Hillel Gray

Prof. of Comparative Religion @miamiuniversity creating a less divisive world through the #Empathy and the Religious “Enemy” project | Learn more: @empathyenemy

[Hillel Gray @hgray]

Next week I'm taking another free WikiEdu course to write articles about the 2024 US Elections. Once a week x 8. Any scholars in history, Amer culture, poli sci, or related fields want to join me?
https://t.co/UffKVLR8a0

[Hillel Gray @hgray]

I’m available to consult to Taylor, Brittany & other celebrities about how to listen (and talk) across political and religious divides. It’s feasible & worthwhile! https://t.co/EKRpKW2UqI #FoxNews

[Hillel Gray @hgray]

@RStomel Fair enough. But boys/men (and fewer women) would come across it in the gemara, where the meaning is clear and the English isn’t needed.

[Hillel Gray @hgray]

Astute point, as I head into a semester with a course that centers the #Talmud as a foundation for Jewish identities and Judaisms

[Akbar Shahid Ahmed @AkbarSAhmed]

Go read the deeply reported, accurate story the WH is falling over itself trying to lie about. It's full of detail on the alarming plan for Gaza/Saudi/Israel being pushed inside the US gov by Biden aide Brett McGurk & analysis of its flaws + risks involved
https://t.co/zEkyHjypAw

[Yehudah Mirsky @YehudahMirsky]

He once asked - why did God create heresy?
And said: so that if a poor man asks for help you should have just enough doubt in God to think that if you won't help him, nobody will.

[Hillel Gray @hgray]

Walking back from synagogue (after sermon on antisemitism*) with other people, i.e., Jews, and somebody drives by screaming at us "Free Palestine"

* derashah by Rabbi Dr Joshua Berman, visiting scholar, who rightly encouraged people to notice the broad support for Jews in U.S.

[Hillel Gray @hgray]

Esp during a crisis, ppl tend to see the world as a stark binary choice, Us vs Them, Good vs Evil

Does the tweet below pose a false dichotomy, or the picture of a clear moral choice?

Is the #IsraelHamasWar complicated, or does nuanced understanding undercut morality?

[Ben Lorber @BenLorber8]

Right now there are two claims being made upon the Jewish future, two paths in formation before our eyes. And we’re all going to have to pick one

[Hillel Gray @hgray]

@Yair_Rosenberg With dissenting voice, Yair, what did you see/hear from the "peace bloc" at the march?

Also, I study Neturei Karta, did you observe them and did they get any media attention you've seen?
Thanks

[Hillel Gray @hgray]

@thatpeterfox well, I think they mean -- don't make your feelings & experience the center, eg how you feel about the murder of George Floyd. But supporting others is fine, like marching in a Black Lives Matter march

[Hillel Gray @hgray]

@aryehlou thanks for posting this (recently talking about you with L, re: ppl in Chitown)

[Hillel Gray @hgray]

@yhazony Look again at your post, @yhazony, please. You said, "you could just take the side... against evil"
in response to a post by @johnmilbank3 that explicitly mentions "Muslim populations" (also some leftists)

so it looks like that's the side you are doing a Us vs Them with

[Institute for Islamic, Christian, & Jewish Studies @ICJSBaltimore]

Why does U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson prominently display a Christian nationalist symbol outside his Capitol Hill office? @TaylorMatthewD and @BradleyOnishi break it down in this @RollingStone article (link below). In this video excerpt from the forthcoming short film,"Spiritual Warriors: Decoding Christian Nationalism at the Capitol Riot" (Jan 2024), Matt explains the significance of the Appeal to Heaven flag. https://t.co/gWDYO2AGXK

[Hillel Gray @hgray]

@QueenMab87 perhaps the labeling goes like this: "A Zionist is anyone who does not reject Israel as a state. Do you reject Israel as a state?"

(I'm not supporting this definition, just exploring the POV that labels you a Zionist)

[Hillel Gray @hgray]

I'm hesitating on social media because of these kinds of criticisms and attacks, from left and right.

In religious studies, our work is dedicated to nuance. Don't we want students out of their comfort zones and into understanding a world that is complicated?

[Hillel Gray @hgray]

@SaraHirschhorn1 if I may ask, which groups in this "peace bloc" are publicly calling for a ceasefire, if any?
Truah seems to (asking Israel and Hamas)

[Hillel Gray @hgray]

Will this be a point of pride and a PR success for these anti-Israel activists?
Today: SJP and JVP suspended by Columbia University, over unauthorized demonstrations and their conduct.

[Alex Kane @alexbkane]

NEWS: Columbia University is suspending Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) as official student groups through the end of the fall term. https://t.co/ttTZbUYawC

[Hillel Gray @hgray]

@kampeas Brings to mind the Wikipedia debates about the use of the c*** slur among editors, which quite a few male editors (and some women?) defended. I think the antisemitic slur would not have been defended at all.