Hearing Requires Room for Every Story
Hearing is never a passive bureaucratic gesture. Twice a day, Jewish liturgy commands us to engage in a profound act of spiritual attention: "Hear, O Israel." We know the Shema not as a polite request, but as the central spiritual imperative of our tradition. To hear is to bear witness to the Eternal, to internalise truth, and to translate that truth into ethical action. In the theological grammar shared by Jews and Christians alike, hearing has never been neutral.
Have You Only One Blessing?
Reflecting on a recent visit to a Buddhist temple and the narrative of Parashat Toldot, I explore the tension between spiritual scarcity and abundance. While the story of Jacob and Esau suggests a finite amount of blessing—where one brother’s gain is the other’s loss—a progressive theology reminds us that an Infinite God cannot run out of love. This post examines how we can celebrate our own Jewish uniqueness without invalidating the truths held by our neighbours, moving from a fear of "not enough" to a recognition that the Divine has enough blessing for all.
