Moment Zoominar: Can Robots be Jewish? And Other Pressing Questions of Modern Life

Amy E. Schwartz, in conversation with New York Times best-selling author Laura Blumenfeld, discusses whether robots can be Jewish and other perennial questions, such as what Judaism has to say about love, miracles, the afterlife and so much more from Amy’s new book, Can Robots Be Jewish? And Other Pressing Questions of Modern Life , a selection of questions and answers drawn from Moment’s ever-popular Ask the Rabbis column. This smart and provocative talk is perfect for anyone interested in the rich diversity of Jewish thought on contemporary questions.

Continue reading

When Spring Turned to Winter in the Middle East

Harvard law professor Noah Feldman’s book about Arab political self-determination and self-destruction is called The Arab Winter: A Tragedy. And he really means it. Grief emanates from every line of this reevaluation of the Arab Spring, which revisits the hope followed by disaster in Egypt and Syria; the utopian Islamism that produced the hellish dystopia of ISIS; and, perhaps most painful, the success in Tunisia that showed the other tragedies were not inevitable. 

Continue reading