Pini Dunner
ARTICLES BY: Pini Dunner
Why the Seder and Exodus Should Make Us Optimistic
Countless studies have explored the usefulness of optimism as a psychological phenomenon, and all of them have demonstrated that optimists have a higher quality of...
Giving to Others Gives Our Life Meaning
Earlier this week, I read that Barbara Rickles had died at the age of 84. Her late husband, Don — who passed away in 2017,...
A Rabbi Becomes an American Citizen
I became an American citizen this week. Over the past nine and a half years, first there were visas, then there were green cards, and...
Parshat Ki Tissa and the Meaning of Jewish Community
Earlier this week, we moved back into our synagogue after a full calendar year of being unable to gather for services in our beautiful building....
My Brother Benzi, and How to Be Kind
My late brother Benzi died in a car accident in 2008. Although he is principally remembered for his superlative philanthropy — and to be fair,...
The Truth About Self-Interest
The celebrated American novelist Veronica Roth, whose Divergent trilogy was successfully adapted into a series of blockbuster sci-fi movies, deliberately infused her best-known work with...
Justice Denied Is God Denied
In the late 1880s, Charles “Andy” Hudspeth, a farmhand in Arkansas, made the mistake of becoming intimately involved with a married woman called Rebecca Watkins....
The Jewish Nation: Proof That the Impossible Is Possible
William L. Rowe (1931–2015) was a distinguished professor of philosophy at Purdue University, who specialized in the philosophy of religion. Although he discovered and embraced...
Seize the Moment, But Look to the Future
“Seize the moment — remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart!” I absolutely love that quote, not just because it...
Being a Righteous Jew Requires Showing Kindness to Others
Have you ever heard of Riceman? Probably not. He’s a YouTuber who will turn 28-years-old this Saturday. Born in Shanghai, China, his real name is...
The Power of ‘Thank You’
The 19th-century British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) is best remembered for his very focused personal ambition, coupled with his ability to allow political expediency...
Why American Jews Must Oppose Election Lies and Conspiracy Theories
The violent invasion of Congress by a mob of pro-Trump supporters has sent a paroxysm of fear across the United States, and the world. A...
Goodbye to 2020, and Looking Hopefully Ahead
On the first night of Pesach, we begin our Seder by asking Mah Nishtana Halayla Hazeh Mikol Haleilot? -- “why is this night different from...
Why Today’s Pathological Lying Harms Us All
The iconoclastic social philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), in his book Beyond Good and Evil, made a pithy observation about lying and how it affects relationships:...
