AAA-Writers and photographers

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Haredim and archaeologists in the Holy Land have never been especially fond of each other. Traditionally, they are a little bit like meat and milk. By themselves, each is fine. However, when they get together, they create a combustive chemistry. Whenever an archeological excavation takes place, […]

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California —In this week’s parsha we read about the death of Aaron’s two sons, who died from an accidental explosion in the Tabernacle. Aaron’s reaction is quite telling–despite the absence of scriptural detail from the narrator. As is often the case with biblical narrative, more is said by

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Our tradition is a tapestry of stories. Every generation weaves its own unique color and threads as we make a mosaic about our history and family memories. Whenever our family of survivors told us about their experiences in the concentration camps, I used to marvel at their

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA,  California — Among the non‑Orthodox rabbis who were placed in the concentration camps, Rabbi Leo Baeck provides one of the most outstanding examples of shepherding of that era. Baeck’s saintly conduct served as an inspiration to all who were with him in the camp. In the years prior

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California –Nothing challenges the belief in a benevolent God like the ubiquity of evil in the world.  For the Jewish people, the experience of the Holocaust revealed the inadequacy of traditional theology. The God of the Exodus seemed “to be out for lunch.”  Asked in more simple and