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Miscellaneous

  • The Wilderness of the Cardozo Academy – Graduation lecture – June 2009

    In Miscellaneous

     "All Noble Things Are As Difficult As They Are Rare"

    Benedictus de Spinoza

    Ethics

     

    Dear Friends,

     

    The purpose of the David Cardozo Academy is to be a Midbar, a desert and a desolate place. This may sound imprudent for an academy which is constantly in search of novelty. In what way can an academy be a desolate place where nothing grows? Is this not a paradox, a non-starter, and its undoing?

  • The Great Inner Struggle of Benedict XVI

    In Miscellaneous

    Some reflections on the Pope's visit to Israel
    And the Future of Christianity

    Benedict XVI is confused. He has a hard time with himself. He is sandwiched between the old Catholic teachings in which he was raised and the new Christianity which his great predecessor John Paul II initiated and of which he, Benedict, was partially the theologian without wanting to admit it. This gnaws at his conscience, especially now that he's the pope and is visiting the Jews.

  • Preface to Rabbi Francis Nataf’s book

    In Miscellaneous

    For thousands of years, Jews have read a portion of the Torah in the synagogue every Shabbath. It is customary to begin the first portion on Simchat Torah and to finish the Torah on the same day a year later. Once the last verses of the book of Devarim are read and the Torah scroll is closed, a second scroll is brought and the Torah reader starts all over again with the story of the Creation in the Book of Bereshit. This happens within seconds, and there is barely time to breathe between the first and the second readings. It is as if any delay is dangerous. And indeed it would be. The Torah is the life-blood of the Jewish people, and any hampering of its flow would be detrimental. It is the Jewish people's portable homeland, and for millennia it has been seen and experienced as the Divine voice speaking to all generations, instructing them in the correct way of living.

  • Reflections on a War 3

    In Miscellaneous

    Once upon a time, in a large, gloomy palace, high on a mountain, where the night wind howled outside its massive walls, there lived a king - a real one. His beard was long like a silver waterfall, and his voice boomed like thunder. More than that a king does not need. His name was Teuton, though some called him Germania. Wherever he traveled, his citizens would grovel before him in the dust, and if they failed to do so, they were knocked into it anyway. You see, O reader, how mighty our king was.

  • The Beth Midrash of Avraham Avinu

    In Miscellaneous

    In the last several years many upheavals have taken place in Israel that no one could ever have imagined. These upheavals also have far-reaching consequences for Diaspora Jewry and could entirely change the situation of the Jewish people throughout the world. It is unclear where Israel and the Middle East are heading, and it will take some time before a more peaceful era will really emerge.  Still, we must look beyond this. We must prepare Israel and its citizens for the time when it will become crucial to make decisions about their identity and their connection to Judaism. While that connection at this point in time is, to say the least, ambivalent, it will one day become a matter of such importance that the refusal to address it will no longer be an option. Not only will it be decisive as far as the spiritual condition of Israel is concerned, but it will actually determine whether the State of Israel will continue to exist.  Much of the upheaval taking place at this hour is due to Israel's lack of a Jewish spiritual direction and imagination. It will soon become evident that the physical survival of the State of Israel will one day become so dependent on Judaism that it will be necessary to bring the great teachings of this tradition to the Jewish people in a completely different light.

  • The King

    In Miscellaneous

    A parable on the future of Israel
    (Based on a fairy tale by Godfried Bomans adapted by Nathan Lopes Cardozo)

     
    Once upon a time, in a large, gloomy palace high on a mountain, where the night wind groaned outside the massive walls, there lived a king, a real one. He had a long beard like a silver waterfall, and a voice like thunder. More a king does not need.

  • The medium of media, a rendezvous with death

    In Miscellaneous

    This essay was written by Daniel Soibelmannm - 
    "What we need is a story that starts with an earthquake and works its way up to a climax" - Sam Goldwyn 1882 - 1974
    Amid the crisis surrounding     Israel presently, is an increasing awareness, particularly by Jews living in Israel of the biases that plague journalism. Although this is not a rage I feel inclined to put aside verily, a more disturbing phenomenon calls me into its discussion at this moment.

  • Lashon Hara About the World

    In Miscellaneous

    .......And the Fly in the Bottle
    Woody Allen, a keen but unusual observer of our world, once remarked: "More than at any time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly."

  • “Es Past Nicht” and Jewish Pride

    In Miscellaneous

    Benjamin Disraeli, the Earl of Beaconsfield (1804-1881) was once confronted by a political opponent who chided him about being Jewish. "Indeed," he responded "I am a Jew, and when the ancestors of the right honorable gentleman were brutal savages on an unknown island, mine were priests in the Temple of Solomon"

  • Surround Yourself with Art and Beauty

    In Miscellaneous

    A problem in some religious circles is the neglect of recognizing the importance of natural beauty and the need to appreciate its profound impact on life. There is increasing evidence that many devoted religious communities with their impressive commitment to Torah and Mitzvoth no longer stress the need to educate their children about the elegance and grace of beautiful surroundings such as impressive mountains, lakes and forests, flowers, beautiful birds or other creatures.

  • Rabbi Bezalel Rakov z.l. of Gateshead

    In Biographies and Miscellaneous

    "Death is the supreme festival on the road to freedom" 

    Rarely do I write about my personal feelings. However, singular circumstances brought about by Divine intervention cause us to realize that our customary ways are but the dream state in which we believe we live, until a perpetual murmur from an eternal world wakes us up.

  • The Jewish Astronaut and My Worries

    In Miscellaneous

    IAF Col. Ilan Ramon, (With tongue in cheek)

    I am worried. Very worried. No, not about Saddam Hussein, we will, with God's help, deal with him, but about Colonel Ilan Ramon, our first Jewish-Israeli astronaut who at this very hour is located, together with his crewmates, in space shuttle Columbia flying around our universe.