The Wisdom of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Change is necessary Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks published “Lessons in Leadership” in 2015. Professor Ronald Heifetz who wrote the Forward points out that the rabbi is stressing that people of all religions and cultures should not sit passively and rely on the decisions of authorities [...]
The strange view about a diabolical evil inclination The belief in an evil inclination that is independent of the human body and that works to incite behavior that is detrimental to the body, like the similar concept of evil angels, is so widespread today among Jews and non-Jews that it is hard to [...]
The Bizarre, Irrational, and Harmful Belief in Evil Angels Since demons and evil angels played such a large part in the lives of many Jews, it is advisable to explore the origin of the belief in some depth. The average Jew today is convinced that angels exist. He or she is certain [...]
The Koren Pirkei Avot Translation by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Commentary by Rabbi Marc D. Angel Koren Publishers, 2015, 175 pages Jews and non-Jews have recognized the practical wisdom of many of the sayings in Pirkei Avot, “The Ethics of the Fathers,” and many Jews can quote its teachings from memory. Jews considered [...]
The Tashlich Ceremony: Another Bribe to Silence Satan Tashlich is a rite like kapparot whose non-rational basis is very obvious. The tashlich ceremony preserves a superstitious belief held by the Jewish masses of ancient times concerning water and the divine beings that dwell around it. The rite has been reinterpreted over time, [...]
The unreasonable view of some rabbis about conversion Conversion into Judaism is not an ancient idea although rabbis prefer to say that it is. For example, there is good reason to believe that the rabbis misinterpreted Deuteronomy 17:15 which states “One from among your bothers shall you set as king over [...]
The Non-Jewish – Indeed, Anti-Jewish – Origin of Kapparot While the shofar came to be seen as a rational and important part of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services, the same cannot be said of the kapparot and tashlich rites that are still celebrated by many Jews. Thus, while Maimonides included [...]
The Kosher Grapevine Wine is an essential part of Judaism. It is mentioned 136 times in the Hebrew Bible, sometimes to emphasize its possible harmful effects on people, as with Noah, Laban, and King Ahasuerus; sometimes as part of the sacrifice that was offered to God, as in the book of Leviticus and [...]
The Shofar Scares and Confuses Satan, Keeping Him at Arm’s Length It is absolutely certain that both the spiritual leaders of Jewry and the masses of uneducated Jews (or at least the majority of these) before, during and after the talmudic period believed that the shofar, the ram’s horn, was blown on [...]
The Generally Unknown Mystery of Rashi’s Commentary Many individuals of all faiths use the commentary of the famed biblical and Talmudic French rabbi Rashi (1040-1105) to help them understand the Bible. Rashi is a master writer. His commentaries are short, to the point, clarifying, and interesting. People enjoyed his explanations so [...]
The Strange Book of Jubilees vs. The Torah, part 2 This is a continuation of "The Strange Book of Jubilees vs. the Torah" where we saw that the author was convinced, among much else, that the count of years from creation is not identical to what we see in the Torah, and the [...]
The Book of Jubilees vs. the Torah While unfortunately most people do not realize it, there were many religious books composed between the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. The Roman Catholic Church made some of these books part of their Bible, but Jews and Protestants did not. Ancient books not included in [...]
Two more radical theories about Sukkot I described the origin of Sukkot, the biblical requirements, the way it was celebrated during the days on Nehemiah around 440 BCE that was startlingly different than the Torah instructions, and the radical view of the origin of Sukkot and the Sukkah by Arnold Ehrlich, [...]
A radical theory about Sukkot People who pay attention to what they read realize that none of the Jewish holidays are practiced today as the Torah mandates. Judaism today is not Torah Judaism but Rabbinic Judaism. The rabbis made extensive changes in Torah laws because of changes in human circumstances. Scholars [...]
Yom Kippur is not a biblical holiday 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 [...]
Sympathetic Magic in Judaism Ancient Jews, like their pagan neighbors believed that angels and demons exist, the first group helping people and the later harming them. They sought ways to control the demons and force them to do their will. They believed that humans have the power not only to control demons but [...]
Maimonides vs. Daf Yomi There is a problem with those who study the Talmud (known colloquially as “learning the Talmud”). Most of these people do not really understand what is being read, why the Talmud states what it states, what are the different versions in other parts of the Talmud, in [...]
A difficult (non-rational?) prayer The origin of one of the most significant prayers of the Jewish High Holiday services - Avinu Malkeinu, “Our Father, Our King” – which many Jews find “meaningful and inspiring,” is based on a story told in different versions, which is most-likely a legend. It sustained its viability, [...]
Devil in Jerusalem By Naomi Ragen This is a very well-written, gripping, and suspenseful novel that is based on true horrendous events among Jews, Christians, Muslims, Atheists, and indeed all people. Although depressing, the story needs to be told to protect vulnerable and insecure people from falling into the grip of cult leaders who lead [...]
Laws were once able to be overturned Rabbi Marc D. Angel demonstrates his well-known knowledge and writing skills in his informative exploration of Jewish practices called “The Rhythms of Jewish Living, A Sephardic Exploration of Judaism’s Spirituality.” The book includes a fascinating chapter concerning the ancient Great Court being able to overturn laws and others [...]
Combating what is disliked In addition to changes being made in Torah laws to add stringencies, to remove offensive material from the Torah text, changes were introduced into Judaism to combat the views of non-Jews and Jews who do not practice what the rabbis consider correct, and to disassociate Jews from them. The [...]
Ezra changed the Torah text Tikkunie Soferim Tikkunei Soferim, which can be translated as “corrections by the scribes,” refers to at least eighteen changes that were made in the original wording of the Hebrew Bible wording during the second temple period, perhaps sometime between 450 and 350 BCE.[1] Most [...]
Changing the Torah by adding stringencies Rabbi Evan Hoffman discussed the phenomenon of rabbis adding stringencies to the somewhat lenient biblical laws.[1] For example, Deuteronomy 8:10 states “eat and be sated and bless the Lord,” which required the Israelites to bless God, that is say a benediction, after eating only if [...]
I just published my thirtieth book “Unusual Bible Interpretations: Judges.” The following is some information about this book. Most people suppose that the book of Judges is filled with tales of pious leaders called judges, who performed acts that protected the Israelites and helped form them into a praiseworthy nation. A close reading [...]
Changing the Immutable Since time began, since the more intelligent men and women realized they had ideas they could not share with others, yet they had to speak, they learnt to lie. Highly respected philosophers did so. The pagan Greek Plato called what they said “noble lies.” The Jewish Maimonides named them “essential truths.” [...]
The noted critic Irving Howe wrote that the author Aharon Appelfeld (born 1932) “is one of the best novelists alive.” Here is a summary of two of his tales. To the Land of Cattails By Aharon Appelfeld The title of this fascinating 1987 novel is ironic. A mother and her son, she in [...]
Why must women start the Sabbath before Men? If people would take the time to look at the bulletin of an Orthodox Synagogue, they would find something very curious. The women are instructed to light candles several minutes before the men are scheduled to attend the Mincha service,[1] and Mincha takes place [...]
Maimonides, Abarbanel, and Cognitive Dissonance Isaac Abarbanel, a highly intelligent fifteenth and sixteenth century Bible Commentator, used his introduction to the biblical book Amos to express his difference with Maimonides on the issue of prophecy. Abarbanel insisted that the view about prophecy held by most people, that prophecy is miraculous, is correct, [...]
Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed One of the most significant and life changing books ever written is Moses Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed. Maimonides lived from 1138 to 1204. Many people consider him the most important person since Moses who handed Israel God’s revelation. Others are convinced that he is far better [...]
The Origin of Sin Professor Paula Fredriksen of Boston University wrote “Sin: The Early History of an Idea.”[1] Her book is scholarly and informative. There is no concept of “sin” in the Hebrew Bible as a distorting stain upon the soul that requires a kind of supernatural atonement process, as the [...]
