Introduction Rabbi Chaim Vital, a seminal Kabbalistic figure, left an indelible mark on Jewish thought. Born in 1543 in Calabria, Italy, and later settling in Tzfat, Israel, he became one of the chief disciples of Rabbi Isaac Luria. He was instrumental in transcribing and disseminating Luria’s teachings, culminating in influential…
Category: Religion
Treading The Line Of Morality: War, Women, and Wayward Sons
In the complex nature of human decisions, where does one draw the line between choice and consequence, between moral clarity and ambiguity? Deuteronomy 21 offers a profound exploration into this very quandary. As we journey through tales of warriors, captive beauties, complexities of love and hate in marriage, and the…
An Eye for An Eye
There are parts of the Bible that if interpreted literally would be cruel and violent. For example the Bible (Exodus 21:24 — this week’s’ Torah portion) says that a violent attacker should pay “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” Another example is the law where…
Making Religion More Appealing
The news for religion in the United States keeps getting bleaker. A new study out this week found that since the 70’s there has been a 75% increase in the amount of American 12th graders who don’t believe that religion is important to their lives. In addition, teenagers are half…
Religion Risks Going Out of Business
It’s not an exaggeration to say that all religions in the West, are facing unprecedented threats. A recently published research study by Pew shows that nearly twenty three percent of Americans — the vast majority under age fifty — are religiously unaffiliated. The study on Judaism that Pew released last…
The Benefits of Cardinals and Rabbis Dancing Together
After eighteen hundred years of persecution at their hands we Jews are challenged by any love directed at us from Christians. Nonetheless, many of us have made peace with Evangelicals expressing their love and admiration for Jews and for Israel. But Catholic love for Jews, well that’s a different story….
Heaven on Earth or Heaven and Hell?
Heaven and hell looms large in many religions. There are some who live their lives for an afterlife where each of their actions are dictated by a concern about whether it will lead them to heaven rather than hell. According to psychologists, the desire to go to a posthumous heaven…
Free Non-Organized Religion
It is at this time of year that synagogues make the most money. During the High Holidays some Jews feel obligated to attend a synagogue service, and for most it comes with a hefty price tagy. It will cost anywhere from seventy to several hundred dollars to attend services during…
Rabbis Desecrating God’s Name in London
Multiple women have accused an extremely prominent London Haredi rabbi, Chaim Halpern, of sexually abusing them during their marriage counseling sessions with him. A number of rabbinic judges in London had the courage to investigate the claims and subsequently found Halpern unfit to serve in any religious capacity. In response…
Modern Religion’s Internet Problem
It seems that after many years of ignoring the issue the Jewish world–at least the American Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) wing of it–has realized that we live in the Internet age. They have also noticed that the Internet and its associated technologies can be disruptive. The Internet offers easy access to pornography…