Leon A. Morris Sep 6, 2018 Can Jews care too much about the rest of the world? Or, as Michael Chabon declares, are all boundaries between Jews and non-Jews untenable? And why has the American Jewish conversation on universalism and particularism turned so extreme? Perhaps the most confounding question at the moment for American Jews … Read more
Leon A. Morris Nov 13, 2017 The Federations’ General Assembly will debate the growing gulf between U.S. and Israeli Jews. But each offers the other an important corrective: Israelis’ growing parochialism needs restraining, and U.S. Jews need reminding America isn’t their Zion This week, when the American Jewish community gathers for its contemporary aliyat haregel … Read more
http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/saving-books-from-the-fire/ eJewishPhilanthropy, September 10, 2017 I recently was speaking with a prospective donor about our work of bringing rigorous and relevant Jewish study to all, irrespective of practice or affiliation, and enabling Jews of all perspectives to own the the texts and ideas of Jewish life. He is a thoughtful person, highly intellectual, and deeply … Read more
יואל לוי וליאון אריה מוריס במאמר מעניין ומאתגר מותח אברהם בורג ביקורת על נשות הכותל כדוגמה נוספת ליהדות שהיא “תמצית העבודה הזרה” (“מה הסיפור שלהן עם הכותל?” הארץ, 16 ביוני, 2016). ישראלים רבים, וגם רבים מיהודי התפוצות הלא-אורתודוקסיים, יזדהו עם בורג האומר כי “אין בי שום געגוע לבית המקדש שהיה, ואף כיסוף לבית המקדש שלעולם … Read more
(Haaretz, June 27, 2016) Joel Levy and Leon A. Morris In his thoughtful and challenging essay, Avraham Burg critiques the Women of the Wall as yet another example of a Judaism that is “the essence of idolatry.” (“What’s Truly Absurd About Women of the Wall,” June 17, 2016). Many Israelis – and many non-Orthodox Diaspora … Read more
From Haaretz ליאון אריה מוריס 21.04.2016 20:00 PDF of original article יעל, בתנו בת החמש, חזרה נרגשת מהגן עם הגדה לילדים שקיבלה שם, ומיהרה להראות לי אותה. ישבתי אתה ליד שולחן המטבח, מאושר מיכולתה לשיר את “הא לחמא עניא”, את “מה נשתנה” ואת “דיינו”. התענגתי על המיומנויות שלה, על ביטחונה ועל כל מה שלמדה בבית … Read more
Published originally in Haaretz November 5, 2015 By LEON MORRIS As the Reform movement gathered for its Biennial Convention in Orlando, Florida – its aliyat ha’regel of inspiration, study and celebration – it did so just one month after the Reconstructionist Rabbinical School implemented the very admissions policy that a younger generation of Reform Jews … Read more
Introduction The minyan, the required quorum of ten adult Jews needed for public prayer, has constituted a core component of Jewish life throughout the millennia. In the context of communal worship, the minyan represents a microcosm of the entirety of the Jewish people, whose primary spiritual experiences are public and communal. the notion of the … Read more
Rabbi Leon A. Morris Published in the summer of 2013 in CCAR Journal: The Reform Jewish Quarterly. See here for a PDF of the article. The notion of sacrificial offerings was an anathema in the shaping of a modern Jewish life. Since the earliest days of Reform Judaism, those most ancient forms of divine service were … Read more
Scott Korb & Rabbi Leon A Morris The Baltimore Sun It’s been nearly 30 years since author Anne Rolphe reflected on her family’s Christmas tree in The New York Times with the essay “Christmas Comes to a Jewish Home.” Rolphe’s December 1978 essay elicited a strong reaction from many Jews who rightfully objected to the ways … Read more