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Category Archives: Religion & Philosophy
This week: Va’eira
By SHLOMO RISKIN
EFRAT, Israel –This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. (Exodus 7:17)
What was the purpose of the plagues? If God’s intention was [...]
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Tagged 10 plagues, efrat israel, Egypt, Egyptians, God, Israel, Nile, punishment, SHLOMO RISKIN
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What does Judaism teach us?
By Rabbi Matthew Durbin
I want to pose to you a simple but all-important question. What does Judaism teach us about the way we should live our lives?
There are a number of answers.
For many teachers and interpreters of the faith the answer lies in terms of Torah. For them, the important thing is to study, to [...]
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Tagged answer, God, house of prayer, Isaiah, Israel, lifelong student, Prayer, rabbi akiba, Rabbi Matthew Durbin, Rabbi Tarfon, Rabbi Yose, Torah
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Making shalom at the White House
BY DOUGLAS M. BLOOMFIELD
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bought his ticket to Washington this weekend with a revised Gaza blockade policy that won kudos from its co-authors, President Obama and UN special Mideast envoy Tony Blair.
Before Netanyahu arrives, the king of Saudi Arabia will drop by the Oval Office to discuss the peace process almost exactly [...]
Posted in Religion & Philosophy
Tagged Abbas, Abdullah, Capitol Hill, IRAN, Israel, Jerusalem, king of saudi arabia, minister benjamin netanyahu, Old City, peace, President Obama, prime minister benjamin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, Tony Blair, U.S., Washington
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V’zot Hatorah
Chabad House of Delmar and 200 supporters celebrated the creation of a new Torah June 11 at the Delmar American Legion Post for the Delmar Chabad House. Above, from left, Bruce Lorence, project sponsor holding chupah; Tzemach Simon, Larry Rosenbaum, with the new scroll, Chaim Ben-Eliezer, and Chaim Simon holding the chupah as part of [...]
Hugging and wrestling with Israel
By SID SCHWARZ
WASHINGTON, D.C. (JTA)–I have long straddled two worlds with regard to diaspora engagement with Zionism and the State of Israel. As the founder-president of PANIM, an organization that has trained tens of thousands of American Jewish teens to pursue social and political activism on behalf of the Jewish people and the world [...]
More horses’ derrieres than horses?
By Douglas M. Bloomfield
When I was young, my dad was a traveling salesman and he would bring us little gifts when he returned home at the end of the week. One I particularly recall was a little wooden postcard that asked, “Why are there so many more horses asses than there are horses?” I’m reminded [...]
Posted in Religion & Philosophy
Tagged Ala., Alabama, Buchanan, Charles Evans, Congress, Connecticut, D.C., D.C. Madam, Dave, Earl Warren, elena kagan, Felix Frankfurter, Fla., Hugo Black, impeachment of president clinton, Ind., Jeff Sessions, Kentucky, La., Louis, Minn., N.Y., nazi war criminals, President Clinton, President Obama, President William Clinton, Rand Paul, Rep. Alan Grayson, Rep. Bob Livingston, Rep. Eric Massa, Rep. Mark Souter, Rep. Michelle Bachmann, Richard Blumenthal, Sen. David Vitter, Staten Island, the Gulf, Vietnam, Vito Fossella, Washington, William Rehnquist
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Emulating God—loving unconditionally
By Rabbi Miriam Midlarsky Lichtenfeld
Since both my children were born, we have been reciting the Birkat Ha-Banim—the traditional blessing parents say to their children—every Friday night. As is customary, we bless them individually by putting our hands on their heads while saying the blessing which includes the priestly benediction. This blessing appears in our Parashah, [...]
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Tagged Aaron, Ari, blessing, God, Israel, love, Moshe, personal animosity, personal conflict, priestly benediction
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Torah is dreaming of a better world
By Rabbi Dennis S. Ross
Precisely when it is a challenge to dream of a better world, the Torah’s double portion, Behar and Behukotai, presents a hopeful vision for the future: A harmony of social, economic, ecological and theological proportions built on the number seven—seven days, seven years and seven sets of seven years.
By way of [...]
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Tagged Albany, Beth Emeth, day, dennis s ross, dream, Egypt, God, harmony one, Rabbi Dennis Ross, Rabbi Dennis S. Ross Precisely, spiritual harmony, Torah
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The elephant and the Jewish community
By Rabbi Avi Shafran
A recent intriguing article about Roman Vishniac got me thinking well beyond him. Vishniac, of course, was the famed photo-chronicler of pre-war Jewish Eastern Europe, whose 1983 collection A Vanished World is celebrated for its evocative portrayal of shtetl life, Jewish destitution, and religious Jews at home, work and study.
The article, by [...]
An eye for an eye: A law with a heart!
By Rabbi Dennis Ross
Just as it seems the Torah says one thing, a deeper review demonstrates that the Torah has something entirely different in mind. That is particularly true when we come to this week’s portion and the lesson an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth (Leviticus 24:20). It has been said [...]
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Tagged Albany, Beth Emeth, bible times, eye, Rabbi Dennis Ross, Rabbi Dennis Ross
Just, tooth, Torah, workable system
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