Dr. Israel Drazin served for 31 years in the US military and attained the rank of Brigadier General. He has a PhD in Judaic Studies and a Masters Degree in psychology and a Masters Degree in Jewish Literature. He is an attorney and a rabbi.
He developed the legal strategy that saved the military chaplaincies when its constitutionality was attacked in court, and received the Legion of Merit for his service.
By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Rabbi Dr. Dan Ornstein has written the easy-to-read “Cain v. Abel: A Jewish Courtroom Drama,” an interesting, thoughtful, eye-opening, and thought-provoking book based on the two-dozen biblical sentences in Genesis 4 that report the fraternal murder of Abel by his brother Cain. Rabbi Ornstein includes the […]
The Cain v. Abel Trial Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionThe very introduction to the Bible is obscure. We would have expected the introduction to tell us why God created the world and what God expects from humans, a problem that bothered the famous Bible commentator Rashi (1040-1105), but instead chapters 1 and 2 and other parts of the Bible are obscure, as can be seen in the following items. The obscurities are apparently purposely opaque to prompt us to think, and by thinking improve ourselves and society. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
A Rabbi’s Questions about Adam and Eve Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionAs with all of the prior men and women mentioned in the Bible, including Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, patriarchs whom we might expect that the Torah would give us plenty of information about, there is nothing about Isaac’s wife Rebekah that is crystal clear. Every fact and every event is obscure. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
Questions Linger about Rebekah Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — The biblical story of the flood during the days of Noah raises many questions, especially about divine punishments, and the answers help us to understand how to interpret biblical events. Some of the questions are: Why did divine punishments vary in delivery? Some examples are as
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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionVirtually all, if not all that we are told about Isaac is obscure, as with Abraham and Jacob. The Torah leaves out explanations for behaviors, leaving it to us to imagine what occurred and to derive meaning from our own ideas. The following are some examples of opaque events. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
What Do We Know About Isaac, the Second Patriarch? Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionA careful analysis of Abraham’s nephew Lot raises the question of whether or not he was a righteous man. What did he do to merit saving when the people among whom he lived died by fire? We may think we know about him, but actually virtually everything the Torah tells us about him is obscure, requiring us to make up our own interpretations and learn lessons from them. There are rational interpretations by rabbis and scholars as well as mystical and midrashic ones. Which should we accept? The following are some questionable items. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
What do we know about Lot, Abraham’s nephew? Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionMost people think they know a lot about Abraham the father of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. They are mistaken. The events recorded about Abraham in scripture are generally if not always obscure. When the Bible does not clarify exactly what is happening, people tend to imagine details and come to think of them as really happening in the Bible. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
What do we know about Abraham? Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion
Using many sources, including hundreds of anecdotes, former US Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (1985-1987) and Under Secretary of Defense (2001-2004) Rabbi Dr. Dov S. Zakheim, author of Nehemiah: Statesman and Sage (Maggid Books, 2016), gives us a very informative and riveting, easy to read biography of one of the most important figures of ancient Jewry, Rabbi Judah the Prince (135-217), also called Rebbe, “Teacher.” He was the man who had Judaism’s Oral Law put into writing, called the Mishna, which became the basis of the Talmud. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
The Life and Times of Rabbi Judah the Prince Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish ReligionI saw the film Hannah’s War about the heroine and martyr Hannah Senesh on TV. I feel that it is a film everyone should see. It is very moving. Hannah Senesh is one of Israel’s most important heroines. She was born on July 17, 1921 in Budapest, Hungary, and died on November 7, 1944 in Budapest, murdered by a firing squad at age 23, after refusing a blindfold, but looking straight at the pro-Nazi Hungarian firing squad that killed her. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
The Legacy of Hannah Senesh Read More »
International, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Middle EastBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — One of the most lamentable recent events was the death of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, who was born in 1948 and died on November 7, 2020. He was a British Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, theologian, award-winning author, international religious leader, respected moral voice, and public figure. He
The Legacy of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion
Rabbi Dr, Michael Leo Samuel of Chula Vista, California, is one of the top world experts on Maimonides and Philo. His books on both philosophers are filled with easy to read information that will open the eyes and minds of readers. Maimonides’ Hidden Torah Commentary to Deuteronomy is the final book of Rabbi Samuel’s series on Maimonides’ hidden Torah commentary. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
Chula Vista Rabbi A ‘Top World Expert’ on Maimonides and Philo Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — There is a remarkable similarity between Noah and Adam that should prompt us to think and understand each of the two biblical figure in a deeper manner. The following are some of the similarities. Both were the fathers of all future generations. Their names indicated their
Noah, the Second Adam Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Many Jews feel that biblical time frames and dating were never meant to be taken literally. The Bible is not a history book. It is designed to teach about the existence of God and proper behavior. The world may have been created over a very long
Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel, author of Maimonides’ Hidden Torah Commentary, Leviticus, has made a significant contribution to posterity by writing this beautiful book and bringing the thinking of Maimonides and many dozens of others, ancient and modern, Jewish and non-Jewish, rational and mystic, to his readers. Among many other sources, he focuses on the writings of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, his Guide of the Perplexed, his commentary to the Mishnah, his ethical work Shemoneh Perakim, as well as his Responsa, and even the Commentary on Exodus that his son Abraham wrote. This volume follows his successful books about Maimonides on Genesis and Exodus. He reveals much that many people do not know and does so in a clear easy to read and engaging fashion. There is much in these books that we can learn. [Rabbi Dr. israel Drazin]
Book on Maimonides Clarifies Many Rules of Judaism Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi