Despite RAMBAM's apparent opposition to the Temple Service expressed in his main philosophical work, and his opposition to visiting graves expressed both in his philosophical and legal works, he nevertheless wrote in glowing terms of his visit to...
At times of great upheaval, "Mashiach Fever" always breaks out. With the expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula of the late fifteenth century, with it's forced conversion and public burnings, Mashiach was expected imminently, to punish the wicked...
The idea of the suffering Messiah, promulgated by Shlomo Molcho, became a major factor a century and a half later, in the drama of the false Messiah, Shabbetai Tzvi (1626-1676). A Turkish Jew, he suffered from what we now call bipolarism. In his...
I "became" Sepharadic in the Spring of 1991. Two months later, I was in a Sepharadic synagogue for the Shavu'ot holiday. Special prayers were said at the opening of the Ark. I was reciting them, when I suddenly stopped in my tracks. One line of...
There are numerous legends, theories, and interpretations of the rise and meaning of Hassidism. I have already gone into many of these in earlier posts. One approach, however, is that of the noted historian of Kabbalah, Gershom Scholem. Scholem...
The Messiah part 11One of the most amazing phenomena of modern Judaism is Chabad. It has gone from an obscure, rather elitist, White Russian movement of the turn of the nineteenth century, to a worldwide force. There is no place in the world with...
The Messiah part 12The Lubavitcher Rebbe was adored by many, but also hated by many. The heads of the Lithuanian Yeshivot, traditionally opposed to Hassidism in general, had made their peace with it for the most part. But Chabad had, in a...
I have been asked to speak about Hanukah. I originally wasn't going to, as this group is about community. Then I realized that Hanukah is, essentially, about community and its meaning. When the Judeans returned from the Babylonian Exile (c. 400...
I'm about to do something I said would not be tolerated here. If someone wants to boot me...I made a policy of not discussing other religions. But I see that there is much misunderstanding, and much resentment on this topic.First of all, what is a...
First, it must be remembered that the Torah is not a book of doctrine, but rather a code of behavior. We look in vain for clear pictures of the meaning of death, the nature and fate of the soul, or the future events awaiting Man or the Jewish...
The ideas of both the afterlife, and the world after the resurrection, are basic beliefs in the Talmud, as well as post Talmudic Judaism. Nevertheless, as Judaism is primarily concerned with sanctifying the here-and-now, the ideas are vague, and...
Moses Maimonides (RAMBAM) is arguably the most central figure in Jewish philosophy. To this day, there is great controversy about his true thoughts. Some see his philosophy as a kind of code, hiding Kabbalistic teachings. Many deny this. It is...
Diametrically opposed to the approach of RAMBAM, the understanding of Olam Haba in Kabbalah is far more egalitarian and positive. Although a relatively small percentage of Jews study Kabbalah, but many study RAMBAM, the prevalent understanding of...
It is perhaps one of the great tragedies of Judaism, that in popular consciousness, Purim is seen as a children's holiday. It is in many ways the most profound of our celebrations. The Talmud contains an entire tractate on Purim, besides having...
Let's put the Purim story into historical context. The Jews had been exiled to Babylon in about 586 BCE. (Rabbinic tradition maintains a later date). The Prophet Jeremiah predicted that the dominion of Babylon would only last another 70 years. In...
