Trying to say something new or relevant about theodicy is tantamount to attempting to say something creative about Franz Kafka or Radiohead. I love talking and writing about these artists, so here goes an attempt to talk about theodicy in light of the Jewish fast, Tisha B'Av, a fast on...

When you go see a play entitled Cock you expect some groundbreaking transgressive content, perhaps sexual elements that push the boundaries of comfort. However, Mike Bartlett's brilliant play, transported from England to New York after an award winning run in The Royal Court Theater, never panders to any need for...

An assertion: Workaholics now reigns as the best comedy on TV.

Second assertion: Workaholics now finds itself within its groove, its flow, it apogee. No show delivers week in and week out with these consistent results.

Initially, people dismissed Workaholics as wholly derivative, not expecting it to last for more...

I went into the new Terracotta Warrior exhibit at Discovery Times Square with some curious ambivalence. Six feet clay warriors, fully intact, meticulously crafted, with weapons, all preserved for over 2000 years -- where could the ambivalence possibly creep in? Like most things in my life, I blame it on...

I hesitate to use the word resurgence in the title because it gives in to the specious claim of the dormancy of the movement, but resurgence does strike a chord. By most accounts mainstream media coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement, regardless of the standpoint, has been woefully lacking....

In this new book, Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer's Guide to the Uses of Religion, Alain de Botton attempts to plunge himself into the raging storm of religious and atheistic controversy. (If you are new to de Botton, he is the Gladwell of literature and philosophy with similar strengths and...

The memories I cherish of celebrating Purim as a child have nothing to do with dressing up like a superhero or eating homemade hamentashen. The moment I loved most was watching my father dole out dollar bills to anyone who asked for help.

Purim, which begins Wednesday night, celebrates the...

With a deep sadness in my heart, I write of the recently deceased Christian theologian John Hick. I feel utterly unqualified to provide a proper eulogy, or even the requisite encomium for one of the 20th centuries most important religious thinkers. Given his impact on my religious personality and thought...

With a little help from my friends, I found the best TV show I didn't even know existed. It's called Pulling, the equivalent of the American slang term "hooking up" and it aired on BBC from 2006 to 2008. It lasted two seasons, before it went the way of too...

Earthquakes in the academic world, sadly, most often only create ripples in the world of the masses. Two academics, Dr. Amy-Jill Levine from Vanderbilt Universit, and Dr. Marc Brettler from Brandeis University, served as editors for the recently published "The Jewish Annotated New Testament," a book that deserves wide press...

Dear Hanukkah,

I love you, but I hate your cultural representation. I don't blame you. I know that your calendar slot dooms your loveliness. Consequently, many don't dig deeper than asinine arguments about songs or comparisons to Christmas and impoverished representations on TV. Dreidels! Gelt! Menorahs! Cool! Hanukkah on "Gossip...

I never acquired a taste for overt rebellion. Instead, I sought my independence in books -- books that promised to expand my personality by destroying it first. As a high school junior, I hid a "Short Introduction to Atheism" in my underwear drawer. In college I tore off the cover...

As we grow into mature moral selves we reach a point when we must ask: do we actually act on our ideals? Many of us speak of injustice and the rampant avoidable suffering in the world. We feel suffused with empathy but besides the writing of a check, which is...