Thoughts to Ponder is a weekly invitation to think dangerously and question passionately. Drawing on the Torah portion, classical Jewish sources, philosophy, and the crises of contemporary life, Rabbi Cardozo challenges religious complacency and spiritual comfort. These essays are written for readers who seek a Judaism that disturbs, questions, and ultimately deepens the human encounter with God and responsibility.
A Sefer Torah presents us with a stunning paradox: It is a text that has had greater influence in the world than any other we know of. It has changed the universe as nothing else has; it encourages man to move, to discover and to develop. But it is still written in the traditional way--on parchment, by the hand of man, holding a quill pen.
In Halacha
Laws such as issur maga nochri become an obstacle to the universal mission of the Jewish people when they are applied to those to whom they are not applicable.
In Halacha
The Divine Word is deadly and causes paralysis. The Word, wrought by fire in the upper world, is unmanageable and wreaks havoc once it descends. Its demands are not of this world; they belong to the angels. The Word therefore comes to naught once it enters the human sphere, since there is no one to receive it. All have died before the Word is able to pronounce its second word. How then can it delight the living soul?
When one carefully studies Jewish history from the early biblical days to our own times, one can only conclude that, in spite of the many pogroms, the Inquisition and the Holocaust, Jews were constantly accompanied by highly unusual events, large and small. The fact that Jews survived these atrocities, outlived all their enemies throughout the millennia, and made it back to the Land of Israel is unprecedented and a vexing conundrum for historians and sociologists. It is indeed miraculous.
It is time to stop justifying God. Morally, His ways are sometimes inexcusable. Allowing a Holocaust in which six million Jews were killed in the cruelest ways imaginable, causing unbearable pain to innocent children, is morally intolerable.
Throughout the centuries, historians, philosophers and anthropologists have struggled with the concept called Israel more than with nearly any other idea.
Marriage and the merit of living in the Land of Israel have much in common. After Sarah’s death, Avraham buys a portion in the Land of Israel, including the Cave of Machpelah, for the purpose of burying her there.
Lord of the Universe We, the people of Israel who are dwelling in the Diaspora come to you in humility and pray for Your help
In Contemporary Issues, Israel & Zionism and Parashat Bereshit
Impartial observers of the Middle East will realize that these are extraordinary times. Tens of thousands of Jews from many different countries are returning to their national and historic homeland after thousands of years.
Just as millions of Israeli Jews prayed for the safety of our three sons and showed unprecedented unity and moral character as no nation has ever shown, let us now sit shivah and mourn the terrible atrocity that has been committed by a few of our sons.
In Theodicy
Lord of the Universe! I ask for forgiveness, but I have no option but to speak to You with words of protest. I must tell You that it has again become very difficult to live in Your presence. In the last few weeks, we, the people of Israel, have all become one family whose sons were brutally murdered almost three weeks ago.
It is time to stop justifying God. Morally, His ways are sometimes inexcusable. Allowing a Holocaust in which six million Jews were killed in the cruelest ways imaginable, causing unbearable pain to innocent children, is morally intolerable.