Rabbi Drazin’s Speculations Generate an Eclectic Book
Humorous, Serious, and Thoughtful Ideas by Israel Drazin; Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing House; © 2024; ISBN 9789657-801741; 98 pages plus sources, index and author information; $19.95.
SAN DIEGO – Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin’s column appears regularly in this publication. Our regular readers will not be surprised that in this book he poses answerless questions intended to make us think. He speculates about the sacred and the mundane, inquiring in chapter 30 “What do we know about God?” and in chapter 26 about “Ethical behaviors concerning shoes.”
He has a short chapter containing “meat-eater jokes,” including “People who don’t eat meat are called vegetarians, but what are people who don’t eat vegetables called? Constipated.” Another chapter is titled “Crowd Jokes” with this example: “A man tossed a ball into the crowd as baseball players did at ball games and was surprised the trend does not extend to bowling balls.”
In a serious vein, he offers “My list of three basic principles of Judaism” which, following a distillation of biblical commentary by the sages, are 1) Treat Everyone Properly; 2) We Must Be Rational; and 3) Observe the Sabbath.
He also proclaimed in a chapter on “beliefs” that “amazingly people believe things that are not true. … George Washington did not chop down a cherry tree … Marie Antoinette did not say, ‘Let them eat cake’.’” … He concludes this lesson with an observation that “the more we learn, the more we know, and the more we know the more we realize how much more there is to learn.”
Drazin, 89, enjoyed a multifaceted career that included stints as an attorney, a civil servant, a brigadier general in the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps, a weekend rabbi in Maryland, and as executive director of the Jim Joseph Foundation, which helps to finance Jewish education. He has authored more than 50 books.
His penchant for speculating about almost everything may have been honed by his studies of the Talmud, the U.S. legal system, the civil service codes, and military regulations. That he does so with humor reflects his favorable upbringing and his high tolerance for ambiguity.
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World.
Thank you Stephen for sharing your thoughts and kind words about Rabbi Drazin. Barukh Adonay!
Its great that u are receiving the recognition u deserve Israel.
Thank you Steve.
no worries Israel,
You earned it.
Thank you, Steve.
Do appreciate the mention of Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin’s contemplative explorations and his often humorous reflections on the nature of existence and our ethical practices. In addressing questions about God, one must consider the vastness and the ineffability of the Divine. My own work also seeks to illuminate the nature of God through rational inquiry and philosophical reasoning, striving to bridge the gap between the Divine and human intellect.
As for the mundane aspects of life, such as ethical considerations that even extend to the nature of shoes, it is a testament to the richness of the human experience that every action, even those as seemingly trivial as our footwear, carries deeper implications for our character and our relationship to the world around us.
The humor in Dr. Drazin’s anecdotes serves to remind us of our shared humanity and the need for levity amidst the serious pursuits of philosophy and ethics. Laughter can indeed be an ally in the study of Torah, as it brings solace and perspective to our existential inquiries.
Thus, whether pondering the profound nature of God or the ethics of our daily lives, we find that there is always room to reflect, question, and perhaps find a measure of joy in our journey of understanding
Dear Stephen, you are very kind, as usual.