•  11
    Judaism, race, and ethics: conversations and questions (edited book)
    The Pennsylvania State University Press. 2020.
    A collection of essays examining the contentious, dynamic, and ethically complicated relationship between race and religion in Judaism. Includes perspectives from the fields of history, philosophy, sociology, ethics, religious studies, law, psychology, literary studies, and theology.
  •  46
    Aesthetic Judgments of Live and Recorded Music: Effects of Congruence Between Musical Artist and Piece
    with Amy M. Belfi, David W. Samson, and Nicholas L. Schmidt
    Frontiers in Psychology 12. 2021.
    The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the live music industry to an abrupt halt; subsequently, musicians are looking for ways to replicate the live concert experience virtually. The present study sought to investigate differences in aesthetic judgments of a live concert vs. a recorded concert, and whether these responses vary based on congruence between musical artist and piece. Participants made continuous ratings of their felt pleasure either during a live concert or while viewing an audiovisual r…Read more
  •  10
    Because..
    Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics 25 (1): 55-77. 2005.
    ONE LINK WITHIN JUDAISM BETWEEN ETHICS AND LAW MAY BE FOUND IN the deployment of rationales in halakhah, Jewish law. Although rationales exist in biblical as well as rabbinic legal sources, in this essay I explore two rabbinic examples that are frequently cited, considered closely related, and applied to interactions between Jews and gentiles: mipnei darkhei shalom and mipnei eivah. I survey the broad range of issues to which these rationales are attached, evaluate current theories interpreting …Read more
  •  4
    Introduction
    with Elliot N. Dorff
    In Elliot N. Dorff & Jonathan K. Crane (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Ethics and Morality, Oup Usa. 2013.
    This introductory chapter begins by explaining the rationale behind the study of Jewish ethics and how it differs from “regular” ethics. It then presents an overview of the two parts of this Handbook, the first of which traces the development of Jewish thinking from the Bible to modern times. The chapter demonstrates that throughout history, Jews have been embedded in a larger Western context and influenced by the ethical thought of non-Jews. The second part treats various moral issues, indicati…Read more
  •  5
    This chapter focuses on the thoughts of the early twentieth-century German Jewish thinkers Hermann Cohen, Franz Rosenzweig, and Martin Buber. These three German scholars, writing in the decades surrounding World War I, were both attracted to and repulsed by modernity. On the one hand, the modern drive toward nationalism inspired their commitment to Jews and Judaism, and so each plumbed the Jewish textual tradition to ground their ethical theories. Yet the destructiveness caused by self-centeredn…Read more
  •  40
    Torturous ambivalence: Judaic struggles with torture
    Journal of Religious Ethics 39 (4): 598-605. 2011.
    A surprising lack of consensus exists among contemporary Jewish scholars about Judaism's position vis-à-vis torture. Some claim that Judaism condones torture while others insist that Judaism condemns it. These diverging opinions on such a troubling practice suggest an ambivalence deep within the Judaic textual tradition about torturing bodies. This brief essay critiques both perspectives for twisting the textual tradition and offers some preliminary suggestions for a more robust Judaic approach …Read more
  •  37
    Exorcising Doubts About Religious Bioethics
    with Sarah Browning Putney
    American Journal of Bioethics 12 (12): 28-30. 2012.
  •  49
    Why rights? Why me?
    Journal of Religious Ethics 35 (4): 559-589. 2007.
    That Jews are concerned about human rights is distinct from why Jews should be concerned about rights in the first place. This project analyzes the reasons Jews in the twentieth century put forward to convince co-religionists to take rights seriously. Focusing on the content of these arguments facilitates dividing the proffered rationales into three broad categories--the temporal, the innate, and the philosophical. Analysis of each category reveals subdivisions, reflecting the many ways Jews try…Read more
  •  57
    Torture continues to be a pressing political issue in North America, yet religious scholarly reflection on the ethics of torture remains all but sidelined in public discourse for a variety of complex reasons. These reasons are explored—and critiqued—in this collection of reflections by Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and feminist religious ethicists. These scholars find that historical amnesia, forced if not twisted readings of classical texts and contemporary human rights instruments, and sociologic…Read more
  •  32
    The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Ethics and Morality (edited book)
    with Elliot N. Dorff
    Oup Usa. 2013.
    The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Ethics and Morality offers a collection of original essays--historical and contemporary, as well as philosophical and practical--by leading scholars from around the world. The first section of the volume describes the history of the Jewish tradition's moral thought, from the Bible to contemporary Jewish approaches. The second part includes chapters on specific fields in ethics, including the ethics of medicine, business, sex, speech, politics, war, and the environme…Read more
  •  57
    Praying to Die
    Journal of Religious Ethics 43 (1): 1-27. 2015.
    Prayer has long been a staple in the proverbial Jewish medical toolbox. While the vast majority of relevant prayers seek renewed health and prolonged life, what might prayers for someone to die look like? What ethical dimensions are involved in such liturgical expressions? By examining both prayers for oneself to die and prayers for someone else to die, this essay discerns reasons why it may be good and even necessary to pray for a patient's demise
  •  18
    Beastly Morality: Animals as Ethical Agents (edited book)
    Cambridge University Press. 2015.
    We have come to regard nonhuman animals as beings of concern, and we even grant them some legal protections. But until we understand animals as moral agents in and of themselves, they will be nothing more than distant recipients of our largesse. Featuring original essays by philosophers, ethicists, religionists, and ethologists, including Marc Bekoff, Frans de Waal, and Elisabetta Palagi, this collection demonstrates the ability of animals to operate morally, process ideas of good and bad, and t…Read more