Jonathan Carp, at The Blogs

Jonathan Carp

Aug 24, 2026, 5:21 AM

Before every role, there stands a human being My father was a family doctor. When I was a boy, he sometimes brought me on house calls, and I carried his black doctor’s bag. I thought there was magic inside it...

May 6, 2026, 1:03 AM

Gabor Maté and the Loss of Agency

Scale showing a feather outweighing a stone

How trauma-based psychology reshapes Jewish ideas of choice, responsibility, and power Trauma has become one of the dominant moral languages of our time. We use it to explain anger, addiction, violence, and even political conflict. This shift has helped many...

Feb 23, 2026, 5:15 AM

From Survival to Rootedness: Reading Joshua in an Age of Israeli Sovereignty

AI image of Joshua overlooking time and unity

Joshua does not begin with conquest. It begins with a command. “Be strong and courageous.” The phrase is repeated insistently. Before a single city falls or a border is drawn, the text addresses something interior. Strength and courage are not merely...

Jan 27, 2026, 12:34 AM

Moral Residue and the Jewish Ethics of ‘The Caine Mutiny’

I came to Herman Wouk late, a few years before COVID. I was at High Holiday services in a Chabad in San Francisco and struck up a conversation with a man sitting nearby—Israeli, former military. At one point he...

Dec 22, 2025, 2:57 PM

What I Missed About the Film “A Serious Man”

When I first watched A Serious Man, I left unsettled and slightly irritated. The rabbis seemed unhelpful. Larry felt weak. The suffering felt unexplained, and the ending felt almost unfair. My first reaction was that the movie was doing...

About Me

Jonathan Carp, MD, is a physician and writer interested in Jewish thought, moral responsibility, and the challenges of modern life. He writes reflective essays that explore how Jewish ideas about meaning, suffering, and obligation intersect with culture and lived experience.