Haftorah Reading for Ki Tissa is I Kings 18:1-39 By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — In these all prose “prophetic” passages by unknown writers, we are introduced to a ‘miracle’ induced by ‘atypical prophet’ Elijah during the reign of King Ahab of the Northern Kingdom (871-852). This was in the era of unknown […]
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Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion
By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — What counts in your life? Rather, what do you make count in your life? This week’s parasha may seem a bit “obsessed” with counting. “When you take the sum of the children of Israel according to their numbers, let each one give to the Lord an atonement
Parashat Ki Tisa: Counting What Matters Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Haim Jachter, the rabbi of a Sephardic synagogue for more than 20 years who is of Ashkenazic descent and trained in Ashkenazic yeshivot, tells readers about more than 100 differences in the religious practices between Ashkenazim and Sephardim. Ashkenazim are Jews of eastern European descent. Sephardic
Book Provides Comprehensive Analysis of Sephardic-Ashkenazi Differences Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — It’s been 60 years since I hearkened to the glorious words, “Yaamod Ha’Bachor ha’Bar Mitzvah Moshe Rafoyel ben Betzalel Shlishi,” and chanted this parasha, Tetzaveh, at Temple B’nai Abraham in Newark, N.J., under the watchful eye and full heart of Rabbi Joachim Prinz, zt”l. I recall our
Parashat Tetzaveh: Our Spirituality is Deep Within Us Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — American Shtetl: The Making of Kiryas Joel, A Hasidic Village in Upstate New York is a brilliant, eye-opening, thought provoking, easy to read and enjoyable book by two university scholars, Nomi M. Stolzenberg of the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law, who has written
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionHaftorah Reading for TeTzaveh is Ezekiel 43:10-27 By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — In these all prose passages, we are bamboozled by a flood of word salad and redundancy. We have previously established that all the prophets were psychotic, i.e. the definition of psychosis specifies that it includes one who claims to converse
Haftorah for February 12, 2022 Read More »
Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion
By Menachem Posner Chabad.org/News BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Viewers of Chabad.org/Video and consumers of the website’s in-depth essays have long known and enjoyed the prolific scholarly output of Rabbi Aaron L. Raskin, Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to Downtown Brooklyn and rabbi of Congregation B’nai Avraham in Brooklyn Heights. The rabbi’s most recent work, Simanim: Parsha Mnemonics, provides a
Discussing the Secrets of Torah Numerology with Author Rabbi Aaron Raskin Read More »
Jewish Religion, USABy Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. In this week’s Torah reading, we learn of a gift that Hashem has given to us, yes, another gift, this, the gift of giving. Want to grow happier and more joyful than you are? Terumah teaches us a way — give. Want to live with a sense of abundance and
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Jewish Religion, Michael MantellHaftorah Reading for Terumah is I Kings 5:26-6:13 By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — These brief all-prose passages from “The Former Unnamed Prophets” purport to summarize a description of the construction of the First Temple, i.e. King Solomon’s “house.” Solomon is depicted simply as wise, via a gift from the LORD. [1] The
Haftorah for February 5, 2022 Read More »
Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Whoopi Goldberg was wrong but as far as I’m concerned, the folks at ABC and The View were too harsh when they suspended her for two weeks. Let me explain. In a discussion of the Holocaust on The View television show, Goldberg commented that the Holocaust wasn’t racist
OpEd: Whoopi Goldberg’s Mistake Wasn’t So Terrible Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Opinion, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Teresa Konopka SAN DIEGO — When reading tales of our ancestors in the Torah, it can seem more like fiction than fact. The characters are distant peoples from faraway lands whose personal lives we can only speculate about. As the same parshas are read year after year, it is easy to be desensitized to
A New Appreciation for Moses Read More »
Jewish Religion, Opinion, Teresa_Konopka
This charming book tells in rhyming couplets the story of a Passover celebration from the viewpoint of young children in a multiracial Jewish family. [Donald H. Harrison]
Children’s Literature: ‘Passover, Here I Come!’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Bart Denton Ehrman, born on 10/5/55, a PhD American New Testament scholar and author or editor of several dozen very popular, fascinating, and informative books, began life as a fundamentalist Christian, became a minister, and preached in churches. But he gave up Christianity and became an
Why Is There Suffering in the World? Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion
“The Foundation of Judaism,” by Akiva Aaronson (originally published by Targum Press, Inc. 1997, 2000); Feldheim Publishers, 2021; ISBN: 978-1680254815; 216 pages. By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — I just finished composing my weekly D’var Torah on parashat Terumah, focusing on gifts, and a surprise parcel arrived at my front door. A delightful
Book Expands Cerebral Understanding of the Jewish Faith Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell