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…
the jewish holy days – simchat torah and the importance of study in judaism
this video is part of a series of videos on jewish holy days dealing with the difference between simchat torah and shavuo https://youtu.be/wF08vaapaC4
Rabbi Soloveitchik and Halachic Man
Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, who lived in the 20th century, was a leader of modern orthodoxy, a Halachic (legal) scholar and a very profound thinker who pursued secular as well as…
the jewish holy days – sukkot and the concept of happiness
this video is part of a series of videos on jewish holy days dealing with the connection between practices of sukkot and the concept of happiness https://youtu.be/fPX_YKz47yk
the jewish holy days – yom kippur (abraham and job)
this video is part of a series of videos on jewish holy days dealing with yom kippur and the questioning of God's judgment (comparing abraham and job) https://youtu.be/8mBhpMc8U8E