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Michael Eric Dyson Dissects Obama’s Theology

October 28, 2011 / Faith Complex

Barack Obama’s inauguration on January 22, 2009 marked a historical milestone for the African American and black communities. But what has Obama’s election done for perceptions of race in the United States? What is his responsibility with regard to race relations? How has the dialogue changed? And should we care about the Jeremiah Wright controversy? Professor Michael Eric Dyson answers these questions in this Faith Complex. Dr. Dyson is currently a professor of sociology at Georgetown University, where he teaches [...]

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David Friedman on Campus Anti-Zionism

August 11, 2011 / Faith Complex

What is the obligation of universities to protect freedom of speech? In 2010, Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Oren spoke at UC Irvine, where he was interrupted by anti-Israel protesters. Three years earlier, Columbia University hosted Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, prominent denier of the Holocaust, homosexuality in Iran, and human rights. And this year marks the seventh annual Israeli Apartheid Week, which consists of university lectures and gatherings to protest the Israeli state. David Friedman is regional director [...]

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ellen cherry on Music and Spirituality

June 15, 2011 / Faith Complex

Emmy-nominated singer-songwriter ellen cherry cites Rainer Maria Rilke, American history, and her own journey from Catholicism to rationalism as inspirations behind her expressive musical style. The Baltimore-based artist, who takes her stage name from the artsy protagonist of Tom Robbins’ Skinny Legs and All, began experimenting with a guitar in her 20s. She has since received numerous accolades, including two Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Awards. In 2004, she founded her own studio and label, Wrong Size Shoes. In [...]

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Geoffrey Aldridge on Art and Identity

May 13, 2011 / Faith Complex

What do fur-covered cinderblocks, yellow brick shoes, and an inflatable deer have in common? They’re all concepts DC artist Geoffrey Aldridge has put to good use in his provocative social commentary. Aldridge, a versatile up-and-coming multimedia artist, examines questions of identity and sexuality in his installations. Particularly memorable is his exhibition “Hole in the Wall,” which commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. School of Foreign Service student Alexa West interviews Aldridge for this unique Faith Complex installment. They [...]

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Rabba Sara Hurwitz on Women and Orthodox Judaism

April 28, 2011 / Faith Complex

Sara Hurwitz’s appointment to the position of Rabba by Rabbi Avi Weiss of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in 2010 touched off a storm of controversy in the Orthodox Jewish community. Rabba Hurwitz is the first such female spiritual leader to hold the newly-created title, though she argues that women have occupied comparable roles throughout Jewish history. As Rabba, she is able to fulfill many of the functions of a traditional rabbi, including speaking from the pulpit and hearing questions [...]

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Ross Douthat on Religion in the Public Sphere

April 2, 2011 / Faith Complex

“Never go to excess, but let moderation be your guide,” counseled Cicero in the first century BCE. “There’s a mean, there’s a happy medium to be struck,” echoes New York Times op-ed columnist Ross Douthat with regard to the separation of church and state. Douthat, the youngest regular op-ed writer in the Gray Lady’s history, argues that American secularism has ample room for public religious displays and discourse. In this installment of Faith Complex, watch Douthat explain to Professor Jacques [...]

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Gary Rosenblatt on Orthodoxy, Abuse, and Ethics

December 12, 2010 / Faith Complex

In the summer of 2000, The Jewish Week, with Gary Rosenblatt at its helm, ran an exposé on the sexual abuse of a number of Orthodox teenagers over several decades by Rabbi Baruch Lanner, who, as regional director of the Orthodox Union’s National Conference of Synagogue Youth, was a charismatic leader and prominent community member. The day after the publication of Rosenblatt’s investigation, which alleged that Lanner’s superiors knew of his proclivities but took no action to curtail them, Lanner [...]

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Edgar Bronfman, Sr. on Cultural Judaism

October 4, 2010 / Faith Complex

Philanthropist Edgar M. Bronfman speaks about Jewish intermarriage, cultural Judaism, and the advice he would give Prime Minister Netanyahu. Read more about Edgar Bronfman, Sr. The Samuel Bronfman Foundation Watch Next Rabba Hurwitz on Women and Orthodox Judaism

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Martin Lemelman Revisits His Jewish Boyhood in Brooklyn

August 3, 2010 / Faith Complex

“Martin Lemelman,” proclaims his official author biography, “grew up in the back of a candy store in Brooklyn, New York, and is the child of Holocaust survivors.” These life experiences are richly and painstakingly recorded in Lemelman’s work as a graphic memoirist. His 2006 work Mendel’s Daughter, for instance, chronicles his mother Gusta’s girlhood in and eventual escape from Nazi-era Poland. More recently, he has published Two Cents Plain: My Brooklyn Boyhood, a bittersweet reminiscence on growing up in New [...]

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