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Bryan Schwartz

Law Professor, Author of "Sacred Goof" and "Consoulation: A Musical Mediation"

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Nov 1, 2025, 10:07 PM

Lot the Ruthless?

Abraham was a great man. He not only spoke with God, but even at one point argued with him. He was both a successful warrior and a flexible peacemaker. He fathered many children with three different partners. He was...

Oct 29, 2025, 10:43 AM

Lech Lecha: Beyond our Kin, Beyond our Ken

In this week's Torah reading, Lech Lecha, Abraham is suddenly ordered to leave his birthplace, the home of his father. He must go to a land that God will show him (Genesis 12:1). It sounds like he is radically...

Oct 20, 2025, 12:58 PM

Noah and the Arks of History

The Bible and the later Jewish commentary contain many concepts, words, symbols that sing to each other across distance and time. A symbol, a phrase, an image from an earlier text may interact with a later one; the meaning...

Oct 8, 2025, 8:10 PM

The Infinitely Generative Power of Genesis

Next week's Torah reading begins at the beginning of the beginning, with the first chapter of Genesis—469 words in the original Hebrew, 597 in the JPS translation—describing the creation of the world in a way that has fundamentally changed...

Oct 5, 2025, 6:07 PM

Sukkot: Transience and Transcendence

The Jewish tradition is largely about joy. At first, that doesn’t sound right. Have we not had a tragic history? Do we not still suffer? Was not this past year alone excruciating? There is a distinctive Jewish concept of...

Sep 21, 2025, 6:45 PM

A Nation of Priests, Not Merely with Priests

In this week's Parsha, Haazinu, the whole congregation of Israelites gather together to hear Moses read a poem. God has ordered that this poem be written down and read from time to time to the entire people. Who performs...

Sep 19, 2025, 9:19 AM

All in Good Time

In Jewish Integrated Time, every moment derives its meaning from the past, is intrinsically important, and is connected with the future, the nature of which will depend largely on the choices we make today. The whole arc of history...

Sep 11, 2025, 7:14 AM

The Art of “What About the Deal?”

Deuteronomy—including this week's Torah reading, Ki Tavo—proposes a stark incentive system for the Israelites. Obey the revealed laws of God, and you and your descendants will prosper in the land of Israel (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). The other nations will admire and...

Sep 1, 2025, 8:00 AM

Judging the Torah

-in memory of Nella Eskin, who judged the world and its people with kindness Last week’s parsha, Shoftim, was about the need for judges. It calls for us to seek justice everywhere (Deuteronomy 16:20). So how do we judge other human...

Aug 29, 2025, 12:17 AM

Due-tero Process

Deuteronomy sets out principles and rules for specific cases, and demands that the Israelites not veer to the left or right in their compliance (Deuteronomy 5:32). It might sound algorithmic. Put in facts, and it results in a legal...

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About Me

Bryan Schwartz has a doctoral degree in law from Yale, decades of experience as a university professor, has received a King's Counsel designation as a practising lawyer, and is a musical theatre composer and songwriter. In June of 2025 he received a rabbinical ordination from the Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute. He has written or edited thirty six books and authored over three hundred publications in all. For more information about Bryan’s legal and academic work, please visit: https://bryan-schwartz.com/. For his musical and Judaica productions, please visit https://www.sacredgoof.ca/

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