Dvar Torah for My Son on His Bar MItzvah
The following is adapted from the speech I gave at my son’s Bar Mitzvah. G_d relates to Moshe different than Avraham G_d spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD. וָאֵרָ֗א...
Category: Torah Thoughts
Why Aren’t There 100,000 Jews in the Dominican Republic?
My interest in Jews of the Dominican Republic piqued (or peaked, or maybe peeked) after my visit to the country. The Rabbi on my Dominican Republic kosher vacation casually mentioned how hundreds of Jews were...
Why Do Christians ‘Pick and Choose’ From the Bible? Homosexuality bad, shellfish good?
The Attack on Christians & A Defense The news as of late about the United States granting legal marriage certificates to couples of the same sex got me thinking. The Jewish view is clear...
Compassion for the Sinner – A Personal Story
Typically I post when I feel I have an answer. On a high level, I’ve written about things why good things happen to bad people and how there can be seeming evil in the...
Reading Torah in Context & Problematic Verses
Introduction Every now and then, an email or meme mocks words from the Torah, preying on the unlearned. Sometimes, the writer shows themselves to be extremely unlearned as in the case of the alleged...
Les Miserables, Lord of the Rings … and Torah?
Les Miserables Last year, the Maccabeats, best known for the most popular mainstream Chanukah song since Adam Sandler, released their Passover music to Les Miserables: It fits all too well, but this shouldn’t be...
Charity and the Business of Giving Tzedekah
Introduction to Tzedekah The Torah commands us to give Tzedekah. It’s translated as ‘charity’ but the root of the word, ‘tzedek’ really means that it’s the right thing to do. You aren’t giving just...
Who will Die? Forced Ethical Dilemmas in Jewish Law
Forced Ethical Dilemma (Updated Trolley Car Problem) Imagine this scenario: You buy a self driving car, say, like Google’s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_driverless_car) and your driving along at 65mph. The brakes fail. The sensors tell the car...
Men in Marraige and Child Raising – A video explanation
Intro Okay, so this blog already includes articles on mikveh and men and woman in relationships, woman and men in Judaism (part 1 and part 2), and so forth. Now for something different –...
Mastering a Discipline; Orthodox Surge – New York Times Article
The New York Times has an extremely positive article about Torah observant Jews, starting off with a discussion about a really nice and upscale supermarket in Brooklyn, called Pomegranate. They’ve got kosher everything –...