Monthly Archives: noviembre 2024

Superstition is the belief contrary to reason that attributes to everything a magical explanation. Essentially, superstition is engendered, maintained, and fostered by fear. When people do not understand a specific phenomenon, they feel that they need a supernatural explanation to … Seguir leyendo →

For Ilana. Rabbi Harold Kushner tells us: Unetaneh Tokef is one of the prayers we say on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur that simultaneously moves me the most and makes me question myself the most. In the first part, this … Seguir leyendo →

Any outside observer would have thought that with the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, the history of the Jewish People would have come to an end. Other peoples who suffered a similar fate soon disappeared. But this … Seguir leyendo →

The best “stock shares” that we can undertake in the Jewish stock market are framed in our sacred texts. Their quotes are always on the rise and together they represent the index of Jewish ethics. Let us see what they … Seguir leyendo →

In such a short space as this, it is almost impossible to present the main features of the Talmud, even in a summarized form. The Talmud is difficult to describe because there is no work to which it can be … Seguir leyendo →

There are stories in the Torah that make us think that God alone cannot perfect the world. The concept of a Garden of Eden, the incident between Cain and Abel, the Flood, or the story of the Tower of Babel, … Seguir leyendo →

Judaism is ultimately based on the belief that the world can and must be perfected (Tikun Olam). At some point, life will triumph over its enemies: war, oppression, hunger, poverty, disease, and even death. When this is achieved, humanity will … Seguir leyendo →

In his book: Studying the Jewish Future, Calvin Goldscheider tells the story of Shmuel Braw, a Holocaust survivor who returned to his hometown of Tarnow in Poland to find that “Dos Yiddishkeit, Judaism,” no longer existed. What was Shmuel Braw … Seguir leyendo →

In addition to the Torah, the Tanakh and the Talmud, there is another genre of rabbinic literature, which is the Midrash. There are many types and collections of “midrashim.” Essentially, it is the interpretation of sacred texts, usually from the … Seguir leyendo →

The culture of Western societies is structured in what is commonly called “The rule of law.” In each society there is a unified system of laws that the authority applies blindly (remember how “Justice” is symbolically represented as a woman … Seguir leyendo →