One week removed from the lockdown of my city, spring is reclaiming our streets. In the moments and days following the Boston Marathon bombings, I watched my hometown transform into a combination of tragedy and heroism. In the week since, I have seen us move forward stronger and prouder, ever more dedicated to the causes of peace and justice. As someone blessed with full time work in interfaith engagement, I am proud. And as a Jew, we could not be at a more relevant time of year as we count…

I woke up clutching my bed frame, heart pounding, mind reeling – three nights in a row - when I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I could not escape this story, both novel and film, and wondered how it could change The United States. It was one of two striking stories of civil strife in the United States this past year, with Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln stealing viewers’ imaginations and hearts too. Grossing a combined half of a billion dollars at the box office…

The most fulfilling and reassuring conversation I had in the days following the 2012 election was with someone whom I deeply disagree with. As a liberal Jew from the Northeast, my beliefs about American were dramatically reinforced by a phone call with a conservative evangelical friend in the South. Our country is extremely and increasingly polarized, across axes of religion and politics. As Americans of different political beliefs struggle for a future they can believe in, we must all learn…

I was walking through downtown Boston in late August, and passed a group of men dressed as Minutemen, as Revolutionary soldiers. This is a common sight during the tourist season, in the birthplace of the Revolutionary War.

However, the most recent time I had seen someone dressed as a minuteman was in Tampa, FL – on televised coverage of the Republican National Convention. There, a handful of attendees had donned these outfits to represent the Tea Party. And so it struck me: Boston and…