Category Archives: Al reguel ajat

Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach was born in Berlin in 1925 and grew up in Baden, near Vienna, where his father, Naftali Carlebach, was the chief rabbi. With the arrival of Nazism in Germany, the Carlebach family began a journey through several … Seguir leyendo →

It is written in Kiddushin 3:12: To be Jewish, one must be the son of a Jewish mother or have converted to Judaism. By this rule, scholars say that Judaism is «matrilineal.» However, this was not always the case. Professor … Seguir leyendo →

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardoso tells us: “The greatness of the Talmudic sages was that they shared their own conflicts and doubts with their students, as well as their attempts to resolve them. This is demonstrated in the debates over halachic … Seguir leyendo →

Breishit (Genesis), the first book of the Torah, recounts the lives of the first members of the Jewish people, the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo questions how the patriarchs can be considered Jews if the rules … Seguir leyendo →

The menorah, the seven-branched candelabrum, is undoubtedly the oldest Jewish symbol, even older than the shield of David, which is more recent. Not only is it older, but its design is also specified in the Torah, unlike the shield of … Seguir leyendo →

In 1954, when he was Prime Minister of the State of Israel, David Ben-Gurion wrote to the rabbi of the Sephardic Jewish community of Amsterdam, Salamon Rodrigues Pereira, asking him to revoke the decree of excommunication (in Hebrew, «jerem») issued … Seguir leyendo →

During World War II, Columbia University anthropologist Ruth Benedict, in a study commissioned by President Roosevelt, popularized the idea that Japan was a «shame culture» unlike the West, which was a «guilt culture.» Paul G. Hiebert characterizes the «shame culture» … Seguir leyendo →

It is written in the Talmud (Yoma 9b): «Why was the Second Temple destroyed? Because of sinat chinam, the senseless hatred of one Jew toward another.» The Midrash Eichah tells us that when the Romans besieged Jerusalem (1st century CE), … Seguir leyendo →

There is a widespread belief that the Jewish diaspora began during the Roman rule, when they destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 CE and defeated Bar Kokhba and his men in 135 CE. This is incorrect. The Jewish diaspora … Seguir leyendo →

The Encyclopaedia Judaica defines “minhag” as: “a custom which, through accepted practice over a period of time, has become binding and assumes the force of halacha in areas of Jewish law and practice.” The Jewish Encyclopedia defines it as: “an … Seguir leyendo →