Sightings Articles
Time, Plague, and Politics at Passover
A new administration, a new pace for the news cycle, and a very old truth...
March 29, 2021
Our Declaration
Here’s a suggestion for this Independence Day: Read the Declaration of Independence. But don’t just read it silently on your own; read it out loud with other people. To quote Tevye the Milkman: “Sounds crazy, no?” Perhaps, but in this column I’d ...
July 4, 2019
The Cartoon and the Rabbi
Last Thursday, the international print edition of The New York Times published a cartoon depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a dog, with a human head and an unusually large nose, being walked by—or, perhaps, walking—President Donal...
May 2, 2019
Michael Cohen, Never Again
As I stood at my computer at 6 a.m. last Thursday morning reading Michael Cohen’s prepared statement to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, one passage in particular jumped out at me: “I have always tried to live a life of loyalty, f...
March 7, 2019
Announcements
I need to start with an apology. Today’s column departs from this publication’s modus operandi—“sighting” religion in current events in global cultures. Instead, with your forgiveness and permission, I’d like to use my space this month to reflect on ...
February 7, 2019
Kaddish
During the first week of mourning (shiva), the minyan comes to the mourner, with daily morning and evening services taking place in their home. After that first week, it’s incumbent on the mourner to find or make a service. ...
January 7, 2019
Tree of Life
A man may not go out with a sword [on Shabbat], nor with a bow, nor with a shield, nor with a round shield, nor with a spear. If he has gone out [with any of these] he is liable for a sin offering. Rabbi Eliezer says: They are ornaments for him. Bu...
November 1, 2018
On Academic Time
Addressing new students at the Divinity School during orientation this year, Dean David Nirenberg talked about the university as a place in which it is possible, even necessary, to live in a different kind of time. Academe is fueled by the exploratio...