Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

[caption id="attachment_22661" align="alignright" width="100"] Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel[/caption]

Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel is spiritual leader of Temple Beth Shalom in Chula Vista, California.

His books, available on Amazon, include:

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*A Shepherd’s Song
*Gentle Judaic Wisdom for a Troubled World
*Maimonides Hidden Torah Commentaries: Genesis 1-21
*Maimonides Hidden Torah Commentaries: Genesis: 22-50
*Rediscovering Philo of Alexandria: A First Century Torah Commentator (Vol 1): Genesis
*Rediscovering Philo of Alexandria: A First Century Torah Commentator (Vol 2): Exodus
*Rediscovering Philo of Alexandria: A First Century Torah Commentator (Vol 3) Leviticus
*Rediscovering Philo of Alexandria: A First Century Torah Commentator(Vol 4) Numbers
*Rediscovering Philo of Alexandria: A First Century Torah Commentator (Vol 5) Deuteronomy

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Something not kosher about DNC Jerusalem fiasco

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel JERUSALEM — Let me begin with the good news first. The Democratic Party platform reinstated the importance of Jerusalem to our country’s values and principles—along with God too! Now comes the bad news. Although the section of Jerusalem was reinstated, the sections pertaining to the Palestinian refugees and the terrorist

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Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA

Pediatricians find benefits of circumcision outweigh risks

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — The anti-circumcision advocates are probably not happy about the latest news to come out of a study conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which reveal the health benefits deriving from male circumcision far outweigh the risks. According to the report, researchers formed a task force

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Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Science, Medicine, & Education

High Holy Days no time for election-year politics

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California —Last week, I received an email from the Reelect-elect Obama campaign. The President is urging rabbis to help re-elect the President. The email contained the following information and assertions: Obama for America today announced the launch of Rabbis for Obama, a campaign initiative to engage and mobilize grassroots

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Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA

Anti-Arabism as sinful as anti-Semitism

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Hatred and xenophobia are two of the oldest diseases afflicting the human condition. For many people living in unenlightened societies, hatred of the Other  is almost as natural as mother’s milk.  Jewish history bears witness to how our adversaries have vilified us, dehumanized us,  persecuted us,

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Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East

Anthropomorphizing God does HaShem a disservice

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel   SAN DIEGO — Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook writes in his famous mystical and moral tract, The Lights of Penitence: The greatest impediment to the human spirit, upon reaching maturity, results from the fact that the conception of God is crystallized among people in a particular form, which goes back to childish habit

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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Jews must guard against gratuitous hatred

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Some anthropologists, like Mircea Eliade, argue that the biblical notion of time is essentially linear, while the Oriental notion of time is cyclical in nature. Eliade was only partially correct. The Jewish holiday cycle certainly has a strong cyclical element. If anything, Jewish concept of time

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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi