By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Dissension is nothing new in Jewish tradition. One of the most famous biblical disagreements is found in this week’s Torah portion, where we read about the famous controversy between Korah and Moses (Numbers 16ff.) Yet, unlike the debates between Hillel and Shammai, which for the most […]
Arguments for knowledge versus those for power Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — In this week’s parasha we find one of the most infamous disputes of all Jewish history: that of Korach and his followers. Korach led an uprising against Moses and Aaron. He wanted to remove them from leadership and make himself ruler instead. Moses challenged him to a “duel.”
Distinguishing between night and day, good and evil Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO — On Thursday, Sivan 28, 5764, June 17, 2004; Rebbetzin Pesha Leibowitz, a”h, returned her soul to her creator. “The Rebbetzin” as we called her, was at the same time very simple and very complex. I was privileged to be able to fly in from San Diego for the
Memories of Rebbitzin Pesha Leibowitz Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — In between the endless stream of loud commercials attacking incontinence, leaking, psoriasis, erectile dysfunction, bad cholesterol, mood disorder, computer romance, toilet stains, and bankruptcy, American television programming is clearly narrowing its themes to the basic, divine two: Sex and Death. These two categories are the bookends of the
In a world without human secrets, God gains in appeal Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK –Very often, we think that if a person is especially spiritual, he cannot possibly be very practical. It is as if religious devotion and good common sense just don’t go together. My own experience has taught me that, on the contrary, some of the soundest advice I have
If you are correct, stay that way! Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy J. Zel Lurie DELRAY BEACH, Florida — In six months I will mark the end of my first century. I have been searching for a way to celebrate my hundredth birthday that will give the world something worthwhile after I am gone. A year ago I wrote on these pages that the Cairo codex,
Columnist, anticipating 100th birthday, seeks codex publication Read More »
Jewish History, Middle East, Travel and Food
Black Jews in Africa and the Americas by Tudor Parfitt, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts; ISBN 978-0-674-06698-4 ©2013, $29.95, p. 170, plus notes and index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — Samaria, the capital of Northern Israel, fell after a two-year siege under the command of its king, Sargon II in 722 BCE. The
Author tells of Black Jewish diaspora Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion
SAN DIEGO –Melanie Rubin, who remembers her Israeli geography, spotted this license plate. It doesn’t exactly say “Beit She’an” but it is close enough. According to the Bible, that was the area in Israel where the Philistines hung the body of King Saul from a wall. Now, we don’t know this is what the car’s
Jewish license plate: Bet Shan Read More »
Jewish Religion, Melanie Rubin
SAN DIEGO — Melanie Rubin, the queen of Jewish license plate hunters, found this one, which means repentance. Perhaps the driver is a ba’al tshuvah, which means a person who has embraced Orthodox Jewish ways after a life that was more secular. Or perhaps, the driver wants the people in cars following too closely to
Jewish license plate: Tshuvah Read More »
Jewish Religion, Melanie Rubin
Story and photos by Anav Silverman JERUSALEM– A small, but increasingly vocal number of Muslims are rejecting radical hate speech and combating anti-Semitism in the Muslim world. In the recent Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism held this week in Jerusalem, Palestinian Media Watch director, Itamar Marcus and Dr. Boaz Ganor organized a panel discussion with
Muslim panelists decry anti-Semitism Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — Just as there were six million victims, so were there at least six million stories. One of those stories seems to have occurred many times, because I’ve heard it told by quite a few survivors. It is the story of two or more Jews, witnessing the sadistic
We should neither be arrogant nor too humble Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — Is it possible to give something away and not lose, but gain in the process? Absolutely! Moses shows us how. As we all know, the Israelites were not a happy lot. After awhile, their kvetching finally got to Moses. He complained to God, “I cannot carry all this
Sharing spiritual gifts enhances them Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK– I don’t usually disagree publicly with lecturers, particularly when they are expressing opinions which are mostly consistent with my own. But there was one time when I felt that I had to speak up and object to one of the speaker’s expressions. It was at a lecture on
Moses was not ‘meek’; he was ‘humble’ Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy 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