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...
Category: Jewish Belief
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...
Women of the Wall – “But I want”
As readers have pointed out various nitpicks with the article, italics and crossouts represent corrected information to make it most accurate. The “Women of the Wall” Controversy Recently, a tiny group of American-born Heterodox Jews...
How to Become Rich – It’s Easy . . . and why are there poor people, anyway?
It is often hard to get caught up in the physicality that surrounds us. People tend to think that their hard work will make them rich. But it is not so. My salesman example...
When I considered the Existence of a Creator – Part II: Salesmen
This post is a continuation of Considering the Existence of a Creator: Part I – Gerbils. Who Collapsed the Wave Function? As noted in the prior post, in my most secular days, I would...
Considering the Existence of a Creator – Part I: Gerbils
Introduction Many people today have everything they need, but yet, are depressed because . . . what’s it all for? In Annie Hall, Woody Allen does a great job of explaining his childhood depression,...