Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr.

Like all other biblical holidays, Rosh Chodesh is not observed today as required by biblical law. This is because of changed social circumstances and because the principle element of the biblical worship was animal sacrifices, which was discontinued after the Romans destroyed the Jewish Second Temple in 70 CE. Additionally, the name of the celebration was changed from “Chodesh” to “Rosh Chodesh,” which in the Torah did not mean “New Moon,” but “First Month” and referred to the month now called Nissan when Passover occurs.

There are many disagreements about four ancient Jewish institutions: the Sanhedrin, the Men of the Great Assembly, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees. Put differently, no one knows the truth about these institutions, even though that for many Jews, the subject is profoundly important.

Tradition mandates that Jews should read the biblical book Kohelet, also spelt Koheleth and Qohelet, called Ecclesiastes in English, during the holiday of Sukkot. Both the Hebrew and English names mean “collector” or “collection.” We do not know why this mandate was made. Some say that since Sukkot is a very happy holiday, we need the sober thoughts of Kohelet to modify our joy and make it more reasonable. The book was considered heretical by many ancient rabbis who wanted to exclude it from the Bible.

Leviticus 23:40 states that the Israelites should take four species on the first day and “rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.” While the Hebrew words used for the four species are obscure, the Jewish Publication Society’s 1960 translation defines them as “the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook.” An apparently separate command in verse 42 states, “Ye shall dwell in booths seven days.” The first biblical description of the implementation of this command is in the biblical book Nehemiah. It is entirely different than the way the holiday is celebrated today. (To read more, please click on the headline.)

In my book Unusual Bible Interpretations: Jonah and Amos, I raised problem areas in the book of Jonah in my introduction and answered them in the pages that followed. Here are some but not all of the problem areas. (To read more, please click on the headline.)

Like Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur does not exist in the Bible. It replaces another day known as Yom Hakippurim. Yom Kippur is singular, “day of atonement,” while Yom Hakippurim is plural, “day of atonements.” The biblical Yom Hakippurim is mentioned in Leviticus 16:29–31, 23:27–32, and Numbers 29:7–11. No work was permitted on this day, special sacrifices were offered, and the Israelites were obliged to te’anu et nafshoteikhem. This  is improperly translated as “you must afflict your souls.” (To read more, please click on the headline.)

Many people, secular and religious, of different cultures and worldviews, have attempted to calculate the age of the world. There is no agreement between them, simply because it is an impossible task. Christians, Muslims, and Jews have tried to do the calculation based on a literal reading of the Bible and have come up with different times. The following shows the impossibility by focusing on the widely used Jewish version.

God commanded the Israelites through Moses to completely blot out the memory of the nation of Amalek. The command is repeated by the prophet Samuel in I Samuel 15. The only voice speaking against this apparent genocide is that of the first Jewish king Saul, who was strongly criticized by Samuel for not killing all of the Amalekite people and who lost his monarchy because of his apparently reasonable behavior.

Philo sidesteps the difficulty of the slaughter of an entire people by interpreting the entire report allegorically. Amalek is not a nation, but a symbol of the impassioned coward who strikes anyone he sees standing in his way. He hides until his enemy has passed him by, no longer looking at him. Then he rises and assaults what he perceives is his opponent’s weakest point. Philo was thus the first to introduce the idea that it is not the people that should be eradicated, but the nefarious self-destructive quality of Amalek that an individual must obliterate from his personality.

By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — In 2008, in my first book on Maimonides called Maimonides: The Exceptional Mind, I described how ancient Jews had a totally different idea why they were blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah. As Rosh Hashanah observances Sept. 29-Oct. 1 approach, I thought I’d  recapitulate for San