Tanya White, at The Blogs

Mar 3, 2023, 12:15 PM

God is not in the earthquake, but in the still silent voice

A woman crying as she sits atop the rubble of her collapsed house in Yaylakonak village in Adiyaman district, a Kurdish alevi community village where 108 people died and 170 houses collapsed after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck parts of Turkey and Syria, February 19, 2023. (BULENT KILIC / AFP)

The idea that suffering is divine punishment doesn't ring true anymore, but focusing on the pain of another allows for a profound take on the problem of evil

Oct 14, 2022, 2:03 PM

Featured Post

The enduring message of Kohelet for our transient times

'Cain and Abel Offering Up Sacrifices.' (via Twitter)

When we become aware of how fleeting the breath of existence, we may get angry, as Cain did, or we can come to terms with it, and allow it to elevate us

Apr 27, 2022, 5:27 PM

Featured Post

Why do bad things happen? It’s time to rethink Holocaust theology

My maternal grandfather, a Holocaust survivor fighting in Israel's War of Independence. (courtesy)

We say 'never again' and cry tears at unimaginable horrors. But are we really moved if we are not shocked out of our theological and religious comfort zones?

Feb 18, 2022, 2:32 PM

Featured Post

When the Golden Calf meets the TikTok Daf

'Adoration of the Golden Calf,' by Nicolas Poussin, 17th century.

At the heart of the Tabernacle lies the Golden Calf, for all divine worship involving creativity and human interpretation holds the potential for idolatry

Jan 8, 2021, 11:58 AM

Featured Post

Our leaders can learn from Miriam the prophetess

Her very name means 'bitter.' She knew that evil exists. And she confronted Pharaoh anyway, in her hope for a better tomorrow

Nov 8, 2020, 11:12 AM

in memoriam

Only tears: Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z”l

On the impact of this educator, philosopher, rabbi, teacher, who conversed with world-class leaders and thinkers, yet managed to stir the hearts, souls, and minds of regular folks

Oct 30, 2020, 1:56 AM

Featured Post

Shattering hubris in our ‘old-new’ land

Abram Journeying into the Land of Canaan (engraving by Gustave Doré from the 1865 La Sainte Bible)

Abraham was on the move to find his truth, which led him to doubt the broken idols of home and mind; and to renew his path of mystery, beauty, and wonder. We can do no less

Oct 5, 2020, 9:37 PM

Kohelet in Corona – When there isn’t a time to everything

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven" A time for work, a time for childcare, A time for academic discourse, a time for consoling teenage sorrow, A time for career, a time for...

Jun 12, 2020, 1:19 PM

Featured Post

History is never black and white

The Gizah Pyramids in Egypt, built by slaves. (Ricardo Liberato, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.00.

Destroying the monuments of history does not redeem the past; rather, what brings us forward is facing the past with moral responsibility, humility, and openness (Shelach)

Apr 28, 2020, 10:35 AM

Featured Post

The siren in our time of solitude calls to life

In a different year, when social distancing was not yet relevant: people stand in silence next to graves of Israeli soldiers at the Mt. Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, as a two-minute siren sounded across Israel, marking Memorial Day which commemorates Israel's fallen soldiers and victims of terror. April 18, 2018. (Miriam Alster/ Flash90)

The siren's call makes me sorrow for a nation on the brink of extinction -- before it reverses course to rise up like a phoenix, with its iridescent colors of survival

About Me

Dr. Tanya White is an international lecturer, writer and educator with a focus on Tanach and Contemporary Jewish Thought. She is a senior lecturer at the Matan Institute of Torah Learning as well as teaching in Pardes, LSJS and acting as scholar in residence for many communities in Israel and abroad. She has a doctorate in Jewish Philosophy from Bar Ilan University and is the recipient of Schupf Fellowship for outstanding students. Tanya has published numerous articles in books and on social media. To contact her or read more of her ideas visit her webpage www.tanyawhite.org

Contact Me