By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — A tornado flattened much of the town of Moore, Oklahoma with gale winds exceeding over 300 miles an hour. This was not the first time tornadoes visited the area of Oklahoma, better known as “Tornado Alley.” In 1998, 2003, and 2010, smaller tornadoes left their mark on the communities in the […]
Where is God in a tornado? Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — The bearded man in the middle, front row was the rabbi. He was renowned and admired for his wisdom, spirituality, and the judiciousness he applied—particularly in view of the fact that Jews were not considered a part of the state society in the pre-Nazi world of Jasina,
Photograph invokes Czech town — before the Nazis came Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — One of the interesting paradoxes of human life is our tendency to copy one another and to try to “fit in” with friends and acquaintances, while simultaneously trying to be distinct from others, and to be our “own person.” The pressures of conformity are very strong in
Individuality and conformity in religious life Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO — We received the Torah and accepted the commandments at Har Sinai (Mount Sinai). It is our duty to pass them on to the next generation with love and wisdom. Rabbi Yitzchok Chinn of McKees Port Pensylvania, knew an older Jewish man who said to him, “I hate Shabbos!”
Shavuot message: Torah observance needs understanding Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — After over two decades, the fight for women’s participation at the Western Wall has finally received its day in court. The Israeli District Court ruled that the women have the right to gather at the Western Wall and pray there as they wish; this decision opened
Police arrest Haredim for harrassing women at the Kotel Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO –This month’s Midrash Shabbat teacher at Tifereth Israel Synagogue will be Sarah Shulman. A student at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles and a triathlete, Sarah is also my AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) Intern. Many people who read the publicity for this weekend were
Rabbinic intern learns Israel advocacy Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — I trace back my love of poetry to Mr. Perle. He taught freshman English in the high school I attended. I remember him as diminutive in stature, but not at all diminutive in his ability to inspire reluctant students to read, and to actually enjoy, fine literature.
Poetry for blooming deserts and faith Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — On June 26th, 2012, the District Court of the Federal State of Cologne ruled that ritual circumcision for children as required by the parents, constitutes an infliction of bodily harm to the child, and is therefore—a criminal offense. Fortunately, the Federal Constitutional Court shortly afterward overruled
The danger of metsita b’peh Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — As a rite of passage, the Bar/Bat Mitzvah marks the beginning of a young person’s adult participation in the Jewish community. However, in many congregations across the religious divide, the Bar and Bat Mitzvah day has become a graduation from Judaism. When I think about the
Bar mitzvah dedicates himself to aiding the autistic Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — There is a story that I have told many times based on a verse in parashat B’har: “But the land must not be sold beyond reclaim, for the land is Mine; you are but strangers resident with me.” This verse teaches us that humans do not own the
This land ain’t your land… Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — It is a word that one hears frequently these days, in many contexts. The word is “process.” It is a word that reflects our growing recognition that there are very few things in this world that occur in an instant, yesh me’ayin, something out of nothing.
The process of sinning Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Michael Kaufman Dear Mr. Harrison: Thank you for your kind words about my book, In One Era, Out the Other – A Memoir of a 20th-21st Century Jewish Life, (3/23/13) and your “enthusiastically recommend[ing]” the book. No less gratifying is your finding in the last chapter the “qualities we should attempt to inculcate in ourselves
Letter: Orthodox author decries intermarriage Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Anav Silverman MERON, Israel — Over 200,000 people gathered Sunday, April 28, in the tiny northern town of Meron to commemorate the Jewish holiday of Lag B’Omer, which marks the anniversary of the passing of the great mystic Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, and the Bar Kochba revolt against the Romans. Police expected up to 400,000
Tsunami of Lag B’Omer prayers at Rashbi’s tomb Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — My parents did not do everything right (nor have I) but I do remember the basic values of human dignity and the work ethic that they brought with them when we emigrated from Israel in 1962. This morning, at a car wash, I saw a thin Mexican man,
Trading tips: one in currency, the other about faith Read More »
Jewish Religion