Is the command to wipe out the memory of Amalek immoral?
in the Book of Exodus, it is written that God says (Exodus 17, 14) - “I will utterly wipe out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven”. In the Book…
I too have a problem with the kippa – but for a different reason
I am writing here in response to an article “The fight with my kippa” in the magazine section of the Jerusalem Post (11/16/ 18) in which Rabbi Nathan Cardozo speaks…
Did Abraham pass his test in the story of the binding of Isaac?
The obvious question in relation to the story of the binding of Isaac arises in comparison with the previous story of Sodom and Gomorrah. In the story of Sodom and…
“I am who I am” or “I will be who I will be”?
In my book on the Hebrew Bible “Reconciling a Contradictory Abraham” I argue that, in spite of the enormous influence of the Hebrew Bible upon western culture, the Hebrew Bible…
The Book of Job – a widely misunderstood book
The Book of Job, in my view, is widely misunderstood - it is the classic book of the Hebrew Bible that seemingly is orthodox (correct belief) and theological in nature…
Who is a good Jew?
Judaism is a religion in a very different sense than Christianity. Christianity is a religion in an orthodox (correct belief) sense of a faith commitment - faith in God and…
What does it mean to speak of the truth of Judaism?
I want to examine here the question of what we mean by such religious terms as truth and faith or belief. Both the terms faith and truth can be used…
Can one deny the existence of God and be a good Jew?
Dennis Prager and Rabbi Joseph Telushkin open the first chapter of their book The Nine Questions by claiming that the question of God's existence "is life's most crucial question". In…
The Passover Haggadah and the telling of the story of the exodus – factual history or religious myth and narrative?
On Passover, we celebrate as Jews the exodus from Egypt representing the birth of the Jewish people. According to the Jewish tradition, Passover is the "time of our freedom" -…
Maimonides and religious language
Maimonides' great work of philosophy (that he actually presents not as a work of philosophy but commentary), the Guide of the Perplexed, is an esoteric work in which Maimonides declares…