Women of the Wall: Part II – Jews for Kant
Historian View of Judaism as Fossil In the past, I wrote about why Torah observant Jews give no credence to groups like ‘Women of the Wall’. This is an addendum to that post, as...
Category: Jewish Belief
Siyum HaShas: Media Covers 90,000 Jews at Giant’s Stadium
(Click on the Pictures for Larger Images) What is a “Siyum HaShas” (Completion of the Entire Talmud)? Started in 1923 in Poland, Rav Meir Shapiro began the practice of a daily learning schedule of...
Women in Judaism, Part II: Woman ≠ Man (so I learned)
This post is a continuation of “Women in Judaism, PART I: Woman = Man (so I was taught)” – read that first. A Logical Framework to the Discussion Let me preface by saying I’m...
Women in Judaism, Part I: Woman = Man (so I was taught)
“Feminist beginnings”, or “Orthodox Judaism’s Oppression” I grew up in a very liberal home, and went to secular public schools with almost all leftist teachers where we learned that traditional values discriminated against women,...
Insular vs. Involved in Secular Society
Looking From the Outside, In From the outside world, Orthodox Jews tend to look sort of . . . monolithic. This tends to be the case about anything one has limited knowledge about. For...
Trophy Wives: Men Never Change – Flood to PR China, It’s All the Same
New Rich Matchmaking in China The New York Times provides more fodder for discussion in today’s article on new matchmaking services in China: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/business/in-a-changing-china-new-matchmaking-markets.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 The catch is, that in China, these services can cost...
Belief – Jewish Basics – Know What to Answer Yourself CD Series
The following audio lectures are available from Ani Maamin, run by Rabbi Dovid Sapirman. These lectures are on the fundamentals of Jewish belief, and are being made available freely thanks to a donation of...
Seeing the Physical World or Seeing Past the Physical
Rabbi Elozar Ben Pedas’s Complaint and Reward Rabbi Elozar ben Pedas was extremely poor. On one occasion after being bled he found he had nothing to eat to regain his strength. He took the skin of...
Mikveh, Relationships, and Using Man’s Desires to Serve the Creator
Articles that begin with discussions about mikveh’s (ritual baths) are usually written from a feminine perspective, and for good reason. It’s a mitzvah carried out by women (along with Shabbos candles, challah, and other...
Religion & The Paradox of Choice – What is Holy (Kadosh)? – Part I
The Paradox of Choice To be “holy,” in the langauge of the Torah is “kadosh.” This literally means to “separate.” The Museum of Science in Boston actually has an entire exhibit, as of 5773...