot worn by modern Orthodox men—never did get the memo, and its first season garnered praise, as well as a sizable audience, from all corners of Israeli society and even some American viewers, who watched it online.
The Harvard Crimson | Archive
FILM
"Moneyball" (9/27/11)
“Moneyball” is the quintessential anti-sports movie. It is a baseball film in which the actual game barely features, and the players themselves are given mere bit parts in their own story. There is no inspiring pep talk delivered by a charismatic coach, and no swelling, adrenaline-pumping victory anthem in the movie’s rather pedestrian soundtrack. There isn’t even a championship game. Every human element of the traditional sports film—the cathartic emotional highs, the gritty and grizzled athletes, the intense and sweaty close-ups—has been mercilessly excised. All of which is quite fitting, given that “Moneyball” is essentially about the irrelevance of each of these to the game of baseball.
"Sherlock Holmes" (2/2/10)
“Sherlock Holmes” functions more as a nod to the logical bent of Conan Doyle’s series than as a serious portrayal of it. From impossibly large explosions whose implausibility is exceeded only by the number of proximal characters who manage to survive them, to magical African flowers which perform convenient plot functions, this is not a film showcasing mind over matter. On occasion, we witness Holmes’s renowned analytical capabilities, but rarely are these moments integral to the story. Holmes uses his intellect not so much to outwit the villains as to discover their next target, whereupon conflicts are resolved in fantastical action sequences. But none of this is to say that “Sherlock Holmes” is not a good movie—it’s just not one that viewers may be expecting.
BOOKS
"36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction," by Rebecca Goldstein (4/20/10)
The strength and weakness of philosophical novels is that they often feel like a multiple choice test for which the author has circled several answers to the same question. Whereas a traditional philosopher must present a rigorous argument that is carefully constructed and proven, the philosophical novelist revels in the ambiguity of his or her characters, and the conflicting ideas that make up their lives and conversations. Rebecca Goldstein—who has made a career out of presenting philosophical concepts in fictional form—offers with her latest book a showcase of the advantages and frustrations attendant to this curious medium. “36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction” doesn’t settle any of the questions it raises, but it certainly edifies, entertains, and provokes.
"I Am Martin Eisenstadt," by Martin Eisenstadt (2/3/10)
Martin Eisenstadt, a former McCain campaign adviser, television talking head, and senior fellow at the neoconservative Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy, is the bedrock upon which our illustrious nation rests—if he does say so himself. “Pundits have been essential to American democracy since the birth of our great country,” he says. “If George Washington was the first American president, then it could be said that Ben Franklin was the first American pundit. And guess whose face is on a higher denomination bill? I rest my case.”
THEATER
"Dead Man's Cell Phone" (10/23/09)
The opening of “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” has the suspicious feel of a playwright’s practical joke. A woman sits alone at a café table. A well-dressed man sits very still at another. Suddenly his cell phone rings, at which point everyone in the theatre looks around to see which poor soul forgot to shut theirs off. It takes a few rings before they realize this is actually the first sound of the show they just paid to watch. After countless performances interrupted by inconsiderate spectators’ beeping and jingling pockets, this particular production and its crew have finally turned the tables on the audience. This is but the first of many winks that Sarah Ruhl’s playful script—being performed by The Lyric Stage Company of Boston through Nov. 14—has in store.
EDITORIAL
To Save The Jews (3/2/12)
The notion that Jews are an endangered minority can be hard to fathom on a campus like Harvard’s. After all, who here doesn’t have a Jewish friend or professor? Indeed, living in a country like the United States, with its historically unprecedented low levels of anti-Semitism, the idea that Jews might face discrimination due to their national identity or religious beliefs seems like a relic of the distant past. But outside the Harvard bubble, Jews comprise just roughly 2% of Americans and only 0.2% of the world’s population. And unfortunately, discrimination against this tiny minority not only exists but is commonplace in many parts of the world.
Protecting the Dignity of Discourse on Campus (4/18/11)
When viewed through the lens of pragmatism rather than partisanship, the prosecution of those who disrupted Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren with the intent to prevent him from speaking clearly protects our civil discourse. Imagine, for contrast, a campus climate in which it is possible for any sufficiently motivated group to shut down an event to which it is ideologically opposed. Not only would Ambassador Oren be shouted off the stage, but Nancy Pelosi would be accosted with cries of “baby killer,” while Omar Barghouti, who spoke recently at Harvard to advocate boycott of Israel, could be met with jeers of “terrorist” and “anti-semite.” It is essential for the preservation of considered campus conversation that such suppressive “speech” never be tolerated, no matter the opinion being espoused. Simply put, no partisan should have a vocal veto over the marketplace of ideas.
"Moneyball" (9/27/11)
“Moneyball” is the quintessential anti-sports movie. It is a baseball film in which the actual game barely features, and the players themselves are given mere bit parts in their own story. There is no inspiring pep talk delivered by a charismatic coach, and no swelling, adrenaline-pumping victory anthem in the movie’s rather pedestrian soundtrack. There isn’t even a championship game. Every human element of the traditional sports film—the cathartic emotional highs, the gritty and grizzled athletes, the intense and sweaty close-ups—has been mercilessly excised. All of which is quite fitting, given that “Moneyball” is essentially about the irrelevance of each of these to the game of baseball.
"Sherlock Holmes" (2/2/10)
“Sherlock Holmes” functions more as a nod to the logical bent of Conan Doyle’s series than as a serious portrayal of it. From impossibly large explosions whose implausibility is exceeded only by the number of proximal characters who manage to survive them, to magical African flowers which perform convenient plot functions, this is not a film showcasing mind over matter. On occasion, we witness Holmes’s renowned analytical capabilities, but rarely are these moments integral to the story. Holmes uses his intellect not so much to outwit the villains as to discover their next target, whereupon conflicts are resolved in fantastical action sequences. But none of this is to say that “Sherlock Holmes” is not a good movie—it’s just not one that viewers may be expecting.
BOOKS
"36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction," by Rebecca Goldstein (4/20/10)
The strength and weakness of philosophical novels is that they often feel like a multiple choice test for which the author has circled several answers to the same question. Whereas a traditional philosopher must present a rigorous argument that is carefully constructed and proven, the philosophical novelist revels in the ambiguity of his or her characters, and the conflicting ideas that make up their lives and conversations. Rebecca Goldstein—who has made a career out of presenting philosophical concepts in fictional form—offers with her latest book a showcase of the advantages and frustrations attendant to this curious medium. “36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction” doesn’t settle any of the questions it raises, but it certainly edifies, entertains, and provokes.
"I Am Martin Eisenstadt," by Martin Eisenstadt (2/3/10)
Martin Eisenstadt, a former McCain campaign adviser, television talking head, and senior fellow at the neoconservative Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy, is the bedrock upon which our illustrious nation rests—if he does say so himself. “Pundits have been essential to American democracy since the birth of our great country,” he says. “If George Washington was the first American president, then it could be said that Ben Franklin was the first American pundit. And guess whose face is on a higher denomination bill? I rest my case.”
THEATER
"Dead Man's Cell Phone" (10/23/09)
The opening of “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” has the suspicious feel of a playwright’s practical joke. A woman sits alone at a café table. A well-dressed man sits very still at another. Suddenly his cell phone rings, at which point everyone in the theatre looks around to see which poor soul forgot to shut theirs off. It takes a few rings before they realize this is actually the first sound of the show they just paid to watch. After countless performances interrupted by inconsiderate spectators’ beeping and jingling pockets, this particular production and its crew have finally turned the tables on the audience. This is but the first of many winks that Sarah Ruhl’s playful script—being performed by The Lyric Stage Company of Boston through Nov. 14—has in store.
EDITORIAL
To Save The Jews (3/2/12)
The notion that Jews are an endangered minority can be hard to fathom on a campus like Harvard’s. After all, who here doesn’t have a Jewish friend or professor? Indeed, living in a country like the United States, with its historically unprecedented low levels of anti-Semitism, the idea that Jews might face discrimination due to their national identity or religious beliefs seems like a relic of the distant past. But outside the Harvard bubble, Jews comprise just roughly 2% of Americans and only 0.2% of the world’s population. And unfortunately, discrimination against this tiny minority not only exists but is commonplace in many parts of the world.
Protecting the Dignity of Discourse on Campus (4/18/11)
When viewed through the lens of pragmatism rather than partisanship, the prosecution of those who disrupted Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren with the intent to prevent him from speaking clearly protects our civil discourse. Imagine, for contrast, a campus climate in which it is possible for any sufficiently motivated group to shut down an event to which it is ideologically opposed. Not only would Ambassador Oren be shouted off the stage, but Nancy Pelosi would be accosted with cries of “baby killer,” while Omar Barghouti, who spoke recently at Harvard to advocate boycott of Israel, could be met with jeers of “terrorist” and “anti-semite.” It is essential for the preservation of considered campus conversation that such suppressive “speech” never be tolerated, no matter the opinion being espoused. Simply put, no partisan should have a vocal veto over the marketplace of ideas.
The New York Journal News LoHud Yankees Blog
Anatomy of a Rivalry: Yankees and Red Sox (1/27/11)
Like many epic enmities, the Yankees/Sox rivalry is fueled by the narcissism of small differences. That is, what makes the competition so acute is the similarity between the two clubs in talent, style and approach, which throws their slight disparities into sharp relief. To take an illustrative example from my backyard, the storied university rivalry between Harvard and Yale sure isn’t predicated on the vast differences between the two twin Ivy League elites; rather, it stems from their commonalities. Because the two schools are so alike in terms of academics, student body, and culture, their most minute distinctions are put under the microscope in a search for uniqueness and superiority, intensifying the rivalry to the extreme. Every detail becomes a battleground. Each side wants to be the best when it comes to the traits both so dearly prize. So to with Yankees/Sox.
What Advanced Statistics Can and Can't Teach Us About Baseball (1/21/10)
While we may not yet have adequate metrics to discern the impact of such mental and personal factors on baseball performance — to distinguish statistical noise from psychological poise — that does not mean the factors themselves do not have an impact. Indeed, intuitively, if we view baseball as a real-world job like any other, we should come to the very opposite conclusion.
Like many epic enmities, the Yankees/Sox rivalry is fueled by the narcissism of small differences. That is, what makes the competition so acute is the similarity between the two clubs in talent, style and approach, which throws their slight disparities into sharp relief. To take an illustrative example from my backyard, the storied university rivalry between Harvard and Yale sure isn’t predicated on the vast differences between the two twin Ivy League elites; rather, it stems from their commonalities. Because the two schools are so alike in terms of academics, student body, and culture, their most minute distinctions are put under the microscope in a search for uniqueness and superiority, intensifying the rivalry to the extreme. Every detail becomes a battleground. Each side wants to be the best when it comes to the traits both so dearly prize. So to with Yankees/Sox.
What Advanced Statistics Can and Can't Teach Us About Baseball (1/21/10)
While we may not yet have adequate metrics to discern the impact of such mental and personal factors on baseball performance — to distinguish statistical noise from psychological poise — that does not mean the factors themselves do not have an impact. Indeed, intuitively, if we view baseball as a real-world job like any other, we should come to the very opposite conclusion.
