Sublime

become Judaism’s most controversial proposition: that since mankind in its diversity cannot be reduced to a single image, so God cannot be reduced to a single faith or language. God exists in difference and thus chooses as His witness a people dedicated to difference.

finally, a community that believes—but I mean really, really believes—that Torah has a contribution to make to the redemption of the world, and that ultimately the world will not be redeemed without Torah.

Kenosis puts the emptiness in a new light. It values the emptiness. It says ‘empty protest’ is a via negativa, a non-positivist way of entering the political arena. You take your outrage seriously, but you don’t force yourself to have answers. Trust your nose. You know what stinks. Don’t

Fundamentally, volunteers need reinforcement and gratitude, and a recitation of names at the end of a long program isn’t enough.

Empowered Judaism is a manifesto for transforming the way Jews pray and—more broadly—for building vibrant Jewish communities.

we actively decided not to make Yeshivat Hadar a pluralistic environment. For instance, all the full-time students are expected to daven together in a single service that is egalitarian and traditional. Students must also commit to living a life engaged with Torah and mitzvot. All of the faculty we hired also support this form of prayer and

If you claim to be “nondenominational,” people can’t make assumptions about your Jewish identity as easily as if you claim a traditional denominational label. Instead, you have to explain what about Judaism you connect to—forming the baseline of a robust Jewish conversation.