By Israel Drazin Many scholars are convinced that no book of the Hebrew Bible, with the possible exception of the biblical book Daniel 12:2-3, speaks about life after death, and feel certain that the various ideas about the after-life were taken from pagan notions. Daniel states that “those who sleep in the dust will [...]
By Israel Drazin I think that the messianic age is not a miraculous affair and the messiah is not a supernatural figure. There will be a gradual evolutionary and educative process that will improve people and encourage everyone, or nearly everyone, to live in harmony and work together to improve every individual and society. I [...]
By Israel Drazin I don’t think that people need to believe that a soul exists. The currently-used Hebrew word for soul is nefesh. Nefesh is in the Torah, but it does not mean soul in Scripture. It means “a person” or “life force.” Thus when Leviticus 2:1 speaks of a nefesh bringing an [...]
By Israel Drazin As I wrote in my discussion about the origin of evil, I am convinced that God created the world out of nothing or formed it out of preexisting and eternal matter, set the laws of nature in it, and then stopped being involved in the earth and its people. God is [...]
By Israel Drazin Contrary to the belief and hopes of most people, but consistent with the thinking of people such as Maimonides and Yeshayahu Leibowitz (1903-1994), I don’t think there is a personal God. I am convinced that God is transcendent: God created the world out of nothing or formed it out of preexisting [...]
By Israel Drazin I dislike and reject the notion of “faith,” which is the acceptance that an idea is true even though the idea is clearly shown to be false by science, the use of our five senses, or reasoning. I accept as true only facts that are rational. I am not an atheist [...]
By Israel Drazin Many rabbis have, in effect, abandoned Bible study to fundamentalist Christians. Very few of their books that ostensibly address the Torah actually do so. Instead, usually without disclosing the fact, the rabbis who composed these volumes and the rabbis who deliver synagogue sermons focus on the midrashic versions of the biblical [...]
Some Thoughts about God By Israel Drazin The popular view that God is ever present and meticulously involved, such as making detailed decisions about and controlling every raindrop and every falling leaf, and counting and recording the good and bad deeds that humans perform, is so well known that it doesn’t bear repeating. So [...]
What are we Expected to Know about God? By Israel Drazin I am more inclined to accept the Maimonidean position. The term “tradition” is used frequently in discussions about Jewish values and practices. Maimonides warns us to be skeptical of traditions, no matter what their source and no matter how many people insist [...]
Kissing Holy Objects By Israel Drazin A significant number of people are unable to identify a religious practice as being nothing other than superstition, especially when the practice has existed for generations, they feel good about doing it, it gives them a spiritual uplift, and their religious leaders are performing the act. One [...]
One of the great tragedies of Judaism is the way that it handles divorces. The rabbis interpreted the Torah to state that only men can initiate marriages and divorces. Thus if a woman wants a divorce but her husband refuses to give it to her, she is chained (Hebrew, aguna) to her husband forever. [...]
Think about it. Many holidays occur when the event they commemorate didn’t happen. The American Indians and the Pilgrims didn’t meet for a turkey meal on the last Thursday in November and President George Washington wasn’t born on the third Monday in February. In Christianity, Jesus’ mother did not give birth on December 25 [...]
The Mysterious Stranger By Mark Twain Mark Twain (1835-1910) uses this novel to mock the conventional ideas about God: that God is a loving ever-present entity who wants to help people and reward people who do what he wants done and punishes people who disobey him. He sets his parable in Austria hinting that Austria [...]
The God Upgrade Finding your 21st Century Spirituality in Judaism’s 5000 Year Old Tradition By Rabbi Jamie S. Korngold Jewish Lights Publishing, 2011, 143 pages Rabbi Korngold may be a pantheist. She writes that she believes what she understands Spinoza did that God is found in nature. She runs religious adventure outings and takes [...]
The Fire and the Cloud Contemporary Reflections on the Weekly Torah Reading By David Bigman Gefen Publishing House, 2011, 160 pages David Bigman’s reflections on the meaning of the Torah are a pleasure to read. They are sensible, intelligent, and interesting biblical interpretation, presented clearly, orderly, and concisely, covering 54 different biblical portions in just [...]
The Origin of the Seder The Passover Rite and early Rabbinic Judaism By Baruch M. Bokser Jewish Theological Seminary Press, 2002, 188 pages This reprint of the 1984 classic by Professor Bokser explains the origin of the Passover Seder meal ritual. He notes that the Pascal sacrifice was an important part of Jewish ritual [...]
The Bible’s Secret By Israel Drazin The ancients knew that it is impossible to tell the truth to the general public. Most people lack the ability to understand because they are taught wrong ideas by teachers who were not taught the truth. This misinformation became the basis of everything they know. Telling them that [...]
Review by Israel Drazin New Jewish Feminism Probing the Past, Forging the Future Edited by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein Forward by Anita Diamant Jewish Lights Publishing, 2009, 439 pages It is outrageous to think that God relegated women to second class citizenship and outlawed them from a real relationship with the [...]
The Sages Character, Context & Creativity Volume 1: The Second Temple Period Translated by Michael Prawer By Rabbi Binyamin Lau Maggid Books, 2010, 383 pages Reviewed by Israel Drazin There is a tradition that God commanded the Oral Law at Sinai. Some Jews take the statement literally. Others understand that it says that [...]
Persecution and the Art of writing By Leo Strauss The University of Chicago Press, 1980, 204 pages Reviewed by Israel Drazin This book, first published in 1952, is a classic that is quoted frequently when people ask: do philosophers say what they really believe or do they hide the truth? Strauss explains [...]
Torah in the Observatory: Gersonides, Maimonides, Song of Songs By Menachem Kellner Academic Studies Press, 2010, 374 pages Reviewed by Israel Drazin Menachem Kellner is one of the most knowledgeable scholars of Maimonides and Gersonides, the author of many books and articles about them and philosophy generally, and his new book is a [...]
Between Rashi and Maimonides Themes in Medieval Jewish Thought, Literature and Exeg Edited by E. Kanarfogel and M. Sokolow Ktav Publishing House, 2010, 341 pages Reviewed by Israel Drazin This is a collection of fifteen scholarly articles discussing the two great sages Rashi (1040-1105) and Maimonides (1138-1204) who lived almost exactly a century [...]
An Intelligent Person is not Moral By Israel Drazin Morals are rules of proper conduct, what is good and what is bad. They inform people how to live a proper and safe life. Moral deeds seem to be what all people should do. But is this true? Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) seems [...]
Torah Umaddah By Rabbi Norman Lamm Maggid Books, 2010, 247 pages Reviewed by Israel Drazin Should religious people shun everything secular, even science? This question bothered many religious people for centuries. Some solved it by living in isolation, wearing clothes that distinguish them and keep them apart, and insisting that their children not [...]
The Treaties of the Pool By Obadyah son of Abraham son of Maimonides Translated with commentary by Paul Felton The Octagon Press, 1981, 146 pages Maimonides (1138-1204), was the rationalist par excellence, the greatest Jewish thinker. Yet neither his son Abraham nor grandson Obadyah, who wrote this book, nor any of his descendants, [...]
The Concept of the Soul and the After-Life By Israel Drazin Many people are afraid of death. Although there is no indication, not even a hint, in the Hebrew Bible about a soul, life after death, and an abode for people in a place called heaven, they convince themselves that [...]
Why We Pray What We Pray The Remarkable History of Jewish Prayer By Rabbi Dr. Barry Freundel Urim Publications, 2010, 313 pages Reviewed by Israel Drazin Rabbi Dr. Barry Freundel, Vice President of the Rabbinical Council of America, reveals the fascinating history of six significant Jewish prayers in six well researched, informative, [...]
On Changes in Jewish Liturgy Options and Limitations By Daniel Sperber Urim Publications, 2010, 221 pages Reviewed by Israel Drazin This is the second recent volume where Daniel Sperber, professor, rabbi, author of thirty books and more than four hundred articles, a leading expert on Jewish laws and customs, addresses what many consider [...]
Women and Men in Communal Prayer Halakhic Perspectives Edited by Chaim Trachtman, MD Ktav Publishing House, 2010, 418 pages Reviewed by Israel Drazin One of the great world tragedies is the systematic exclusion of women from many activities and positions, making them, in essence, only partial citizens, reminiscent of blacks being considered only three-fifths [...]
Where’s My Miracle Exploring Jewish Traditions for Dealing with Tragedy By Morey Schwartz Gefen Publishing House, 2010, 191 pages Reviewed by Israel Drazin Schwartz examines the many answers that Jewish sages offered to the age-old question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” He writes in easily understandable English with full, but [...]
