Does the Prayer Book teach the Truth? From time to time, I receive excellent questions. I added explanations of Hebrew words in parenthesis. Here is one of them and my reply: In a recent blog you wrote: "The central part of Israelite life after the redemption from Egyptian slavery was [...]
More on Lessing This Lessing parable that I discussed a few days ago is beautiful and sounds true, but a careful examination of Nathan’s parable and his entire play “Nathan the Wise” makes it clear that Lessing’s view, like that of Halevi, which I also discussed a few days ago, is extreme, [...]
Yehuda Halevi and Gotthold E. Lessing Sometimes people change Judaism with extreme interpretations. The Bible seems to confirm that Jews are chosen by God for special loving treatment. Deuteronomy 7:6, for example, assures the Israelites, “you are a people consecrated to the Lord your God: of all the people on earth the [...]
Miriam was not kissed While much in Judaism has been changed and improved, the way the Bible intended, a serious problem remains that needs to be altered, the attitude to and treatment of women. The attitude is seen in the following rabbinic interpretation. Deuteronomy 34:5 states that Moses died “in the [...]
Not all rabbinical changes of biblical laws were good Some of the chapters in Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed, such as 2:48 where he tells us that when the Bible states that God did something it should be understood as an act of nature, are startling and the kind of ideas that [...]
In my last article in which I compared Maimonides and Spinoza, I mentioned that I wrote more extensively on the subject in my book “Maimonides: The Exceptional Mind.” Here is one chapter. How Baruch Spinoza Borrowed His Basic Philosophy from ibn Ezra and Maimonides Non-Jews consider Baruch (or Benedict) de Spinoza an esteemed [...]
Spinoza taught what Maimonides taught before him One of the reasons why people are unable to accept changes in religion is that they think it is improper to change past traditions and thinking. They fail to realize that the more educated members of their religion had known the truth that is being [...]
Prophets, rabbis, and philosophers changed the Decalogue I have been mentioning that Judaism has changed many biblical commands. In my book “Mysteries of Judaism, I showed that the rabbis modified every one of the biblical holidays, without exception. One would think that the rabbis would not alter the Decalogue, the fundamental biblical [...]
A misinterpretation that led to grievance consequences While most of the changes Jewish leaders, Pharisees, rabbis, and lay people made in Torah law were designed to ease life and make it reasonable and pleasant, some of the changes and interpretations produced the opposite results. This was especially so concerning laws relating to [...]
The Captured Woman One of the reasons why Judaism altered biblical laws was that it recognized that the Bible itself wanted that the laws should be changed or disregarded, that they should be humanized. Maimonides explained this in his Guide of the Perplexed as did the Talmud before him and commentators after [...]
The unorthodox secrets of ibn Ezra[1] Anyone who wants to understand the rational philosophy of Abraham ibn Ezra and his method of interpreting scripture needs to read this Hebrew book because Bonfils reveals the ibn Ezra ideas that he hinted at in his commentary but did not reveal explicitly. For example, he [...]
The Shame Borne in Silence Spouse abuse in the Jewish Community By Rabbi Abraham J. Twelski, MD Urim Publications, 2015, 136 pages While many Jews and non-Jews are convinced that Jewish husbands do not mistreat their wives and are ideal husbands with non-Jewish mothers suggesting to their daughters to marry a Jewish man, [...]
Philosopher Philo’s view of the Decalogue Besides changing biblical law as in the example described in note 6 below, where the scriptural prohibition against “coveting,” which clearly means “desire,” was defined as “stealing,” Jewish sages, philosophers, and rabbis disagreed over what exactly the Bible was saying. The oft-used term “Ten [...]
Scholars have contended for some time that the Bible and Talmud translations and commentaries by ArtScroll are flawed because they are composed to reflect the ideology of the extreme right-wing of Judaism. They point out that ArtScroll changes the meaning of Bible and Talmud words and inserts its own frequently incorrect summary of what [...]
This is one of the reviews of my book “Unusual Bible Interpretations: Five Books of Moses” that was placed on amazon by Robin Friedman one of the top amazon reviewers. For many years, I participated in a Bible study class with a group of friends. We would read a chapter or two each week [...]
Torah from Alexandria: Philo as a Biblical Commentator Volume 2: Exodus Edited by Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel Kodesh Press, 2014, 311 pages This is Rabbi Michael L. Samuel’s second book in an up-coming five-book series in which he gives readers selections from the Jewish philosopher Philo’s views on the Hebrew Bible. This volume [...]
Another unusual notion of Yehudah Halevi Schocken Books, which published Yehudah Halevi’s The Kuzari in a paperback volume, wrote: “The Kuzari is one of the basic books of Jewish literature, a required text in the library of every educated Jew – and every educated Christian who would understand the religion of Israel.” [...]
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 you, [...]
The mistaken theology of Yehudah Halevi Yehudah Halevi (1071-1141) was the foremost exponent of the notion that Jews are the chosen people, which he explained in an extremely problematical manner. He was a Spanish Jewish poet who composed a book on Jewish theology that captured the attention of many Jews. The book [...]
Why Are 39 Labors Prohibited on the Sabbath?[1] People familiar with the Jewish Sabbath laws know that the Hebrew Bible, the Torah, doesn’t list the activities prohibited on the Sabbath; rabbis instituted these laws and say that the laws are “hinted” in the Torah.[2] These hints are based on two of many [...]
Celebrating Judith’s success After beheading Holofernes, Judith and her servant return to Bethulia carrying Holofernes’ head in a bag. Achior is summoned to identify the dead general to assure the Bethulians that Holofernes is dead, but when he sees Holofernes’ head, he is overcome and unlike fearless Judith, he faints.[1] He revives, [...]
Judith saves Judea Judith[1] acts in chapters 8-13:10. She was a rich, highly respected, “shapely and beautiful”[2] widow who for the three years and four months[3] after her husband’s death wore sackcloth around her waist, dressed in widow’s clothing,[4] and fasted every day except for the Sabbath and holidays.[5] She heard that [...]
Unto the Soul By Aharon Appelfeld Translated from Hebrew by J. M. Green Schocken Books, 1994, 211 pages Cost $12.64 The Guardian of London considered Israeli novelist Aharon Appelfeld - born in 1932 and awarded the Israel Prize for literature in 1983 as well as other international awards - “one of the greatest writers [...]
The following is based on what I wrote in my recent book “Unusual Bible Interpretations: Five Books of Moses.” Angels and demons Did brilliant well-respected ancient thinkers of all religions have ideas that modern people should reject? Certainly. Aristotle, one of the greatest philosophers, had the despicable incorrect notion that women [...]
This following is a version of what I wrote in my recent book “Unusual Bible Interpretations: The Five Books of Moses.” Joseph’s vs. Pharaoh’s dreams The biblical scholar Arnold Ehrlich (1848-1919) criticizes people who only examine the Bible to find laws or moral lessons. He stresses[1] that the Bible [...]
What should one die for? The film “Monuments Men” tells how men risked their lives to save European works of art from being stolen or destroyed by the Nazis. Two of the men were killed during their somewhat successful endeavors. The film’s premise is that it is good to give up [...]
During the next three weeks, I will discuss the famed book Judith that was composed before the beginning of the Common era, which the rabbis refused to incorporate into the Bible. Why? The first seven chapters While Roman Catholics and Eastern churches included the Book of Judith as part of their [...]
Misconceptions about Hanukkah Many people have wrong ideas about the Jewish holiday Hanukkah. The following are a few examples: Hanukkah does not celebrate a victory over Greeks. The Greeks ruled many kingdoms as a result of Alexander’s conquests in the third century BCE, such as Egypt and Syria. [...]
Many mystics insist that the Zohar, the most famous book on Jewish mysticism, was composed by Rabbi Simeon bar Yochai around the year 130 CE. However, there are rabbis and scholars who recognize that Moses d' Leon, a Spaniard living in Granada, wrote it around 1286, that parts of the book were added by others [...]
Chapter 8 Ahasuerus elevates Mordecai With Haman dead, Ahasuerus gives Esther all the property owned by Haman.[1]Esther revealed to her husband her relationship to Mordecai and the king gave him the ring that he took from Haman. This ring may have given the holder huge power, as indicated in 3:10,[2] where [...]
