Erica Brown, at The Blogs

Nov 22, 2023, 1:21 PM

Posters of the hostages abducted to Gaza by Hamas on October 7, 2023, line the walkway to the arrivals hall at Ben-Gurion airport. (via Facebook)

Anxiety about Israel at war, the hostages, antisemitism (the list goes on) makes it hard to give thanks, but it's exactly the right thing to do

Sep 29, 2023, 2:11 PM

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The Book of Kohelet and a cup of joy

Sure, Ecclesiastes pitches existential dread, but its clusters of optimism remind us that there's a time for everything, even coffee

Dec 23, 2022, 3:11 PM

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My Peloton Hanukkah inspiration

Illustrative. A Hanukkah menorah (Flash90)

When the instructors say they see me, it's sappy, but it works: my holiday workout made me feel visible as a Jew, despite the baseless hate out there

Oct 26, 2022, 2:49 PM

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WWJSD? (What Would Jonathan Sacks Do?)

In his absence, I survey what he's written, recall when I learned from him, and work to shift the outsized role politics plays in our lives these days

Sep 6, 2021, 1:00 PM

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Why centrist Orthodox living doesn’t make good TV

A young teen receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the Misgav Ladach hospital in Jerusalem on June 6, 2021, as Israel begins its coronavirus vaccination campaign for 12- to 15-year-olds. (Menahem KAHANA/AFP)

This year has taught us the importance of taking responsibility for our own vigilance, so that when things go wrong, we ask not, 'where was God,' but, 'where are we?'

Nov 17, 2020, 12:24 AM

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When scholars die

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks was first and foremost a servant leader. With his death, the world lost a prophetic and courageous voice— and I lost my rabbi

May 29, 2018, 11:02 PM

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Done with grades

You want to teach life-long learners? Grow students' souls? Stop crippling them with report card stress

May 1, 2018, 11:03 PM

Marking Time

We are always counting something. We count up to intensify excitement. We count down as a way to quicken the relief when we desperately wish something would end already, like a prison sentence or the school year. In most...

Apr 4, 2018, 8:31 AM

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Makes a nice sandwich (generation)

Illustrative: Multigenerational Passover seder. (iStock)

The sweet, broken bitterness of matzah, maror, and haroset captures what it means to care for both children and parents

Mar 28, 2018, 7:12 PM

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The 10-second seder

A seder table. (Courtesy, via the Jewish Week)

It will get you to the food faster, but will it really make this night different from all other nights?

About Me

Dr. Erica Brown is the Vice Provost for Values and Leadership at Yeshiva University and the director of its Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks–Herenstein Center. Her latest book is Ecclesiastes and the Search for Meaning (Maggid Books).