Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.
(Dorothy Thompson)
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.
(Eleanor Roosevelt)
The world is a narrow bridge, but the main thing is not to fear.
(Rabbi Nachman of Breslov)
I’m offering the [...]
Archive for the ‘Fear’ Category
Resist the Politics of Fear!
Posted in Current Events, Elections 2008, Fear, Iran, Politics, Terrorism on April 22, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Unholy War
Posted in Fear, Genocide, Interfaith, Judaism, Religion, Spirituality, Terrorism, Torah Commentary on July 13, 2007 | 4 Comments »
As the book of Numbers comes to a close this week, we read an account of an Israelite military campaign that can only be described as holy war:
Moses spoke to the militia saying, “Let troops be picked out from among you for a campaign, and let them fall upon Midian to wreak the Eternal’s vengeance [...]
Life Behind Walls
Posted in Fear, Judaism, Politics, Religion, Religion/Politics, Terrorism, Torah Commentary on June 8, 2007 | 2 Comments »
In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Shelach Lecha, Moses sends scouts into Canaan, charging them to observe the land and its inhabitants and report back to the Israelites. Ten of the scouts bring back a discouraging report:
“(The) people who inhabit the country are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large…We cannot attack that [...]
Happy Camp David Day
Posted in Coexistence, Fear, Israel, Peace, Politics/Middle East, Religion/Politics, Terrorism, Zionism on March 26, 2007 | No Comments »
“Let us work together until the day comes when they beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning books.” — Anwar el-Sadat, March 26, 1979
“No more war, no more bloodshed, no more bereavement, peace unto you, Shalom, Saalam, forever.” — Menachem Begin, March 26, 1979
“We must rededicate ourselves to the goal [...]
Safety From Within
Posted in American Judaism, Fear, Judaism, Peace, Religion, Religion/Politics, Terrorism, Torah Commentary on March 16, 2007 | 2 Comments »
In this week’s double Torah portion, Vayakhel/Pekudei, the Israelites finally set about to build to Mishkan (”tabernacle”), led by the master artisan Bezalel. Among the many details of the construction, we read:
(Bezalel) made a cover of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. He made two cherubim [...]
Purim and the Jewish Id
Posted in Anti-Semitism, Fear, Iran, Israel, Judaism, Peace, Politics/Middle East, Purim, Religion, Religion/Politics, Terrorism, Torah Commentary on March 2, 2007 | 6 Comments »
I’m willing to lay odds that this Purim there will be a fair share of Jewish commentators claiming that history is repeating itself in Shushan - that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the contemporary Haman come back to life to once again threaten the Jewish people with genocide. I’m also fairly sure that some of [...]
The Murderers Among Us
Posted in Civil Rights, Fear, Movie Reviews on February 19, 2007 | 4 Comments »
Who would have thought a seventy five year old movie would have something to teach us about living in the post 9/11 age?
I’m referring to “M,” the 1931 German film, directed by Fritz Lang. “M” is a classic thriller about the manhunt for a serial child murderer, played by a young Peter Lorre in [...]
Stranger Anxiety
Posted in Civil Rights, Fear, Human Rights, Judaism, Peace, Religion, Religion/Politics, Torah Commentary on February 16, 2007 | 3 Comments »
“You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 23:9)
The most oft-repeated commandment in Torah - it appears 36 times - is the injunction against mistreating the stranger. (It actually appears twice in this week’s portion, Parashat Mishpatim). The [...]
Amalek and the Amygdala
Posted in Fear, Judaism, Religion, Religion/Politics, Terrorism, Torah Commentary on February 2, 2007 | 3 Comments »
In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Beshallach, the newly liberated Israelites do battle with their arch-enemies, the Amalekites. After the Israelites emerge victorious, God tells Moses:
Inscribe this in a document as a reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: “I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven!” (Exodus 17:14)
At first glance [...]
The Trauma of Remembrance
Posted in Anti-Semitism, Fear, Judaism, Purim, Religion, Terrorism, Torah Commentary on March 14, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Therefore, when the LORD your God grants you safety from all your enemies around you, in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as a hereditary portion, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!(Deuteronomy 25:19)
Tonight we begin Shabbat Zachor (”The Shabbat of Rembrance”) - [...]
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