By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — I was blessed with the good fortune of having been born as a Jew in the United States of America. I have often reflected upon the meaning of that good fortune. I was born just months after the outbreak of World War II and have often been haunted by […]
Are we all created equal? Read More »
Jewish Religion
A Universe from Nothing: Why is there Something Rather than Nothing? by Lawrence M. Krauss; ISBN 978-1-4516-2445-8 ©2012, $24.99, p. 202 The Fallacy of Fine-Tuning: Why the Universe is Not Designed for Us by Victor J. Stenger; ISBN 978-1-61614-443-2 ©2012, $28.00, p. 341, including notes, bibliography, and index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California
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Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California–Recently someone asked me, “Does Judaism have any thoughts on the Wikileaks fiasco? Where does freedom of the press and the public’s right to know become a security threat, or worse, in Jewish thought?” This issue is not only concerned with the arrest and trial of Julian Asange;
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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO –The final paragraph of parashat Sh’lach L’cha contains the mitzvah of tzitzit: “The Lord said to Moses as follows: Speak to the Israelite people and instruct them to make for themselves fringes (tzitzit) on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a cord of blue
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Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — Imagine standing at a crossroads. We have all been there. We have all experienced moments in our life’s journey when we had to make a crucial choice and decide whether to proceed along one road or along another. (Except for Yogi Berra, of course, who famously said,
Comparing choices made at the crossroads Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Talmudic wisdom urges us to be circumspect with our behavior as a community when a tragedy strikes home. Because of our collective and corporate sense of identity, we are all responsible for the moral condition of our communities. This idea can be seen in one of
Requiem for a friend, John Smithson Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort CARLSBAD, California–On Monday, June 11, ’12, history was made as the National Hockey League’s Los Angeles Kings became champions. Wait a minute! What does a Chabad Chasidic Rabbi know about hockey? Actually, not a lot (but I am teachable). The Los Angeles Kings were born a mere couple of years after
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Jewish Religion, Yeruchem Eilfort-RabbiBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California –The life of a spiritual leader is never easy—especially if you happen to be a man named Moses. Kvetching comes with the territory of working for a Jewish community. It’s a tradition. I am reminded of the old joke, “How many congregants does it take to screw
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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO– Judaism is a very democratic religion. Although Kohanim once had a special role in the Temple sacrificial rites, they never were the sole conduit to God. Then, as now, God was directly available to every Israelite. We learn this from the Biblical story of Eldad and Meidad. We learn
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Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO — The Jews traveled through the desert on pure faith and trust in Hashem (G-d). The Divine Cloud protected and guided the Jews throughout their journey. They moved ahead when the Cloud moved and they encamped when the Cloud stopped. They never knew how long each encampment would
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Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK –It was a lesson I learned long ago, when I was a high school classroom teacher. I was new at this line of work, and found that my greatest challenge was to find ways to motivate the students. I tried various approaches, which all were basically attempts to
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Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO–One of the critiques against fixed prayer (i.e., reading the same prayer book selections over and over) is that it can become boring and monotonous. How can one possibly pour out one’s heart before God by repeating the same words three times a day, seven days a week? Where is
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Jewish ReligionBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Almost 28 years ago, our youngest child was born. Due to our advanced age, we gave him the name Mattan. The English translation of mattan (מתן) is “gift.” Some time later, when in a US college book store, I happened on a Bible Dictionary, looked up the name, and found
The politics of religion and vice versa Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Jewish ReligionThe Biblical Outlook: Topics in Jewish Philosophy by Rabbi Shlomo Polachek; Penina Press, Jerusalem, 2012; ISBN-10: 1936068273; 463 pages. $29.95. By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — The concept the author wishes to present is an important one. He wishes to show the various strands of biblical passages that can be used by a
Book on biblical philosophy needs better sources Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi