In Jewish Thought and Philosophy, The Jewish Year and Rosh Hashanah
Something strange happens on Rosh Hashana. We spend hours declaring God’s majesty, using poetic and unique phrases. We refer to Him as the Ultimate King and Mover of this world. We ask Him to strengthen and reinforce His relationship with us and show us His omnipotence.
By Yael Valier
Rabbi Cardozo writes: "Maybe we should literally go out in the streets and help people, sit down with our ideological enemies and see where we can find common ground, instead of simply reciting more kinot?" And yet, there are reasons why we should continue to fast and read Eichah on Tisha b'Av. Here are just a few of those reasons
In Education, The Jewish Year and Tisha B’Av
In the wake of the destruction of Jerusalem the leaders of the Jewish people despaired. But the ordinary Jews did not. Despite the total collapse of Jewish life, they opted for the impossible. They not to listen to their leaders, but continued building the nation of Israel, as they had previously been taught by the very sages who now despaired. Sometimes, the simple man has more faith in the Jewish future than the greatest Talmudic scholar.
Just not on Pessah
In Halacha, Jewish Thought and Philosophy, The Jewish Year and Passover
Why is it prohibited to eat or to possess chametz (leaven) on Pessah? What is there in the nature of leaven that makes it forbidden, and why only on Pessah? The Talmud offers an insightful answer.
A historical lesson from the Exodus
In Parashat HaShavua, The Jewish Year, Parashat Bo and Passover
When reading the story of the Exodus from Egypt, we are confronted with a strange phenomenon: the mashchit (destroyer). What was this mysterious threat?
Needed: Extraordinary Torah Commentary
The Torah reading in synagogue is not conventional Torah learning, but rather a kind of a wake-up call. Although we have read it for many years, the fact that the story appears again an entire year later, and no earlier, gives us a chance to forget it and then rediscover it as never before.
In The Jewish Year and Sukkot
No matter how powerfully the outside walls and the leaking roof reveal our vulnerability and uncertainty, inside these walls we need to make our life as attractive as possible and enjoy its great benefits and blessings.
I would like to suggest that in the last few hundred years nearly all Jews have become marranos. Although no longer forced to convert to Christianity, or any other religion, they willfully adopt philosophies that estrange them from their Jewish roots. Alienation has become the very condition under which most Jews today live their lives. They believe that Judaism is outdated and needs to be replaced. Often they arrive at such conclusions due to a lack of Jewish knowledge and a greater familiarity with non-Jewish sources.
This is the great challenge facing today’s halachic authorities: are their decisions made in a sterile vacuum in which every surprise is ignored and even suppressed? Or, are they made to stimulate a religious condition in which man will live in great awe, will grow, and will feel Halacha’s inner spirit? Are today’s rulings transformative, or do they promote stagnation? Shall we have prophetic Halacha, or petty Halacha?
Israel's inability to conform to any framework is a living avowal of our uniqueness. Israel’s very existence is the manifestation of divine intervention in history to which it must attest. In Israel, history and revelation are one. Only there do they coincide. While other nations exist as nations, the people of Israel exist as a reminder of God’s involvement in world history. Only through Israel is humanity touched by the divine.
In Halacha and The Jewish Year
Judaism is about new ideas. It is dependent on fresh concepts deeply rooted in its tradition. Innovative thinking is the need of the hour. It is time for halachic authorities, rabbis, and religious thinkers to take notice of the immense changes that have taken place in our day. Never has the world gone through so many adjustments in so short a time. Never have the Jewish people been confronted with so many challenges. It is not only the security of the State of Israel that is at stake, but even more so, its very spirit and spiritual future.
The secret of Pessah
In The Jewish Year and Passover
No nation or religious movement can live in isolation, nor should it. It needs to develop inner strength so that it can open itself up to other cultures and ideologies without losing its own identity.