Greek and Roman Philosophy after Aristotle Edited by Jason L. Saunders The Free Press, 1966, 371 pages Jason L. Saunders’ book is a collection of philosophical and religious writings from Epicurus in the fourth century BCE through the early writings on Christianity, until Tertullian (160-230 CE). Some thoughts ring true today; others do not; [...]
By Israel Drazin Most individuals accept what people in authority tell them to think and do without analyzing whether it makes any sense. I think that this is wrong and destructive. It stifles growth. The primary example is the demand to “have faith!” This is the paradigm of passivity. Sit back and [...]
The Sages Character, Context & Creativity Volume II: From Yavneh to the Bar Kokhba Revolt By Binyamin Lau Translated by Ilana Kushan Maggid Books, 2012, 435 pages Lau, a respected Orthodox rabbi with a PhD, approaches his subject, the history of Judaism after the Roman destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 CE until [...]
Jews and Words By Amos Oz and Fania Oz-Salzberger Yale University Press, 2012, 248 pages Neither Amos Oz, a famous Israeli novelist and literary scholar, nor his daughter Fania Oz-Salberger, a historian, authors of this informative book, believes in the existence of God. Their attachment to Judaism is cultural: “There is not a religious [...]
By Israel Drazin The Bible in Numbers 6:22-27 describes God telling Moses to instruct the priests to bless the Israelites with a three-fold blessing. Leviticus 9:22 states that Aaron the priest “lifted his hand toward the people” and blessed them after offering a sacrifice. Jews and Christians understand that this biblical command [...]
By Israel Drazin In my first essay on Shavuot, I pointed out that the Hebrew name “Shavuot” means “weeks,” and that the command to observe it as a holiday is in Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:9, 10, and 16; and Leviticus 23:15 and 16, where the Bible tells the Israelites to [...]
Pathway to Jerusalem The Travel Letters of Rabbi Ovadiah of Bartenura Written Between 1488-1490 By Rabbi Ovadiah CIS Publishers, 1992, 93 pages Rabbi Ovadiah is well-known and highly respected because of his clear Hebrew commentary on the third century Mishnah, a commentary still used today. He was born in Bartenura, Italy, sometime around 1445, [...]
By Israel Drazin People think that biblical narratives are clear and easily understandable, and that the explanations of the stories offered in clerical sermons or written in ancient documents such as the Talmud, Midrashim (imaginative elaborations of the Bible), and medieval commentaries are true. Actually neither idea is true. Good literature contains ambiguities and [...]
From Defender to Critic The Search for a New Jewish Self By Dr. David Hartman Jewish Life Publishing, 2012, 303 pages Rabbi Dr. David Hartman disagrees with the views of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (1903-1993), the former Dean of Yeshiva University and spiritual leader of the Rabbinical Council of America, the organization of Orthodox rabbis. [...]
By Israel Drazin Science has proven beyond doubt that when people think they are having a religious, spiritual, or mystic encounter, or a feeling of sensing God, they are really not doing so, they only think they are. Ralph D. Mecklenburger, in his 2012 book, Our Religious Brains, describes the scientific findings of how the [...]
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 [...]
By Israel Drazin The Book of Esther is one of the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible. Curiously, God is not mentioned in this volume of Scripture and there is no indication that God was involved in any way in helping Esther and Mordecai save the Jews of Persia from [...]
When the State of Israel was reestablished in 1948, 1878 years after it had been decimated by the Romans in the year 70 CE, the new government had to decide what to call the nation and what its flag should be. The Romans destroyed Israel and slaughtered many of its people because they [...]
Koren Mesorat HaRav Siddur With commentary based on teachings of Rabbi Soloveitchik OU Press and Koren Publishers, 2011, 1304 pages This book is a splendid addition both for people seeking an extensive commentary to their siddur (prayer book) and those who want to know more about the thinking of the famous and esteemed Rabbi Joseph [...]
By Israel Drazin A very knowledgeable reader of my writings wrote to me asking two questions. The first was: do I think religious people should study philosophy or science? The question was prompted by my use of the word philosophy frequently. I understand that the great Greek and Jewish philosophers Aristotle [...]
By Israel Drazin In my discussion on “Are intelligent people moral,” I wrote that Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) taught in his Guide of the Perplexed 1:2 that people should work to develop their thinking and understanding by studying the sciences and logic, and make life decisions based on what they learnt, on [...]
Abuse in the Jewish Community By Michael J. Salamon, PhD Urim Publications, 2011, 143 pages The Catholic Church’s sex scandal involves some 3,000 priests. A 1998 study found that one in four Protestant clergy who don’t have the oath of celibacy had inappropriate sexual contacts with someone who was not their spouse. The Center [...]
The Shidduch Crisis By Michael J. Salamon, PhD Urim Publications, 2008, 143 pages Although there is nothing in the Bible, Talmud, and Jewish law codes that suggest that Jewish marriages should be arranged by a shadchan, a matchmaker, and in fact these documents encourage men and women to become thoroughly acquainted before marriages, many Orthodox [...]
Ask many Orthodox and Conservative Jews about the origin of Judaism's oral law and they will tell you that God revealed both the written and oral Torah to the Israelites through Moses at Sinai. Actually, the Bible only states that the Ten Commandments were revealed at Sinai. The rest of the Torah, with incidences that [...]
Rabbis first appeared around the year 70 of the Common Era. No man before that time had this title. Those who think that Jesus was a rabbi are mistaken. The Torah gives the responsibility to teach the Israelites to the tribe of Levy. Later, the priests assumed this role. When the temple was destroyed, priests [...]
The Outsider By Albert Camus Everyman Library, 1982, 116 pages This 1942 classic is about a man, Meursault, who shoots an Arab eight times without premeditation because he, Meursault, is overcome by the heat of the Algerian sun. He is unable to explain what he did and is sentenced to death. The book received [...]
The book Job is composed of three parts: a prologue, an epilogue, and the main body of the tale. Many scholars are convinced that the prologue and epilogue are later additions to the original, the body of the tale; it is different in tone and portrays God in a radically distinctive manner. These [...]
I think that there are two kinds of consciences; one is intellectual and the other emotional. I think that the first fits in with the Jewish concept of cheit. Cheit is usually translated by people as "sin," but this is wrong. Cheit means “missing the mark,” as when one shoots an arrow and misses [...]
Moses Maimonides’ Treatise on Resurrection An Inquiry into its Authenticity By Lea Naomi Goldfeld Ktav Publishing House, 1986, 167 pages Maimonides made it very clear in his work called Chelek that he felt that the intellect goes to the world to come as soon as a person dies and remains there for eternity. He states [...]
Maimonides Essential Teachings on Jewish Faith & Ethics The Book of Knowledge & the Thirteen Principles of Faith Annotated & Explained By Rabbi Marc D. Angel, PhD Skylight Illuminations, 2012, 177 pages There are many divergent interpretations of the great sage Moses Maimonides (1138-1204). Some scholars, such as Leo Strauss of the University of Chicago [...]
The Lonely Man of Faith By Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Maggid Books and OU Press, 2012, 79 pages Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (1903-1993) was a highly respected rabbi and teacher and the mentor of over 2,000 rabbis. He had a PhD from the University of Berlin, wrote his doctoral dissertation on the philosopher [...]
By Israel Drazin Rabbis who offer legal decisions frequently say that customs that have been practiced for some time have the same power as laws, but actually some do and some don’t. Traditions are a twin sister to customs. Generally customs refer to behaviors and traditions to ideas, but people use the terms interchangeably. [...]
By Israel Drazin A reader of this website sent me three questions. Here are the questions and my responses. (1) I note your pure blue eyes and wonder: how do some Jews have such? Do these features prove that Jews were breeding with non- Jews way back in history? I THINK THAT [...]
By Israel Drazin Maimonides wrote his Mishneh Torah, his code of Jewish law. About a century after his death in 1204, Jacob ben Asher (1270–c. 1340) composed a code of Jewish law that he called the Tur. Roughly two centuries later, Joseph Karo (1488–1575), compiled his law books, which he named the Shulchan Arukh. More [...]
Kohelet A Modern Commentary on Ecclesiastes By Leonard S. Kravitz and Kerry M. Olitzky UAHC Press, 2003, 132 pages Kohelet, its Hebrew name, Ecclesiastes in English, is one of the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible. Both names mean “assembly” or “assembler.” The book’s author states that he was the son of King [...]
