Babylon Background
Basic Background Books Cited Related Music More Resources
Black and Jewish Communities Sharing History
We Act Radio begins “Sharing History” for the District and for every place where black and Jewish communities have some things to learn about one another. Listen here — “We Act Radio: Black and Jewish […]
Korach and Dysfunctional Systems
Why are Moses and Aaron, and God, unable to hear the people’s desperation and anger, in the face of completely failed expectations? And what is our job…How might better listening, and closer attention to circumstances behind complaints and rebellion, change things?
Strange and Familiar
Exploring Babylon Chapter 23 Although just published (May 2018), Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” was completed in 1931, based on work begun in the 1920s. Zora Neale Hurston’s Barracoon relates the story […]
A Song of Reward and Punishment
Exploring Babylon Chapter 22 Here is further response to a long-ago comment of Max Ticktin (z”l), based on the words of Jeremiah and in a sort of homage to Leonard Cohen. “Has this song gone […]
Notes on Jeremiah: Max Ticktin’s Scribbles
Exploring Babylon Chapter 21 Several updates below. In addition to the many other things he left us, Max Ticktin z”l (1920-2016) left behind a lot of books, and his family kindly offered them to interested […]
Trauma and Migration Studies, The Book of Job, and Babylon
In follow up to the chapter on monsters and storytelling,which touched on the intersection of immigrant experiences and trauma, some thoughts on migration studies and #ExploringBabylon.
More on Monsters and Storytelling
Exploring Babylon Chapter 20.1 A Monster Chronology On March 15, I watched author Junot Díaz interact with a room full of youngsters, introducing his new book, Islandborn (Dial Books for Young Readers), discussing the writing […]
Monsters, Exile, and Storytelling
UPDATE: The event described here, including the brief interview with Díaz, took place on March 15, 2018. The piece below was posted on April 1. The New Yorker article, “The Silence: The Legacy of Childhood […]
Poverty and the White Horse’s Red Strap
Exploring Babylon Chapter 18-1/2 The previous chapter, “Exile, Passover, and Melting Pot,” looked at nine bible verses using the word “kur,” usually translated as “crucible” or “furnace.” This addendum shares the odd midrash on one […]
Exile, Passover, and Melting Pot
Exploring Babylon Chapter 18 “The Americas were far. The Americas were different. It was rabbinic exile.” This, writes Rabbi Oran Zweiter, is how European immigrant rabbis to the New World felt, beginning with Rabbi Isaac […]
