So, the Association for Jewish Studies conference wrapped up yesterday, and I’ve been ensconced in a post-conference conference until now. More on the post-conference conference in a bit, but for now, some tail-end scraps from the conference.
1. I know that for most folks, the goings-on at the AJS are not exactly front-page news, […]

Gawker has posted photos of last night’s Jewcy launch party with its usual snarky commentary to go with:
We were looking for signs of a media and/or publishing cabal, and while we did spot many dorky writers, they could hardly be said to be cabalistic. (Sorry, bad joke!) But we did notice that the brownies on […]

This is a reminder to all MyJewishLearning.com visitors that this weekend will mark the end of our promotion with Craig N Co. For those that do not already know, this Hanukkah , with your $36 or greater donation to MyJewishLearning.com, you can receive Craig & Co.’s newest release, The Shabbat Lounge. Or, with your $72 […]

So I was looking through our blog stats (how many people are visiting, where they’re coming from, etc) and I found a couple of funny search engine referrals.
Someone out there came to the MJL blog last week by typing the following into Google: “joel roth” “in the closet”
Joel Roth is, of course, one of […]

UPDATE: I thought it was funny enough that Yeshiva University President Richard Joel was nominated for MSNBC’s Boomer Hall of Fame (for Religion & Education), but get this: In fan voting, he’s leading the pack by a country mile.
You need to vote to see the up to the minute tally, but here’s the current count:
Richard […]

Yeah, they share a name, but televangelist Joel Osteen and Yeshiva University president Richard Joel have something else in common: They’ve both been nominated for MSNBC’s (Baby) Boomer Hall of Fame in the field of Religion & Education.
Richard Joel’s a great guy and all, but his presence on this list is almost as mysterious as […]

In discussing the “Next Big Jewish Idea” question, I cited Douglas Rushkoff’s writing on business innovation and noted his book on Judaism, Nothing Sacred, which caused a bit of a stir a few years ago, and prompted significant criticism.
This criticism was echoed in our comments when I suggested finding a way to, once again, bring […]

I’m at dinner (at a mexican restaurant). I can’t reflect on any of the day’s events as I spent all of today in a meeting. No kidding. No exaggeration. I was in a meeting from 8:30 until 3:00, With a lunch break. So I missed all of the panels, […]

Panels are where the business of the AJS conference happens. At worst, they’re dry presentations of old research. At best they’re engaging conversations about vital issues and ideas. Often, they’re just somewhere in the middle. Here are some highlights from yesterday and this morning’s panels – mostly quotations.
My panel (where I […]

Over at Jewcy.com, Douglas Rushkoff, the subject of some recent posts here, and our friend Rabbi Andy Bachman are duking out a God debate.
To dichotomize: Rushkoff is advocating some sort of disengagement from traditional God talk, whereas Bachman is defending God as “the point of our struggle.”
This conversation obviously feeds into my earlier post today […]