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Jewish Thought and Philosophy

  • God and the Earthquake

    In Contemporary Issues and Jewish Thought and Philosophy

    In memory of the victims in Haiti

     

    This essay was published in the Jerusalem Post on  

    10.6.08 after the earthquake in China.

     

    It has become very difficult to go to synagogue lately.  Praying to God has become a real challenge. Watching China's great misfortune on the news, seeing children buried under rubble and collapsed school buildings, and knowing that there are thousands and thousands more of them makes it hard to speak to the Creator in a gentle tone of praise and thanksgiving. By now, we know that 41,000 have died and millions have lost their homes and all that was dear to them. An incredible disaster has happened and it was not wrought by man, but by Heaven. What religious person does not feel traumatized at such a moment? Who does not experience a moment of rebellion against the Lord of the Universe? Who does not ask whether it is still possible to stay religious after such immense pain?

  • Thoughts on Forgiveness – The Man Who Made Me Jewish

    In Biographies and Jewish Thought and Philosophy

    There is only one time I have ever forgiven an anti-Semite. But it was for a good reason. He had successfully helped me to become Jewish!

  • Who is a Gavra Rabba, a Great man?

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy

    The Talmud in Makkoth 22b discusses the identity of a "Gavra Rabba", an exceptionally great man or Talmudic sage. It quotes a most remarkable observation made by the well-known sage, Rava, who states: "How foolish are some people who stand up out of  respect for a Sefer Torah but do not stand up out of respect for a Gavra Rabba, an exceptionally great person, a great Torah sage." When asked what is so exceptionally great about these men, Rava ignores their astonishingly vast knowledge of Torah, and even their outstanding ethical and religious qualities. Instead, he accentuates their power and courage to change the obvious and literal meaning of a commandment as mentioned in the Torah. This is, to say the least, most remarkable!

  • Our Greatest Challenge “Kiddush Hashem”

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy

    The Gravest Sin of a Jew is to Forget Whom He Represents (1)

     

    Written in Pain and in a Hurry

     

    There is a high price to be paid for living as a Jew. He has to be holy so as to be normal. He is commanded to surpass civilization so as to be average. Our survival is neither desired nor easily accepted by many of those who surround us. God has positioned us in history in a most curious way. Either it is utterly inconvenient to be a Jew, or it is the most exalted merit man can ever attain. There are no short cuts and there is no middle road.  Our choice is our undoing or our making. We are the most challenged people on earth. We are either superfluous or indispensable. It is either tragic or unsurpassably joyous to be a Jew.  There is no neutrality.            

  • The Secret of “Ein Kelohenu”

    What do we mean when we ask "Who is like our God?"

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy and Liturgy & Ritual

    The song “Ein Keloh-enu” rejects the traditional so-called rational proofs for the existence of God, since they are based on a serious paradox.

  • Faith – Frontal Encounter

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy

    Faith is deeper than knowledge.  While scientific investigation is only absorbed in the brain, faith enters into all of the human personality.   All limbs of spirituality quiver and move, nothing is untouched and everything is transformed.  As such it is much more difficult to achieve faith than knowledge and it is much more radical in its effect

  • What is Conversion?(1)

    In Converting to Judaism and Jewish Thought and Philosophy

    As the State of Israel and its rabbinical courts head towards a large-scale showdown concerning conversion, it is remarkable that not one of the participants, including the orthodox, has considered this major, crucial question: Is conversion at all possible? This may sound like a rhetorical question since the answer is in the affirmative.  Yet, this question goes to the very core of the problem, and as long as we do not deal with it, all deliberations concerning this matter are more or less meaningless. The reason for this is obvious: Logically speaking, conversion to Judaism should not be possible. Just as it is impossible for a Jew whose father is not a Cohen to become a Cohen, similarly, it should be out of the question for a gentile to become a Jew.  Either one is born into a family of Cohanim, or one is not. Presumably, then, either one is born a Jew, or one is not.  God chose the patriarchs and their descendants as His people, and it is only they who can claim to be Jews.    It would follow, then, that either one is part of this nation, or one is not.    

  • How Holy is Life?

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy

    There is no stronger reminder of the holiness of the Shabbath than the categorical imperative not to violate this day while building the Tabernacle and later the Temple. While the children of Israel are commanded to build this most sacred place on earth symbolizing the encounter between God and man, God makes it clear that the Shabbath is still not to be violated. There is a need to stop this holy work, even in the middle, to make space for this holy day: It is more holy than the Tabernacle and (later) the Temple:

  • Solving the Conversion Crisis and Global Judaism – Part 2

    In Converting to Judaism and Jewish Thought and Philosophy

    You see things; and you say "Why?"

    But I dream things that never were; and I say "Why not?"

     

    "Back to Methuselah"

    George Bernard Shaw

     

    Dear Friends,

     

    Some of you have asked me to elaborate on my earlier Thoughts to Ponder (215) concerning the serious problems which the State of Israel and the Jewish People encounter in relation to conversion. It is with pleasure that I respond:

  • Solving the Conversion Crisis (Part 1)

    In Converting to Judaism and Jewish Thought and Philosophy

    The Birth of non-Jewish-Jewish Communities - a Far-Reaching Suggestion? (1)


    Conversion is a serious matter. It signals a transformation and involves a tremendous amount of soul-searching. Human beings are more than just accumulations of plasma, complex robots, or tool-making creatures that can change and adapt at the drop of a hat. Human beings have souls and profound emotions. They experience spiritual and moral struggles in which religion plays a major part. Conversion is a far-reaching decision: it culminates in immersion in a mikvah, a ritual bath that symbolizes the mother's womb. "A non-Jew who converts is like a newborn baby", says the Talmud in Yebamoth 22a. Conversion also implies a deep commitment to Jewish tradition. It requires a pledge to follow a particular lifestyle, the observance of the commandments and a deep emotional connection with the Jewish people. (2) It means becoming part of this mysterious "Jewish soul", which remains unexplainable but is as real as it can be.

     

     

  • Is conversion really possible?

    In Converting to Judaism and Jewish Thought and Philosophy

    As the State of Israel and its rabbinical courts are heading for a major showdown concerning conversion, it is remarkable that not one of the participants, including the orthodox, have considered a major and most crucial question: Is conversion altogether possible? This may sound like a rhetorical question since the answer is in the affirmative.  Yet this question goes to the very core of the problem and as long as we do not deal with it, all deliberations concerning this matter are more or less meaningless. The reason for this is very obvious: Logically speaking, conversion to Judaism should not be possible.

  • Prayers for the Wicked

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy

    While the winds of war with Iraq are coming closer and closer and in spite of our understandable concern with our own security, committed Jews have a special obligation to think where others may not want to think: The enormous loss of life this war is surely going to cost to many human beings who are or are not on our side of the conflict.