Judaism

By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — Although we are free from the physical bondage our ancestors suffered in Egypt, this does not mean that we are no longer enslaved. I realized this during a recent trip I took out of the country. Judy and I were vacationing in a city where our cell phones

By  Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO — Hashem (G-d) in His infinite mercy redeemed us from our bitter bondage. Not only did He free us physically, Hashem with boundless love restored our spirits emotionally and psychologically. We have the capacity both to pick ourselves up and to restore and comfort others, as the following true

  By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — For several years now, I have been taking a train to work every day. Not a subway train, mind you, but an old-fashioned inter-city railroad train, complete with a conductor who collects the passengers’ tickets and even shouts, “All aboard!” I enjoy my daily train ride

By  Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO–The word Korbon (offering) comes from the word karov (close). When we bring offerings to the temple, it brings us closer to Hashem. The korbonos have many seemingly daunting details; but we can never lose sight of the big picture. The korbonos offer us an intensity of closeness that is

By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK– “There is no such thing as privacy anymore.” “There are no secrets anymore.” These are two complaints that are heard frequently nowadays. We live in a world of cell phones and e-mails, blogs, Facebook and Twitter. We have no privacy, for almost anyone can reach us wherever we are, whatever

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Though official spokespersons for Zionist organizations have largely given up on shlilat hagolah, the rejection of the Diaspora, some Israelis still take every opportunity to make declarations that seek to invalidate Jewish life outsideIsrael. Two such pronouncements that got media attention have been made in the last few days.

By Joel A Moskowitz M D LA JOLLA, California — Why go to Synagogue?  A recent lecture from a rabbinical leader of Reform Judiasm induced us to write this essay.  It is from a personal experience, not from a member of the religious hierarchy.  With almost eight decades of being a Jew, with various involvements

By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — Does the end ever justify the means? Not according to the Torah. One may not fulfill a religious obligation (a mitzvah) through unethical or immoral action. Our sages called this a mitzvah ha-ba’ah ba-aveirah, a mitzvah that is performed through a sinful act. One of the places our

  By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO — Fifteen years ago there was a family from New York who lost their father. Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel ztl, Rosh Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim, had a particularly fond relationship with the deceased father and took it upon himself  to ensure that his orphans would have a fatherly figure

By Rabbi Ben Kamin TEL AVIV—They were two anonymous young people born in the British mandate of Palestine about twenty years before the British quit and the UN unsuccessfully partitioned the territory into two projected states.  They were among just several thousand faceless heroes that created the State of Israel and miraculously fought a regional