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I find it remarkable, and a sign of Jewish optimism, that out of the depths of Christian persecution of the Jews, rabbis were making every effort to find interpretations that Christianity is not necessarily idolatry. Besides the issue of Shituf...
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I want to make it clear that my intent in these posts is not to try and undersatnd Jesus, nor to try and show how "evil" Christianity is. My intent is to show that, despite all the horrific crimes Christians comitted against the Jews, we should,...
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I mentioned in my last post, that Noachidism (the Fearers of the L-rd) was quite popular in the first century BCE and for some time afterwards. We must add a question. Why did it not survive? Why was it so easily defeated and replaced by...
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The big question is, in my opinion, can Torah offer the non-Jew a meaningful spiritual life, without the necessity of conversion? We must address two issues here. First, there is great suspicion, or even fear, among many Jews of the non-Jewish...
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In the late eighteenth century, the new Hasidic movement was maligned, persecuted, and even excommunicated in Eastern Europe. Without going through the various theories, mostly fanciful, about why the hate and violence occurred, the plain fact was...
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In my last post, I advocated for independent communities of Converts, Noachides, and Baalei Teshuvah. I believe that these three groups have far more in common with each other, than any of them have in common with the wider Jewish community that...
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A potential pitfall in my proposal of independent Noachide communities is the issue of observance. As I have already shown, rabbinic opinion varies as to what a Noachide may or may not do. My own belief is that a Noachide may do any mitzvah...
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“It is too light a thing that you should be my servantto raise up the tribes of Jacoband to bring back the preserved of Israel;I will make you as a light for the nations,that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6)
Suppose...
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In 2002, shortly after my return to the States, I attended a lecture, hosted by the Long Island Board of Rabbis. The speaker was a rabbi who publishes a Kashrut magazine. He waxed eloquent about the pitfalls of buying bread at a bakery without...
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Before continuing, I would like to clarify one point. One often hears, especially in non-Orthodox circles, the term "Biblical Kashrut", meaning observing only those parts of the dietary laws that are clearly specified in the Torah. We must bear in...
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