By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — As Pesach approaches, we need to clean the chametz out of our lives. There is some leftover Hamantaschen business in my life that I need to dispose of. Right before Purim I wrote an article about Hamantaschen. I explained the origins of the triangular cookie, but said I […]
The origin of baking ‘Haman’s ears’ Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO — A newlywed couple in Jerusalem was spending their first Passover Seder at her parents. The girl was from a very prominent religious family. The boy was a budding Torah scholar. Both came from families of sterling character and reputation. During the meal, the young man noticed something floating
The Passover case of the stray wheat grain Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California–With great anticipation, I was intrigued who the next Pope was going to be. Then the news came on the airwaves: Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was chosen the next Pope; and he has chosen the name, “Francis I,” after the St. Francis of Assisi because he
The new Pope is a mentsch Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — “I was wrong. I am sorry. Please forgive me.” These are rare words indeed, but I heard them pronounced clearly by a woman I once worked for, and whom I still admire. She was the superintendent of a small school district just outside of Washington, DC. Several
The necessity of a sincere apology Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Leah R. Singer SAN DIEGO — It may come as a surprise that Jews and Arabs both call Kentucky home. Even more of a shock, however, is the women of these two very different immigrants groups are actually quite similar as each struggle with negotiating their identities. Growing up in Kentucky as
Jewish, Arab women share challenges in Kentucky Read More »
Jewish Religion-Third in a series– The Gaon of Vilna and His Messianic Vision. By Arie Morgenstern, Translated by Naftali Greenwood. Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing House, 2012, Pp. xiii + 446; plates. Cloth, $29.95. I would give this book 4 stars! By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — When I received Morgenstern’s book, The Gaon of Vilna and His
The Gaon vs. the Hasidim Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Most modern Jews have considerable difficulty understanding why the Satmar, Chabad, Belzer, and other Hassidic movements oppose Zionism. In this short article, I will try to explain some of the theological and exegetical background regarding the history of this problem. In the course of the
The Vilna Gaon: A harbinger of Zionism Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO –The Kapischnitzer Rebbe, Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heschel (1888-1967), was renowned for his love of every Jew. He lived in a very modest apartment. The furniture was simple and the floors were worn. Yet that was all he and his wife needed. One day, the Rebbe’s daughter said to him,
What is a ‘necessity?’ Read More »
Jewish ReligionThe Gaon of Vilna and His Messianic Vision by Arie Morgenstern, translated by Naftali Greenwood. Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing House, 2012, Pp. xiii + 446; plates. Cloth, $29.95. I would give this book 4 stars! -First in a series — By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California –The Vilna Gaon’s life is the stuff that
The Vilna Gaon: a rationalist and a mystic Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
SAN DIEGO– Melanie Rubin, our license plate maven, spotted this vanity plate, owned by Safta L, who no doubt is very proud of all her grandchildren. Whatever else the “L” stands for, it stands for “love.”
Jewish-interest license plate: Safta L Read More »
Jewish Religion, Melanie RubinBy Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — “Words, words, words!”, he shouted at me. He was a young man, raised as an observant Jew, but now in rebellion against his traditional upbringing. His parents had asked me to meet with him for several sessions to see if I could at least temper his
Judaism not just ‘words, words, words’ Read More »
Jewish ReligionThe Fed-Up Man of Faith: Challenging God in the Face of Tragedy and Suffering by Shmuley Boteach, Gefen Publishing House, Jerusalem, New York; ISBN 978-965-229-606-1 ©2012, $24.95, p. 340, plus addenda By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — World-renown Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, in his latest book The Fed-Up Man of Faith, continues on the path
Challenging God in the face of tragedy Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Purim is here once more. For me, it is a bitter-sweet holiday. The year was 1996. Earlier that day, I went to the hospital to wish my father a “Freilach Purim” (Happy Purim). I was reading the Megillah for my synagogue, when suddenly, somebody informed
A Survivor chooses the day to die Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Rabbi Michael Leo SamuelCHULA VISTA, California — Purim Fest 1946. During the Holocaust years, Purim celebrations were forbidden to the Jews. Christians and Jews could not even own the book of Esther. Such decrees did not stop the Nazis from poking fun at the Jews on this Jewish holiday. With diabolical glee, the Nazis
Purim Fest 1946: The tale of Julius Streicher Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi