As we near the end of the year, the Revealer‘s contributors and editorial staff believe it is time to reflect on the collective traumas we have experienced and find hope in what 2021 may bring. In his letter to readers, Editor Brett Krutzsch considers the staggering death toll of COVID-19. A photo essay by Pete Kiehart explores the changes that some congregations have embraced in order to continue holding religious services during a pandemic. Renée Roden’s discussion of the Catholic Worker charity and social activist organization pairs with Rebecca Alpert’s book review of The Moral Triangle: Germans, Israelis, and Palestinians to demonstrate how social justice might be pursued in the new year. One last (well-deserved!) treat in this issue is an interview between Contributing Editor Kali Handelman and Darryl Li about his new book, The Universal Enemy: Jihad, Empire, and the Challenge of Solidarity, and why it is crucial to reconsider our existing assumptions about religion and religious violence.
To ease the pain of reliving 2020, we also include several upbeat articles, including a book excerpt from Jodi Eichler-Levine’s Painted Pomegranates and Needlepoint Rabbis, in which she discusses the affinity that Jewish women have for crafting and explains how crafting can be understood as a community-building practice. Eichler-Levine is also featured on this month’s episode of The Revealer Podcast. Finally, we give our readers a list of book recommendations to help us persevere through a difficult holiday season. May we all stay safe, healthy, and hopeful as we ring in the new year. Cheers!
