Jewish Religion

New Translation and Commentary of Psalms

Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik (1903–1993), widely known as “the Rav,” is considered one of the most influential Orthodox Jewish thinkers and teachers of the twentieth century. Born into a famous rabbinic family – my father, Rabbi Dr. Nathan Drazin, studied under his father – he inherited the rigorous analytical approach to Talmud associated with his grandfather, Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk. He also studied philosophy at the University of Berlin, earning his doctorate, and brought Western philosophical learning into conversation with traditional Jewish thought. He became the rosh yeshiva (rabbinic head) of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary at Yeshiva University in 1941. For decades, he taught Talmud and Jewish philosophy and trained approximately 2,000 rabbis.
(Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin)

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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Parsha Ha’Azinu: Good religion impacts humanity as a gentle rain

Toxic faith feeds on certainty, alienates the seeker, and destroys personal conscience. It builds walls of “Us versus Them,” viewing anyone on the other side not as a fellow bearer of the divine image, but as a blasphemer to be corrected, conquered, or erased. (Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel)

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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Becoming a Russian Jew

On Friday, September 13, 1991, a couple of days before Yom Kippur, it suddenly hit me: next Monday, September 16, was the Day of Atonement. I don’t observe most religious holidays or rules, but on Yom Kippur I don’t eat, I don’t work, and I go to the synagogue for the Yizkor memorial prayer. Even back in the Soviet Union, I was Jewish twice a year: on Passover and Yom Kippur. [Yakov Nayerman]

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Business & Finance, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA, Yakov Nayerman

Batman comics illustrator brilliantly tackles Genesis 1-11

Instead of thinking of Genesis merely as a sequence of names and episodes, readers can visualize Creation, Eden, Cain and Abel, Noah, the Flood, and the Tower of Babel as parts of a continuous human drama. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors

SCOTUS agrees to hear case of a city barring a minyan in a private home

Grand, who lives with his family a distance from the nearest Orthodox synagogue, sought to gather a minyan, a group of ten Jewish adults required for key prayers, at his home on Shabbat and holy days when Jewish law prohibits driving. Before Grand held even a single prayer gathering, a neighbor complained to the city’s mayor and asked him to “put a stop to this.” [Press Release]

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Antisemitism, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Press Release

High Holiday wisdom in poetry and prose

Rav Nahman of Breslov taught: The whole world is a narrow bridge— and the essential thing is not to be afraid. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Holocaust, International, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Opinion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

It’s a custom to refrain from napping on Rosh Hashanah

Should you take a nap on Rosh Hashanah? It is a praiseworthy custom not to sleep during the day on Rosh Hashanah, as the day is considered the “New Year” and a time for spiritual preparation. The Talmud notes that if one sleeps at the beginning of the year, “his good fortune also sleeps.” [Cailin Acosta]

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Cailin Acosta, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors