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.
He was the scholar who recognized that the Aramaic translation Targum Onkelos took hundreds of items from the Tannaitic Midrashim, which were edited around 400 CE; therefore, the Targum must have been composed after that date, a period much later than had been widely accepted.
He is the author of more than 50 books, including a series of five volumes on the Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible, and a series of books on the twelfth century philosopher Moses Maimonides, a history of the legal case he handled, and dozens of books on the Bible.
His works, available on Amazon, include:
*A Rational Approach to Judaism and Torah Commentary
*Can’t Start Passover Without the Bread (Children’s Literature) ***
*For God and Country: The History of a Constitutional Challenge to the Army Chaplaincy
*Maimonides and the Biblical Prophets
*Maimonides: Reason Above All
*Maimonides: The Exceptional Mind
*Mysteries of Judaism (Maimonides and Rational)
*Mysteries of Judaism II: How the Rabbis and Others Changed Judaism
*Nachmanides: An Unusual Thinker
*Onkelos on the Torah Understanding the Bible Text (5 Volume Set)**
*Onkelos on the Torah (Book 1: Genesis) **
*Onkelos on the Torah (Book 2: Exodus) **
*Onkelos on the Torah (Book 3: Leviticus) **
*Onkelos on the Torah (Book 4: Numbers) **
*Onkelos on the Torah (Book 5: Deuteronomy) **
*Sailing on Moti’s Ark on Sukkoth (Children’s Literature) ***
*Stories that Teach the Truth: Ecclesiastes, Tobit, Susanna, and Other Stories.
*Studies in Onkelos (Hebrew edition)
*Targum Onkelos to Exodus [2]: An English Translation of the Text with Analysis and Commentary
*Targum Onkelos to Leviticus [3]: An English Translation of the Text with Analysis and Commentary
*Targum Onkelos to Numbers [4]: An English Translation of the Text with Analysis and Commentary
Targum Onkelos to Deuteronomy [5]: An English Translation of the Text with Analysis and Commentary
*The Authentic King Solomon
*The Tragedies of King David
*Understanding Onkelos
*Unusual Bible Interpretations: Five Books of Moses (Maimonides and Rational)
*Unusual Bible Interpretations: Hosea
*Unusual Bible Interpretations: Jonah and Amos
*Unusual Bible Interpretations: Joshua
*Unusual Bible Interpretations: Judges
*Unusual Bible Interpretations: Ruth, Esther, Judith
*What’s Beyond the Biblical Text? **
*Who Really Was the Biblical David?
*Who Was the Biblical Prophet Samuel?
** Co-Authored with Stanley Wagner
** Co-Authored with Leba Lieder
By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Greek and Jewish myths, reports and tales appear at first blush to be remarkably similar, but there are stark differences in how each culture views God, the world, the presence of evil, the worth of people, their duty, and their future. Psychologists have recognized that one […]
Contrasting the Bible with Greek mythology Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — The following is from my book Mysteries of Judaism without the footnotes. The semi-holiday Lag B’omer is based on an unsubstantiated and unlikely tradition. Lag B’omer means the thirty-third day since bringing the barley harvest (omer) to the tabernacle and later temples to thank God for the barley harvest.
The Myth of Lag B’Omer Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle EastA Mother’s Day Tip By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — The Greek Hippocrates (about 460–about 377 BCE) is the most famous of all physicians and is considered the father of medicine. Many people of his age, as well as for a long time after his death, considered medicine a part of religion,
Physicians in ancient times warned against over- eating Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & EducationBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Rabbi Dr. Marc D. Angel’s A New World: An American Sephardic Memoir reads like an engrossing novel. It describes the transition of the Angel family from an immigrant Sephardic community into an Americanized group over several generations. In the process, it “reminisces” about the immigrant generation,
Review: ‘A New World: An American Sephardic Memoir’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Did Adam have an affair with a demon for 130 years? The book of Genesis tells readers that Adam and Eve’s first two children were Cain and Able. Then in Genesis 5:3, it states that when Adam was 130-years-old he had his third son Seth. The
How long did the people of the Bible live? Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida –There are two things I have been saying and then a third item came along and surprised me. I mentioned often that there is no concept of “sin” in the Hebrew Bible as a distorting stain upon the soul that requires a kind of supernatural atonement process,
The concept of ‘sin’ is not Jewish Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — My father Rabbi Dr. Nathan Drazin was a very wise man. He was a rabbi in Shaarei Tfiloh Congregation in Baltimore, Maryland for 31 years. I enjoyed listening to his sermons. The one I liked the best concerned his true interpretation of the incident where many
Did Jacob really wrestle with an angel? Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida –There are many interpretations of biblical event that people were taught to believe which are clearly untrue. The following are three examples. Adam lied to his wife resulting in a catastrophe Genesis 2:16-17 states that before Eve was created, “The Lord God commanded the man, saying: ‘You
Some common mistakes about Bible stories Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — The Torah says count weeks, but Jews count days. As I described in detail in my book Mysteries of Judaism, the ancient religious Jewish group Pharisees, who existed from about 320 BCE until 70 CE, and the rabbis who followed them changed all of the Jewish practices
Rabbis, not Torah, decreed counting days of the Omer Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Many Jewish practices are not as old as people think and many had no religious significance when first introduced. We do not even know how or when most Jewish practices began and why they began. We can only guess. And in many instances our guesses reveal
Passover Haroset’s mysterious origin Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Travel and Food, VideosBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Unlike Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which I describe in my book Mysteries of Judaism, the holiday of Passover did not continue to exist in a radically modified fashion with a new name after the temple was destroyed in 70 CE. It disappeared entirely and Chag
Where did those Passover traditions come from? Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion
Click here for related story By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Jordan B. Gorfinkel and Erez Zadok’s 2019 Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel, published by Koren Press, will delight parents and children. There are humorous comics explaining the Haggadah and Seder ceremonies in about half of the book’s 170 pages with the chad
Book Review: Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida –The Israelites’ first Passover, celebrated in Egypt just prior to the exodus and described in Exodus 12:1-11, was radically different from the Torah mandated holiday observed after the exodus. Exodus 12, which describes the Egyptian ceremony, raises many questions. (1) Why does the Torah command that “this
Why Was first Passover different from all others? Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Travel and FoodBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — There are two things I have been saying, and then a third item came along and surprised me. I mentioned often that there is no concept of “sin” in the Hebrew Bible as a distorting stain upon the soul that requires a kind of supernatural atonement
Sin versus ‘chet,’ ‘pesha’ and ‘avon’ Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion