By Israel Drazin Rashi (1040-1105) reports a teaching of Rabbi Ishmael (second century CE) contained in Midrash Sifrei Numbers 30 in his commentary on Numbers 6:13. I think that Sifrei may have erred because what it says doesn’t seem logical or consistent with the interpretive methodology of Rabbi Ishmael. Chapter [...]
By Israel Drazin The semi-holiday[1] Lag B’omer is based on an unsubstantiated and unlikely tradition. Lag B’omer means the “thirty-third day [since bringing the barley harvest] omer [to the tabernacle and later temples to thank God for the barley harvest].” An omer is a certain weight of the grain such as [...]
By Israel Drazin No Jewish holiday is practiced today as the Bible mandates. Shavuot, called Pentecost in English, is a good example. The current observance of the holiday has no relationship to its biblical ancestor and doesn’t even occur at the same time.[1] Very few people know the truth about this day. [...]
By Israel Drazin Like all other biblical holidays, Rosh Chodesh is not observed today as required by biblical law. This is because of changed social circumstances and because the principle part of the biblical worship was sacrifices that were discontinued after the Romans destroyed the Jewish second temple in 70 [...]
By Israel Drazin The following are some thoughts on the biblical portion Bemidbar, Numbers 1:1 to 4:20. Each shows problems with traditions. This fourth biblical book is named after the first significant word in the first chapter, Bemidbar. However most people call the book Bamidbar, which is a corruption of [...]
By Israel Drazin Most people listen to a sermon and think, “This is Torah,” and never ask if what they hear is philosophy, theology, or hermeneutics. There is a big difference. Philosophy is the search for the truth. Ideas are developed from what is sensed by the five senses, proven [...]
Review by Israel Drazin Marriage and Divorce in the Jewish State Israel’s Civil War By Susan M. Weiss & Netty C. Gross-Horowitz Brandeis University Press, 2013, 218 pages In 1953, the Israeli government acquiesced to far right religious elements in the state and enacted the restrictive Rabbinic Courts Jurisdiction Law, [...]
By Israel Drazin To Mourn a Child Jewish Responses to Neonatal and Childhood Death Edited by Jeffrey Saks and Joel B. Wolowelsky Ktav Publishers and OU Press, 2013, 167 pages Many fathers and mothers are willing to surrender their lives to save their child, and feel a sense of eternal life in [...]
In his 2013 book The Essence of Religions, Christophor Coppes tells why he is convinced that people are able glimpse heaven in near-death experiences (NDEs) and that they are true events even though people report them differently. He feels that most religions have inklings of NDE truths, but the religious teachings are overloaded with [...]
By Israel Drazin There are many problems and questions concerning the Shemita and Jubilee years. I will discuss some of them. Shemita means “release.” It is a biblically required year when financially distressed people are aided, the nation’s economy is toughened, food supplies are secured by strengthening fields, and the [...]