The Chief Rabbinate elections of 1993 represented a complete change of direction; not only for Israel, but for world Jewry. The Rabin governemnt had been voted in the previous year. It's two major coalition partners were the ultra Left, vehemently...
To understand how the Israeli Chief Rabbinate essentially commandeered American Orthodoxy, we must look at some history first. Although Jews began arriving in America already in the seventeenth century, few rabbis, or even mediocre scholars, did....
The new Chief Rabbis who were elected in 1993, were heavily under the influence of Hareidi rabbis. Around that time, the main Hareidi rabbis, especially in the Lithuanian Yeshiva sector, had adopted the very stringent approach to conversion, that...
There have been, in recent years, movements that have challenged the status quo in the Chief Rabbinate, as well as their American proxy, the RCA. While receiving much criticism, and even threats of violence in some cases, they have, nevertheless,...
Since so many people are asking, on and off list, about Har HaBayit (The Temple Mount), i will break my own rule and describe the issues briefly. Yes, according to all views (except RAAVAD) the prohibition of entering the site where the Temple...
As I have discussed many times, the Torah consists of a Written and Oral element. One is meaningless without the other. I often give the analogy of the relationship between the U.S. Constitution and American law. All U.S. law is based on the...
RAMBAM (1138-1204) was well aware of the controversy concerning the Aggadic (non halachic, narrative) parts of Talmud. Perhaps the strongest defender of the Oral Torah until his time (Karaite heresy had been around for 400 years, denounced, but...
In RAMBAM's monumental legal code, the Mishnah Torah, his ideas expressed in his philosophical works come into practical expression. His total rejection of both demons and angels, as conflicting with uncompromising monotheism, is evident in not...
We have seen how RAMBAM's works were greeted in the Ashkenazi lands of France and Germany with great derision. They were seen as heterodox and dangerous. They were condemned, banned and burned everywhere. With time, however, it began to be...
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (1772-1810) was a very deep thinker, who, ironically, instructed his students and followers to be simple and unsophisticated. He taught that simplicity brings happiness, while sophistication only brings suffering. He was...
As I have stated before, there is almost no topic about which there is only one Jewish view. Does Judaism make belief in a Messiah a cornerstone of its ideology? Then why is it not mentioned specifically in the Torah? There are several places...
Nearly all rabbinic opinions about the Messiah is to be found in a few pages of the Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin. I am reproducing them here in their entirety. Please pay special attention to the vast differences of opinion inherent in these...
The section of Talmud which I brought in part 2 could be the basis of hundreds of books. Let's look at some of the themes, and their Biblical backgrounds. We tend to lump things together, that aren't necessarily connected; or...
Before we go any further, a word about the term "Mashiach". It simply means "anointed", which can also be interpreted as "appointed". Kings and High Priests were usually anointed with the holy oil described in Exodus 30. In some cases, balsam oil...
Views of the Messianic Era vary greatly, both between rabbis of the Talmud and later authorities. While the view of Maimonides as to the identity of the Mashiach are fairly widely accepted, what he will accomplish is hotly disputed. Not all agree...
