WASHINGTON, D.C. – Religion News Service is proud to announce a new addition to its lineup of commentators. Jeffrey K. Salkin, previously a blogger for The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, will offer RNS readers a Jewish perspective on news and American culture under the banner “Martini Judaism: For those who want to be shaken and stirred.”
Salkin is the rabbi of Temple Beth Am of Bayonne, N.J., and the author of numerous books on Jewish spirituality and ethics, published by Jewish Lights Publishing and Jewish Publication Society. Last week, Salkin won the 2014 Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council for a series of faith-based commentaries that appeared on religionnews.com and among RNS subscribers.
Salkin adds a strong Jewish voice to RNS’ multi-faith commentaries. But his writings, which address American religious and cultural life, may be appreciated by non-Jews and non-religious readers, too.
In introducing himself, Salkin said he was “interested in asking the hard questions.
He went on to explain:
“At its best, Judaism — and any religion — should shake our pre-conceived conceptions of the world and of society. Our religious faith might ask us to shake our heads over the conditions of the world and society. Our faith might shake us to the very depths of our beings.
And yes, our faith might stir us as well — stir us into contemplation, action, and repairing the world. Faith should be aspirational. It should compel us to refuse to leave the world the way that we found it.”
Among Salkin’s recent columns, he addressed what Judaism might say to parents who choose not to vaccinate their children, why a groundbreaking documentary about the Holocaust can barely say the word “Jew,” or how he might deliver a Christmas sermon if a Christian minister asked him to fill in.
Salkin joins a commentary lineup that includes Jonathan Merritt, On Faith and Culture, Jana Reiss’ Flunking Sainthood Eliel Cruz’ Faithful LGBT, and Tobin Grant’s Corner of Church and State.
RNS is a non-profit, limited liability corporation owned by the Religion Newswriters Foundation and based at the National Press Building in Washington, D.C., with a business office at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia, Mo. RNS’s mission is to provide in-depth, non-sectarian coverage of religion, spirituality and ideas.
