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Tzaddikim, Prayer, Disaster Part 5

Thursday December 21 2017, 1:51 PM Tzaddikim, Prayer, Disaster

In order to understand the place of the Tzaddik in Jewish, and especially in Kabbalistic thought, it is necessary to consider certain things. (Philosophically inclined Jewish theologians would have great difficulty with most of this.) First of...

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Tzaddikim, Prayer, Disaster Part 6

Thursday December 21 2017, 1:49 PM Tzaddikim, Prayer, Disaster

As I said in the first post in this series, part of the issue with the story we began with, is the neccesity of "doing it right". Judaism has many rules and regulations; some Biblical, some rabbinic, some custom. In the first two instances, there...

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Tzaddikim, Prayer, Disaster Part 7

Thursday December 21 2017, 1:42 PM Tzaddikim, Prayer, Disaster

There is a Torah portion called "Kedoshim", which begins with the words "You shall be holy, for I the L-rd am holy." (Leviticus 20:26) Surprisingly, the Torah never defines "holy". Had such a statement appeared in Plato, a long dialogue would...

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Charismatic Personality and Halachah Part 1

Thursday December 21 2017, 1:41 PM Charismatic Personality and Halachah

When I first returned to the U.S. from Israel, I found, as I have written, a position in a small Long Island congregation. But I was soon faced with a problem. Their services began at 9:30, and ended about 11:45. That was fine for the Summer. But...

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Charismatic Personality and Halachah Part 2

Thursday December 21 2017, 1:40 PM Charismatic Personality and Halachah

The mid fourth century was a devastating time for Judaism. The last Sanhedrin died off (well, was actually killed by the Byzantines). The authentic chain of smichah (ordination) going back to Moses, was likewise, quite literally, killed off. This...

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Charismatic Personality and Halachah Part 3

Thursday December 21 2017, 1:40 PM Charismatic Personality and Halachah

We have seen that based on all classical sources, a potential convert has only minimal preparation or training. His sincere desire to enter the Covenant is all that is required. We tell him, at the time of his conversion, about a few of the...

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Charismatic Personality and Halachah Part 4

Thursday December 21 2017, 1:39 PM Charismatic Personality and Halachah

One of the leaders in the forefront of fighting the "we've always done it this way" Judaism, is Rabbi Avi Weiss. A product of Yeshiva University, he has taken many unusual stances, that have alienated him from many in the "establishment". His...

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Charismatic Personality and Halachah Part 5

Thursday December 21 2017, 1:38 PM Charismatic Personality and Halachah

In 1983, when Menachem Begin, arguably the man most responsible for the founding of the State of Israel, resigned as Prime Minister, the prestigious U.S. news and interview program, Sixty Minutes, interviewed Ezer Weitzman, a Right winger, who had...

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Charismatic Personality and Halachah Part 6

Thursday December 21 2017, 1:37 PM Charismatic Personality and Halachah

Rabbi Riskin emigrated to Israel in 1983. He became a leader not only in his own community of Efrat, but he immediately filled a niche in areas that Israelis tend not to think of as rabbinic fields. His American style of a friendly, accessible...

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Women of the Wall

Thursday December 21 2017, 1:36 PM Women of the Wall

OK, I've calmed down a bit, and will tackle the "Women of the Wall" issue as best I can. There is an Israeli saying "don't believe anything you read in the papers, except the date, and sometimes the weather".There is no such thing in Israel as an...

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Tefillin on Chol HaMo'ed

Thursday December 21 2017, 1:35 PM Chol HaMo'ed

Chol Hamo'ed, the "Intermediate Days" of Passover and Sukkot, have many laws of their own. Some holiday laws apply, others do not. Basically, labor is forbidden that is not required for Chol HaMo'ed, or the final days of the holiday. (The main...

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Undoing Rulings of the Sanhedrin

Thursday December 21 2017, 1:32 PM Sanhedrin

Just a few words in response to Katrin Federle 's question, about how a later Sanhedrin could undo an enactment of Ezra (and his Sanhedrin). The general rule is that a Sanhedrin cannot undo an enactment or decree of an earlier Sanhedrin,...

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Judaism and the Occult Part 1

Thursday December 21 2017, 1:31 PM Judaisim and the Occult

Before we begin, let's remember what I have written elsewhere about Jewish dogma. There isn't any! Both Scripture and Talmud are vague about what we would call theology, concentrating more on our actions and on what G-d expects of us. Although...

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Judaism and the Occult Part 2

Thursday December 21 2017, 1:30 PM Judaisim and the Occult

RAMABAM, and other rabbis committed to the philosophical, rational understanding of Judaism saw a world with fixed, logical rules. Only in the rarest of occasions does G-d intervene, temporarily suspending these rules for some greater purpose....

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Judaism and the Occult Part 3

Thursday December 21 2017, 1:29 PM Judaisim and the Occult

One of RAMBAM's most radical teachings, and the main reason that his books were burned in Europe, is the Parable of the Island. He writes that there is an island, in the center of which is a palace, where a great King dwells. The people in other...

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