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Ira Bedzow

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Oct 21, 2026, 10:01 PM

Leaving Home Doesn’t Mean Leaving Everything Behind

The story of Abraham’s life opens with a dramatic declaration: “Leave your land and your relatives and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” This is different from the classic “hero’s journey” that mythologist Joseph...

Oct 15, 2026, 2:31 AM

Noach Teaches Us Why Being Good Isn’t Always Good Enough

People do not make decisions in isolation. Our environments influence what we notice, what motivates us, which actions become habitual, and how we understand ourselves. Imagine trying to eat more nutritiously, but at every Shabbat kiddush all you see...

Oct 7, 2026, 2:55 AM

Why Genesis Is a Story We Should Still Be Reading

This week we begin to read the book of Genesis, which starts with stories about the origins of humanity and, eventually, the Jewish people. I use the word story rather than history deliberately, not to call into question the...

Oct 7, 2021, 9:25 PM

Are You Speaking My Language?

No Biblical scene speaks louder to the contemporary moment than the depiction of the aftermath of the Tower of Babel. A community that once spoke a common language yet falls prey to the hubris that oftentimes accompanies human achievement...

Sep 24, 2021, 11:22 PM

Moral Peek-A-Boo

I always felt a little silly when playing peek-a-boo with my infant children, even when they would squeal with delight. I would imagine that they were laughing at me, not with me, thinking, “How could this guy believe that...

Sep 18, 2021, 12:20 AM

The Giving Tree and the Tree of Life

There are a few books on my shelf to which I continually turn. They do not only take up space in my library; they have carved a niche in my life and shape the way in which I see...

Jul 1, 2020, 8:18 AM

On Raising Idols and Razing Statues

Next Thursday marks the 17th of Tammuz on the Jewish calendar. The Jewish tradition ascribes five tragedies to the 17th of Tammuz, though the first one sets the leitmotif for the day and a lesson for our contemporary moment...

May 24, 2020, 10:55 PM

Leaving the cave

For months, I have been cooped up in my house, practicing social distancing, adapting to a new way of living. I spend hours a day in a room up in my attic. Sparse and Spartan in its functionality, the...

May 2, 2020, 10:31 PM

Saving ourselves from the Groundhog Day effect

In the weeks since “sheltering at home” began, we seem to be living in an eternal present. Because our most recent memories of anything different – or “out of the new ordinary” – are weeks old, we have a...

Apr 6, 2020, 5:54 PM

Balancing darkness and light as Passover 2020 approaches

As the weeks are turning into months, the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic is getting more and more difficult to bear. It is not simply that we are cooped up in our homes, frustrated and stressed, without an outlet to forget what’s...

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About Me

Ira Bedzow is an associate professor in the practice of organization and management at Goizueta Business School, an associate professor in the department of medicine at Emory School of Medicine, and a core faculty member at Emory University’s Center for Ethics. He is also the co-director of the Atlanta Rabbinic Leadership Lab.

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