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.
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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
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By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Relying on prayer and divine help in daily life and when problems arise and not following the wise advice of Maimonides to use one’s intelligence, study the laws of nature, and act according to these laws, laws created by God, can, and usually does result in […]
Waiting for divine help can result in tragedy Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — One of the fundamental principles of Orthodox Judaism is the belief that there is a Written and an Oral Torah, both of which were revealed by God to Moses. Quite a few Orthodox rabbis declare that if a Jew does not accept this teaching, the Jew is not
A novel opinion about the Oral Torah Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — God is described in the Bible as Y-h-v-h, which is called “the
The meanings of the names we associate with God Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin
Jewish views of Satan and demons Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — The “Yeshiva world,” is comprised for the most part of schools where far-right rabbis teach Jewish students their view of Judaism, a religion that rejects secular studies as harmful and heretical. Many far-right rabbis respect Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, his code of Jewish laws, but not his
How later rabbis distorted the Rambam’s teachings Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA
The myths behind Judaism’s summer fasts Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Maimonides: Between Philosophy and Halakhah: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s Lectures on the Guide of the Perplexed is interesting because it shows the basic ideas of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s thinking. But readers should not suppose that they will gain an insight into the teachings of Maimonides or even some
Book prompts Jewish rationalism vs. mysticism debate Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — The story of Peter Abelard (1079-1142) and Heloise (1095-1163) is considered a great medieval love story. We have still today Abelard’s autobiography and letters between the parties, so we know much but not all of the love story. James Burge’s Heloise and Abelard is an interesting
Abelard & Heloise: A medieval love story Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr.By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — There are many instances where both Jews and non-Jews tell stories with some variations on the same plot. In many of these instances, the Jewish version attempts to use its version to teach Jews proper behavior. The following is an example. Rip Van Winkle Washington Irving (1783-1859)
How a Jewish tale differs from others Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Most people are convinced that there are comparatively few Jews in the world, only about 13.3 million in 2001, about 1.4 percent of the world population. Of these 4.9 million lived in Israel and 8.3 million outside the Holy Land. Logic would dictate that the actual
Those of Jewish blood quite populous Read More »
International, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USABy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — During the holiday of Shavuot, the practice in many synagogues is to read the beautiful biblical book Ruth. Various reasons attempt to explain the practice including that Ruth is said to have converted to Judaism around the time of Shavuot and so did the Israelites when
Shavuot and the reading of the Book of Ruth Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Whether one agrees with Michael Shapiro’s listings in his 1995 book The Jewish 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Jews of all Time or not, the book should make us think not only whether we would agree with his selections, whether we would delete
Who’d be on your ‘Top 100’ list of Jews? Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Jewish Religion