By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Dr. Paul Shrell-Fox is someone I admire. As a clinical psychologist and researcher living in Israel, he has researched a social and religious phenomenon about a subject that many of us rabbis would sooner deny than admit: there are an increasing number of Orthodox and Conservative […]
The case of the atheistic rabbis Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — When most people quote the Biblical expression, “Man does not live on bread alone,” they often omit the rest of the sentence, “but that man may live on anything the Lord decrees.” The Torah is teaching us that life is not about physical existence alone, it is also
Humanity needs physical and spiritual nourishment Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — As a parent, grandparent, and psychologist, I am often considered to be something of an expert on parenting and child-rearing. In that capacity, I have frequently been asked to review or give an opinion about any of the plethora of books on the subject of raising one’s
True discipline is setting goals, not limits Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel SAN DIEGO — What is Tu b’Av? Do we celebrate it today? What is the significance of the day? The summer holiday of Tu B’Av (the 15th of Av) is a rabbinical holiday, one that the Mishnah describes in colorful detail: Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel said, “There were no happier days
Question: What is Tu b’Av? Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — Parashat Va-etchannan contains the first paragraph of the Shema: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Since the Torah is never redundant, the
Analyzing the three parts of the Shema Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — “Religion is good for you.” “A religious person is a mentally healthy person.” Statements such as these could not have been made when I was a graduate student in psychology back in the 1960s. Quite the contrary. The prevalent belief in the mental health profession then was
Religious observance may lead to improved mental health Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Jonah Geffen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tisha B’Av, which took place this last week, is a time for each of us to experience anew the tragedies that have befallen our people over the centuries – and yet it is also a time to renew our emotional ties to Israel and to look forward
What Tisha B’Av can teach us Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Philosopher George Santayana is perhaps best known for saying, “He who forgets the past, is condemned to repeat it.” This attitude finds profound expression in much of the rabbinic literature regarding the period of time that is better known as, “The Three Weeks,” which culminates
Akiba stayed optimistic even after Temple destroyed Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Dr. Navras Jaat Aafreedi GREATER NOIDA, India– It is the stuff of which films are made and novels are written. His absorbing story is such that it connects three continents, Asia, Europe and North America, five countries India, Israel, Canada, United Kingdom and Pakistan, and two communities seen as natural adversaries today, the
Muslim poet wants to meet his Jewish mom Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK– I have kept my time-worn copy of Roget’s Thesaurus in my personal library since I was in the seventh grade. It was given to me by my teacher, a Mr. Zeller, who introduced me to the beauty of language and who first stimulated my fascination with words. He
Mere words: the story of Deuteronomy Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — The following are the stages by which the Israelites journeyed up by companies from the land of Egypt under the guidance of Moses and Aaron. — (Numbers 33:1) The biblical narrator lists 42 stopping points beginning with Egypt. Some of the mystical commentaries make a penetrating
Pesach, 4th of July and Morsi’s overthrow Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — I had recently the privilege of bringing two elderly men together with common narratives: both were born in villages along the Carpathian Mountains, both suffered through four Nazi concentration camps, and both were liberated from the notorious Ebensee work-to-death camp by US forces on May 6, 1945. They
Two Ebensee survivors finally meet Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO — When praying on behalf of someone who is seriously ill and they unfortunately pass on, there is a tendency to grow despondent and to be overcome by a feeling that one’s prayers are for naught. The Steipler Gaon once enumerated some areas in which such tefillos achieve significant
What good are those prayers for the dying? Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — Every so often, I come across a sentence of another person’s writing which expresses one of my own thoughts in a language far superior to my own. Over the years, I have contemplated and written about the concepts of “honesty” and “integrity” and the difference between the
Honesty, integrity and the breaking of vows Read More »
Jewish Religion