By Rabbi Joshua Dorsch SAN DIEGO — Tonight, we will begin celebrating Passover. Many of us will have the opportunity to sit around a Seder table with family and friends, sharing a festive meal, while we tell the story of the ancient Israelites’ journey from servitude towards redemption. It is a dramatic story. There are […]
Passover and the blessing of freedom Read More »
Jewish Religion, San Diego CountyBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — The late Bernard Lewis, the great scholar of Islam, has written about how Muslims have adopted Christian anti-Semitism for their own polemics against Jews, Zionism and the State of Israel. A recent illustration of a notorious, persistent and lethal lie is provided by a video posted on YouTube last
Matzah and the blood libel Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle EastBy 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
By Moshe Dann JERUSALEM — Although Jews have been retelling the story of the Exodus from Egypt at the Pesach Seder for millennia, the Haggadah as we know it was compiled during the Gaonic period (8th-9th century CE) in Babylon, with additional songs written by Jews probably during the Middle Ages. Based on Torah, Mishna
Who compiled the Haggadah, and why? Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish Religion, Middle EastBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — As Jews are observing the Passover holiday this coming weekend, recalling a time when our ancestors left Egypt, the land of their oppression, we are witnessing a new kind of Exodus taking place today: Jews are leaving France in record numbers amidst the rising anti-Semitic attacks that have
Sometimes, “It’s Hard to Be a Jew” Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Simmy Allen JERUSALEM — The Pesach holiday – which marks the Jewish people’s exodus from enslavement in ancient Egypt – was never more reminiscent in modern times as during the Holocaust. In the Pesach Haggadah, which recounts the miraculous story, Jews are told to proclaim: “This year we are here; next year we will
Pesach during the Holocaust Read More »
International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Often the greatest critics of religion offer us a series of criticism about the depth of our faith; they confront us with our hypocrisy. They challenge us to reexamine what it means to “believe.” As a young teenager, I remember hiding Raphael Patai’s book, Hebrew Myths in
Book Review: ‘In Good Faith’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy 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 ReligionBy Rabbi Joshua Dorsch SAN DIEGO — This Shabbat, the Shabbat before Passover, is referred to as Shabbat HaGadol – The Great Shabbat. Shabbat HaGadol is the last of what has been a series of special Shabbats, leading up to Passover. We have several special Shabbats sprinkled throughout the year – each one singled out
Why do we call this Shabbat ‘Shabbat HaGadol’? Read More »
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 Religion
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Superhero comics have been influenced greatly by Jewish life in the United States and by Torah learning, according to Jordan Gorfinkel, 51, the entertainment entrepreneur who managed the Batman franchise for a decade before creating his own Avalanche Comics Entertainment company. In the sanctuary of Tifereth Israel Synagogue
Superman, Batman and deeper Torah concepts Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & BroadcastBy 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 Food
Radical Inclusion: Engaging Interfaith Families for a Thriving Jewish Future by Edmund Case, © 2019 Center for Radically Inclusive Judaism, ISBN 9781732-938809l, 265 pages, $19.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – If I understand author Edmund Case’s basic premise, it is if people “do Jewish,” then for all practical purposes, they are members of
Book Review: ‘Radical Inclusion’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish ReligionMaimonides’ Hidden Torah Commentaries, Genesis 1-21 by Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel, First Edition Design Publishing, Inc., Sarasota, FL, © 2016, Published January 2019, ISBN 978-1506-907-16-1, p. 294 plus bibliography and index, $21.95. By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California – Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel, author of Maimonides’ Hidden Torah Commentaries, is also the author of a multi-volume
Book Review: ‘Maimonides’ Hidden Torah Commentaries’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion