About Peter Bebergal
Bebergal is the coauthor, with Scott Korb, of The Faith Between Us. Peter is an editor for Zeek and is a frequent reviewer for The Believer, Boston Globe, and Jbooks.
My Big Fat Hassidic Bar Mitzvah
It’s 1979. I’m high in the air. For a split second I look down and below me are ten dark men with large hats and larger beards. I come down into their arms, safe, and they toss me up again, … Read More
Good News: Jesus Loves the Jews (and the Evangelicals Do, Too)
Last Friday in the New York Times, on page A13, the World Evangelical Alliance took out a full page ad headlined “The Gospel and the Jewish People: An Evangelical Statement.” The ad expresses their "genuine friendship and love for the … Read More
Hipster Intellectuals Who Believe in God
To say that we believe means that at the center of our lives is an idea of God. Now, our embarrassment, shame, nerves and fear around making this very simple claim have had mostly to do with wanting to keep … Read More
Not Nearly Geek Enough
As I stood with the other congregants, I felt an old tension wash over me. I was so glad to be here, so proud that there was something traditional that would soothe my yearning. But as things got started, I … Read More
Christmas: The Jewish Kryptonite
For a time, Christmas felt like a kind of kryptonite, in all its various colors and effects. Christmas carols, lights, Santa Claus, and even the inexplicable Stollen, produced in me various levels of discomfort, confusion, and even a little misplaced … Read More
From Brat Packer to Jewish Cowgirl
It’s rare that you hear about a celebrity’s foray into Judaism that doesn’t involve Philip Berg and the Kabbalah Centre. Madonna changed her name to Esther, but we haven’t yet seen an album bearing that nom de plume. Like Britney … Read More
What the Angry Atheists Get Wrong
Recent polemics by proud and angry atheists have gotten many of us—faithful and skeptical alike—thinking better of belief in God. Books like Sam Harris’s Letter to a Christian Nation, Richard Dawkins’s The God Delusion, and most recently, Christopher Hitchens’s God … Read More
Contemporary Psychedelia: From Transcendence to Immanence
1. Tripping Out and Tuning In What is psychedelia? What is loosely termed 'psychedelic music' has lately undergone a resurgence. Many mainstream musicians such as The Flaming Lips have drawn on its more accessible pop elements, drawing mainly from 60s … Read More