October 31 marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation started by Martin Luther (1498-1501) who many scholars maintain inspired Nazi anti-Semitism. The October 1, 2017 article in Florida’s Sun Sentinel newspaper on Luther includes the following disturbing paragraph. “‘It is clear that Martin Luther himself was an anti-Semite by the end of his [...]
It is good to be reminded of Maimonides, especially in this time when so many people are influenced by the idea that God wants people to have faith, that faith is all that is important, except, possibly, so some people contend, God created the world so that people can, indeed should, sit back and [...]
Ibn Ezra’s “Secret of the Twelve” Did Moses write the entire Torah? Do traditional Jewish commentators differ on the subject? Who wrote the story of the death of Moses? The twelve verses of Deuteronomy chapter 34 tell the story of the death of Moses. The introductory four verses narrate how God told Moses [...]
Chronicles, books I and II, were originally a single book, but were, like Samuel and Kings, divided into two simply because the books were too long to be held in a single scroll. Chronicles together with the books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell the story of the Jews from Adam down to the fourth [...]
As I watched and otherwise enjoyed the classical 1931 “Dracula” film starring Bela Lugosi, one scene repeated several times, disturbed me. I’m not sure of the meaning of what I saw. In the beginning of the film, when Dracula is first introduced to viewers, we see him wearing an oversized necklace with the star [...]
The renowned Spanish Mystic Bible and Talmud commentator Nachmanides’ view that God is involved in everything that occurs in this world affected his view about doctors helping people. He was generally, with only one exception, opposed to doctors. Miracles occur daily Nachmanides (1194-1270) writes[1]: “And now I shall declare to you a general principle [...]
Most people do not realize that along with other kinds of ancient books that were felt to be religious, some of which were included in the canonized Hebrew Bible, there were books known as “wisdom literature.” Three biblical books are recognized as wisdom literature: Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and Job. Two other early books that were [...]
The biblical book Kohelet, Ecclesiastes in English, is read in synagogues during the holiday of Sukkot. Why? The traditional answer is that a major theme of Kohelet is the futility of mundane pursuits and pleasures. Sukkot demonstrates this theme by the commandment to live in temporary dwellings. We move outside our homes, which provides [...]
A must watch - one brave man. https://www.facebook.com/hillelneuer/videos/10154801000051561/
People who pay attention to what they read realize, as I describe in detail in my book “Mysteries of Judaism,” that none of the Jewish holidays are practiced today as the Torah mandates. The rabbis made extensive changes in Torah laws because of changes in human circumstances. What do we know about Sukkot? The [...]
In her book “Jonah: The Reluctant Prophet,” Dr. Erica Brown accepts the view held by many scholars that Jonah son of Amitai is the same man who in II Kings 14:25-27 gave King Jeroboam II the divine prophecy to expand his kingdom in the eight century BCE. She accepts the biblical story in the biblical [...]
Yom Hakippurim: A Holiday The Romans Destroyed Like Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur does not exist in the Bible. It replaces another day known as Yom Hakippurim. Yom Kippur is singular, “day of atonement,” while Yom Hakippurim is plural, “day of atonements.” The biblical Yom Hakippurim is mentioned in Leviticus 16:29–31, 23:27–32, and Numbers 29:7–11. No work [...]
“The Disputation at Barcelona, by Ramban,” translated by Rabbi Dr. Charles B. Chavel, is a classic text composed by Nachmanides (1195-1270), also known as Ramban, of the formal dispute that Nachmanides had with Pablo Christiani in 1263 before the king of Aragon, James I. It is an interesting piece of Jewish history. There are two [...]
Have you ever wondered why Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are not highlighted in the Torah as pilgrimage holidays, as Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot are? This is because neither Rosh Hashanah nor Yom Kippur are biblical holidays. Both replaced biblical holidays, and are notably different from the holidays they replaced.[1] The biblical holiday Yom Teruah, [...]
Nachmanides was a famed Bible and Talmud commentator. His real name was Moses ben Nahman Gerondi. He is known in Hebrew as Ramban and in European languages as Nahmanides, also spelt Nachmanides (1194-1270). He was a mystic and had mystical ideas. What are some of his views? Among much else, Nahmanides believed that Jews [...]
Although for 24 hours seven days a week before Hurricane Irma hit Florida the weather forecasters foretold that there was a good chance the hurricane would hit my city Boca Raton, Florida, I knew that there was a good chance that it would not do so. And I was right. How did I know? [...]
I watched the 1945 black and white film “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and it reminded me of some serious questions. The film a perfect portrayal of Oscar Wilde's famous tale of a handsome young man, living in 1886 London, who looked at a picture painted of him and said sadly that while he [...]
The views of Abraham Joshua Heschel and Maimonides The late Abraham [...]
My answer is no. Ever since I was a child, I heard about faith and understood that it makes no sense. One day when I was still young my father Rabbi Dr. Nathan Drazin took me to hear a lecture by the famous Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. Heschel said the faith is not a Jewish [...]
In 1986, the Lubavitcher Rebbe invited me to speak with him and requested that I, an American Army General, speak at Army bases around the world about the Seven Noahide Commandments. Although I try to think rationally and not mystically like the Rebbe, I did so, and this is a version of that speech. [...]
The tashlich ceremony preserves a superstitious belief held by Jews of ancient times concerning water and the divine beings that dwell in and around it. The [...]
Abraham Joshua Heschel’s book Torah min hashamayim (translated into English by Gordon Tucker as “Heavenly Torah: As refracted Through the Generations”) reveals a truth that most rabbis do not know or, if they know, refuse to reveal. The methodologies of Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Ishmael differed on how to interpret the Torah, and only [...]
Many rabbis, even those who do not claim to be mystics, are convinced that the Zohar is a holy book and quote from it in their sermons. They think that the Zohar was composed by Rabbi Simeon bar Yochai around the year 130 CE. However, scholars recognize that Moses d’ Leon, a Spaniard living [...]
One of the best-loved books in Judaism is the Spanish Jewish poet Yehuda Halevi’s Kuzari (around 1075-1141), a book that was completed around 1140. It is considered by many to be an easy-to-read and informative book of philosophy that expresses, in the opinion of many, the basic principles of Judaism. Halevi’s goal was to demonstrate, [...]
Kapparot By Ted Gross Ted Gross's beautiful short 16-page tale, reminiscent of I. L. Peretz's masterpiece "If not Higher," dramatizes in a very pleasant way that the Kapparot ceremony, when many Jews transfer their misdeeds to a chicken, is not a magical ceremony, nor is it effective in itself. It is symbolic, designed to prompt [...]
On Sunday, I posted remarks about the horrible practice of mistreating chickens. The following is a shortened version of what I wrote about kapparot generally in my book “Maimonides: The Exceptional Mind.” Many Jews recognized that the kapparot ceremony was based on superstition, that waiving a chicken over one’s head a magical number of [...]
I received the following from The Shamayim V’aretz Institute about the cruelty practiced against animals during the kapparos (also spelt kapparot) ceremony that many Orthodox Jews observe. I agree with what is stated and I think it is important for everyone to know about the cruelty. Therefore, I am printing it here. And I will [...]
A young very good ventriloquist is touring Sweden, and one night, he's doing a show in a small fishing town. With his dummy on his knee, he starts going through his usual dumb blonde jokes. Suddenly, a blonde woman in the fourth row stands on her chair and starts shouting, “I've heard enough of your [...]
Many people, secular and religious, of different cultures and worldviews, have attempted to calculate the age of the world. There is no agreement between them simply because it is an impossible task. Christians,[1] Muslims, and Jews have tried to do the calculation based on a literal reading of the Bible and have come up [...]
Lost Horizon By James Hilton The philosopher Maimonides (1138-1204) considered the biblical story of the Garden of Eden as a parable, not an actual event, in his Guide of the Perplexed 1:2. He states that the Torah is speaking about morality. I think his interpretation is correct. I will not summarize it here, but [...]
