NEW YORK (Press Release) — The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Monday voiced “concern and disappointment” with the way the Chief Rabbinate of Israel is questioning the status of prominent and long-established Orthodox rabbis and their ability to perform marriages according to Jewish law. The League specifically cited the case of Rabbi Avi Weiss, a […]
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Jewish Religion
LONDON (WJC) — French soccer player Nicolas Anelka has come under fire for celebrating a goal last week by flashing the so-called ‘quenelle’ salute popularized by the anti-Semitic comedian Dieudonné Mbala-Mbala. Anelka made the controversial gesture after scoring the first of two goals for his West Bromwich Albion team against West Ham United in
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Jewish Religion
By Ezra Friedlander NEW YORK — Jewish philanthropists: I offer a New Year’s Resolution that can potentially change the face of American Jewry for decades. Create a Birthright to a Jewish education. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on Birthright Israel, the program that sends Jewish young adults on a ten day educational
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Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO–Another delay?! Another costly delay. It was getting ridiculous already. Michael Malady entered into a contract to buy a condo in New Jersey as an investment. He wanted to fix it up, spruce it up, and resell it. Time and opportunity were a wasting. He was supposed to close on
Thank HaShem, the other side kept delaying Read More »
Jewish ReligionThe Formation of the Jewish Cannon by Timothy H. Lim, Yale University Press, New Haven; ISBN 978-0-300-16434-3 ©2013, $45.00, p. 287, including appendices and index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — How many books are there in the Bible? If you came up with a number, you might be wrong. The correct answer to
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Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion
Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Call of Transcendence, by Shai Held. Indiana University Press, 2013. 332 pages. $30. By Rabbi Jack Riemer/JNS.org Whenever a new book on the life and thought of Abraham Joshua Heschel appears, I always have two reactions. One is to marvel at the fact that Heschel is the only one of the
Abraham Joshua Heschel’s insights elucidated for a new generation Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California–Hassidic literature teaches that one of the reasons given for Hassidim swaying in prayer is based upon the analogy of the movement that occurs in the act of love making. Prayer is like “making love to the Shekhinah.” The Baal Shem Tov is purported to have taught: Prayer
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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO –Zalman left the small village of his youth, to seek his fortune in the big city. It was a very rough and lonely trek. The city can be a harsh place for a newcomer. The pace is much quicker and there is always someone out there looking to swindle
Shabbat: More than a day of rest Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California –This past week, a newspaper featured a picture of a Lubavitcher rabbi smilingly putting tefillon on Santa Claus. It reminded me of a story from Eli Plaut’s book, Kosher Christmas. It mentions how an old Ukrainian Jewish immigrant dressed up as Santa Claus and spoke Yiddish. When speaking
Letting go of our past fear… and prejudice Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — After the Pharaoh who had elevated Joseph to power died, “A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.” (Ex. 1:8) Was it really possible that this newly arrived Pharaoh knew nothing of the great man who had just saved Egypt from starvation? Certainly not! Rather,
Facing the truth… and acting upon it! Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO– In 1942, Seymour Lederman was stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi for basic training. America had just entered World War II, and young men from all over the country were preparing to serve their country overseas. The small Jewish community in Biloxi arranged for a special Pesach Seder for the Jewish
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Jewish Religion
Stories of the Law: Narrative Discourse and the Construction of Authority in the Mishnah by Moshe Simon-Shoshan, Oxford University Press, New York; ISBN 978-0-19-935638-6 ©2013, $27.95, p. 287, including notes and bibliography By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California– The Romans, who destroyed the Second Temple in 70 CE, subsequently expelled the Jews from Jerusalem after
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Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion
Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, M.D., The Rabbi and The Nuns, Mekor Press, 2013, ISBN 9781614651338. 190 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO– Although the title sounds like the beginning of a joke, this book, in fact, contains numerous recollections of Rabbi Twerski’s career as the head of psychiatry at the Roman Catholic-operated St.
The old, the young, and the alcoholics Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO — The whole of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) was in an uproar! A well-known man, a member of the Belzer Chasidic sect, and his wife had just given birth to their first child – a boy – after being childless for twenty-eight years! The sholom zachor (party in honor of baby
The value of rachmanis Read More »
Jewish Religion