Sh'ma Journal: A Journal of Jewish Ideas

An independent “think tank” of diverse ideas and conversations online and in print to incubate issues of significance to Jewish community conversations.

"Personal Sanctuary" by Flora Rosefsky. 2008 . 48”x48”. Collage with drawing: ephemera newspaper, gesso paint, permanent pen, paper cutout. Click to view this month's gallery, “Privacy.” To read more about the art and the artist, click here
"Tangled" by Flora Rosefsky. 2010. 22"x29”. Collage with mixed materials: store bought hand-made paper with string, paper cutout, trim, quilt pins. Click to view this month's gallery, “Privacy.” To read more about the art and the artist, click here
"Life Chapter" by Flora Rosefsky. 2008. 15x15”. Collage: Linen pulled embroidery panel, paper cutout, photograph corners, acrylic paint. Click to view this month's gallery, “Privacy.” To read more about the art and the artist, click here
"Shelter Us" by Flora Rosefsky. 2008. 15"x15”. Collage: Linen pulled embroidery panel, paper cutout, photograph corners, acrylic paint. Click to view this month's gallery, “Privacy.” To read more about the art and the artist, click here
"Reflections No. 1" by Flora Rosefsky. 2013. 16"x16”. Collage: photograph cutouts. Click to view this month's gallery, “Privacy.” To read more about the art and the artist, click here

Inside the Current Issue:
TABLE OF CONTENTS

‘Shmita’: Now What?
Nigel Savage
Writing the third essay in a yearlong Sh’ma series on shmita, I assume you are not, as it were, a shmita beginner. More has been written about shmita in the ... MORE »
Privacy & Transparency
Martha Hausman, Rabbi Ben Goldstein, Rabbi Eric Rosin, Stosh Cotler
“How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelings, O Israel!” — Numbers 24:5 This verse is attributed to the soothsayer Bilaam, who was asked by King Balak of Moab to curse ... MORE »
Oversharing on the Internet: Sociology and Ethics
Adina Levin
Do people overshare on social media, and does this cause harm? A look at the writings of a sociologist and a Jewish ethicist illustrate very different approaches to this subject. Sociologist Danah ... MORE »
Mikveh: Both Private and Shared
Sara Luria
Six women — colleagues in a chaplaincy program — arrive separately and congregate in the lobby of the mikveh. The women share their hopes and intentions for their immersion, and ... MORE »
Toward a No-gossip Life
David Ingber
Lashon ha-ra” literally means “evil speech,” and it refers to a group of laws found in Leviticus 19:16. Essentially, the Torah prohibits speaking ill of someone to a third party. ... MORE »
The ‘Mussar’ of Openness
Ira F. Stone
How open to be, how much of our private lives to share with others in the public sphere, is a question that looms larger and larger in our culture today. ... MORE »
Dare to Tell
Shaul Magid
How many of us respond to the question, “Do you want to know a secret?” with “No, thank you”? Why do so few of us decline that offer? First, we ... MORE »
Reflections on Privacy
Carnie Burns, Rabbi Amitai Adler
Sh’ma asked several people to reflect on how they weigh matters of privacy in their personal and professional lives — when privacy and intimacy overlap, and when revealing something private ... MORE »
Intimate and Revealed with God
Ebn Leader
Reb Zalman Shachter-Shalomi (z”l) often spoke about the time when, as a youth, he asked some elder Hasidim to share their thoughts about the inner workings of prayer. After two ... MORE »
Empowering Jews Through Data Transparency
Sacha Litman
An Internet joke circulating right after the National Security Agency (NSA) privacy scandal broke went something like this: “I should apply for a job at NSA; they already have my ... MORE »
Privacy & Transparency
general
1. What needs to be private? Who needs to know what? What is the appropriate balance between the sharing of information for reasons of security and our right to privacy as citizens? Is ... MORE »
Superman Goes Public
Stephanie Kolin
Clark Kent’s transformation from mild-mannered reporter to superhero used to take place in a phone booth. The “reporter” would see or sense danger, enter the booth, and reemerge as Superman, ... MORE »
Opening Our Home to the World
Dov Greenberg
Know,” says Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav, “that a person walks in life on a narrow bridge, and the most important thing is not to be afraid.” To me, that aphorism ... MORE »

The Illusion of Privacy

Yael Roberts

November 6, 2014

Recent events in the Jewish world have reminded us that even when we think we are alone, someone may be watching. We may think we have personal space and privacy, but even that belongs to someone else. It is difficult to stomach that what appears to be one of the most intimate and private spaces, the … More »

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Can You Lie to God?

Rabbi Alon C Ferency

November 3, 2014

At Beit T’Shuvah, a rehab in Los Angeles, we began work with addicts by asking simply, “What are the lies you tell yourself?” I often thought, how would I possibly know that?! Surely, we all lie, even more that we realize or admit. In The Little Drummer Girl, John LeCarre describes Kurtz, an Israeli spymaster, … More »

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A Blessing from Brokenness

Naomi Less

October 31, 2014

February 18, 2014 was the day I came out. That’s what my friends told me, at least. I associate “coming out” with news from friends who came out as gay or lesbian, who wanted to stop repressing or hiding parts of themselves. My “coming out” was different. I posted something personal on the Sh’ma blog, “S Blog,” which touched a … More »

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Conversation Starter

Empowering Jews Through Data Transparency

Sacha Litman

We need to work as a collective set of organizations to pool data, learn more about each individual Jew’s interests, and get smarter about providing people with the right opportunity at the right time. ... More »

Conversation Starter

The ‘Mussar’ of Openness

Ira F. Stone

How open to be, how much of our private lives to share with others in the public sphere, is a question that looms larger and larger in our culture today. Confessions, on the one hand, and personal revelations on the other, have become daily occurrences. Negotiating between the private and the public is something that various streams of Jewish tradition have wrestled with. ... More »

Conversation Starter

Oversharing on the Internet: Sociology and Ethics

Adina Levin

Do people overshare on social media, and does this cause harm? A look at the writings of a sociologist and a Jewish ethicist illustrate very different approaches to this subject. ... More »

Conversation Starter

Opening Our Home to the World

Dov Greenberg

We do not covet privacy; rather, we open ourselves with love to the outside world, and in so doing, we — along with the Jewish students who visit us — are transformed. ... More »