Stephen Daniel Arnoff, at The Blogs

Stephen Daniel Arnoff

Author, Teacher, and Community Leader

Apr 18, 2024, 12:23 PM

This Passover, learn from Rachel Goldberg-Polin's conviction, for our destiny depends on the capacity for profound and rapid change for the better

Mar 28, 2024, 5:21 AM

Faith in a Taxi

Taxi drivers in the two cities where I have lived most in my adult life used to be legendary. In New York, you had the cabbie with the hundreds of stuffed animals front seat to back, seatbelt-free early-morning marauders...

Mar 21, 2024, 9:35 AM

Purim Is No Joke

A friend reminded me of an old joke this week: Do you know the difference between a pessimist and an optimist? The pessimist says, 'It can't possibly get any worse than this.' The optimist says, 'Of course it can!' How do we...

Mar 14, 2024, 11:14 AM

Empathy or sympathy?

My friend Michael “Mickey” Berman was the first person I reached out to for help on October 8th after the shock of the day before had subsided slightly. A group of people had huddled around Rachel Goldberg and Jon...

Mar 7, 2024, 3:33 PM

Featured Post

Is it the end of a Jewish Golden Age?

A star of David carved into a rock wall window on the grounds of the Mt. Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem. (iStock)

I refuse to believe that we are destined to slip down the ladder and into the abyss rung by rung – a response to Franklin Foer

Jan 25, 2024, 8:36 AM

Like a Diamond in the Dark

Sigmund Freud said that as painful as depression may be, it is also a clear sign that something important taking shape inside of a person. “Another day of anger, bitterness, and doubt,” mystic master Bob Dylan sings, I know how it...

Dec 21, 2023, 12:50 AM

In Faith, Cut Out the Middle Man

As a dishwasher at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, MA thirty years ago, I was walking down Bridge Street to help with kitchen prep for that evening's sold out Billy Bragg show when I bumped into Billy...

Dec 7, 2023, 10:47 AM

Be Cool or Be Cast Out

I'm writing from Cleveland, OH, my hometown, visiting family and donors and partners and very eager to get back home. Cleveland is the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, a meat and potatoes music town...

Nov 29, 2023, 9:15 AM

Mother of Muses

Three nights ago I had a dream that Bob Dylan's manager called me. "Stephen," he said. "Bob is willing to meet, but you'll need 238 likes and about 100 academics to make it happen." I played it cool. Jeff Rosen,...

Nov 22, 2023, 10:04 AM

Everything You Want for Thanksgiving During War

I'll be listening to Arlo Guthrie's “Alice's Restaurant" from my kitchen in Jerusalem tomorrow. Though I moved to Israel from the US in 1994, I enjoyed quite a few Thanksgivings with the kids during stints for work in New...

About Me

Dr. Stephen Daniel Arnoff is the CEO of the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center and author of the book About Man and God and Law: The Spiritual Wisdom of Bob Dylan.

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