I Am a Writing Desk

NYC, synagogue, Manhattan, diaspora, America, American families, queer life, trans man, men alone, single men, isolated men, solitude

Justin Cascio had to leave home to find his people: more than once.

My Kids Will Believe in the Almighty Power of Thought

Abandoned Bible, Joshua 18

“I cannot allow my children to close their minds to all the infinite possibilities of our world and our universe, only one of which is offered by any organized religion.”

Author Transcends Gender to Get to the Heart of Parenting

IntotheWilderness_bookcover section 2

Writer David Ebenbach’s latest collection of stories, Into the Wilderness, addresses the theme of parenting from the eyes of fathers and mothers

I’m an American Living in Israel and I’m going to Jail Rather Than Join the Israeli Defense Forces

Screen Shot 2012-10-29 at 6.01.49 PM

Moriel Rothman is refusing to serve in the IDF an act of protest against what he sees as an unjust and evil system. Here is his story.

The Circumcised Poet and Other Tales

7164368588_194fdda3d6_b

No matter what has been cut away, what remains is whole.

Why Do We Still Circumcise Boys?

shutterstock_94987099

Whether childhood circumcision is acceptable or not is an ethical question, not a medical one. Chuck Ross asks, why did we ever circumcise boys?

Be a Man: A Faithful Response to Violence

wrestling_flickr_tpower1978

Society tells us that a man fights back, but is that truly the best thing to do?

Cutting Through The Circumcision Rhetoric

Screen shot 2012-03-13 at 8.33.01 AM

After being confronted by Intactivists for his views on circumcision, Josh Bowman wants to cut through the rhetoric of the anti-circumcision movement.

Shehechiyanu

FRED ROGERS

Justin Cascio has a prayer, and he just wants to say “thank you.”

The Maccabeats: Good Jewish Boys Can Be Sexy, Too

_MG_7547

What happens when you mix Orthodox Judaism, sex, and pop music? Gaby Dunn investigates.

Ban on Circumcision Up for Vote in San Francisco

circumcisionban

A new ballot initiative in San Francisco could ban male circumcision in the city. Is this a win for “intactivists”?

The 10 at 10: December 10

photo via nasaimages.org

Christmas for Jewish parents, the world’s most dangerous leisure activity, and Obama turning white: the 10 at 10.

The Faith of a Wimp

lonnaj

In Tom Matlack’s last column, “Questioning My Faith,” he declined to choose a particular religion. One reader thinks that makes him a wimp. Here, they talk it out.