Free Republic

A friend of mine in the media covered the Republican National Convention and brought me back a souvenir: a navy blue yarmulke with “McCain ’08” printed on it in English and Hebrew. I guess there wasn’t time for the campaign to make them up with Sarah Palin’s name, too, which is a shame. With all the disquiet she has evoked in the Jewish community, that would be a collector’s item. Jews themselves, and liberals who feel we belong naturally in the Democratic fold, give reasons for the gathering unease about her. A gaping cultural difference is noted. “Eating moose meat...

In the media, Catholicism is the religious tradition most frequently, and misleadingly, held up for approbation as having no problem reconciling Darwinism with theistic faith. The tradition next most often cited as Darwin-friendly is my own, Judaism. You can bet a new Rabbis’ Letter in support of evolution will garner the usual uncomprehending applause. Boasting 305 signatures so far, the letter holds that "It is possible to be inspired by the religious teachings of the Bible while not taking a literalist approach and while accepting the validity of science including the foundational concept of evolution." The Open Letter Concerning Religion...

The disregard of the past is a common illness in Twentieth Century life. Much of secular society, and secular Jewry, blithely ignore the lessons of our past and of general history at large. Same-sex marriages, blind pagan worship of environment and nature, widespread use of addictive drugs, a disproportionate emphasis in life on sports and unwarranted adulation of athletes and the strong, feel-good and undemanding moral standards, all were staple components of the downfall of society in the Classical Era of Greece and Rome. But our world blithely ignores all of the lessons of the past. We see our society...

Jewish worshippers returning to Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs after Muslims were given exclusive access to the holy site at the weekend reported that the cabinet containing their Torah scrolls had been urinated on. One Jewish resident of Hebron told Israel National News that he and several other men had to move the cabinet to another part of the room because of the strong smell of urine in the area where it is usually positioned. Additionally, green Hamas flags were found placed in the windows that mark the burial sites of Abraham, Isaac, Sara, Rebecca and Leah. The Cave of...

In Cohen's opinion, the relationship between science and religion is a clear one. The two work together and Jews should openly welcome both. "When I first joined the organization, it was in the '60s, and there were strong issues with regard to the question of the synthesis of science and religion," Cohen commented. "Science was quite dominant at the time and people had religious doubts. The issue of whether an Orthodox scientist could really support much of the religious doctrine as viewed from a scientific point of view was something that people saw to be problematic. The early articles dealt...

"And you shall drive out the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein; for I have given the land to you to possess it. But if you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those that you let remain will be as thorns in your eyes, and as pricks in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land in which you dwell. And it shall come to pass, that as I thought to do unto them, so will I do to you." (This week's Torah portion, Numbers 33: 53, 55, 56) This...

Once upon a time, Jews who found Judaism cumbersome simply declared the Torah obsolete and went about their lives as they pleased. They weren't inclined to intellectual contortions. Some "progressive" Jews today, though, choose instead to twist and torture the Jewish canon, in an attempt to force it to "yield" what they wish it actually did. In a way, their reluctance to just jettison the Torah and Talmud is admirable. Other words, though, come to mind for their merciless manipulation of the Jewish religious tradition. A recent example of such intellectual anarchism is Hillel. The campus organization, that is, not...

What support is there for the claim that God spoke to all the Jewish people at the foot of Mount Sinai?Who did God give the Torah to at Mount Sinai? Most people reply, "God gave the Torah to Moses." And what were the Jewish people doing while Moses was receiving the Torah? "Worshipping the Golden Calf." Correct answers -- but NOT according to the Bible. The above answers come from Cecil B. DeMille's classic film, "The Ten Commandments." Amazing the impact one movie can have on the Jewish education of generations of Jews. It's a great film, but DeMille should...

A recent fire has led to an outpouring of generosity for a struggling synagogue that lost its Torah in the blaze. A Broward County woman who wants to honor her dead parents, and a couple who commute between Miami and New York, are donating new Torahs to a beleaguered Jewish congregation in Miami Beach whose synagogue was ravaged in a recent fire. ''These show people that we're going to come back stronger after a tragedy,'' said an appreciative Rabbi Zev Katz, the head of Miami Beach's Chabad Shul, part of Judaism's Orthodox Hasidic movement. Miami Beach police and fire officials...

In the days when Moses dictated the law of the land, the five daughters of Zelophephad took issue with the rules of inheritance. The Book of Numbers xxvii recounts how the sisters sought counsel with Moses in front of the congregation of travelling Israelites to demand that the laws be altered to accommodate female succession. This bit of biblical history is often brushed over, as are other feminist aspects of the Old Testament, because for thousands of years men alone have interpreted the Hebrew Scriptures, according to a feminist revision of the text. The Torah: A Women's Commentary re-evaluates the...

Libyan leader says the Bible is counterfeit Thursday, 20th March 2008. 11:42am By: Manasseh Zindo. LIBYAN leader Col Muammar Gadaffi, who is in Uganda, on Wednesday March 19 celebrated the anniversary of the birth of Prophet Mohammed with a series of attacks on European countries and the Bible for besmirching the Prophet Gadaffi was speaking to a large crowd at Nakivubo War Memorial Stadium in Kampala after leading the Thuhur (afternoon) prayer, where he said any Bible and Torah (Old Testament) that does not mention the Prophet Mohammed was written by mankind and therefore a fraud. Full article posted here

30 Adar I, 5768 March 7, ‘08 This Shabbat, Jews throughout the world will read the Torah portion, Zachor, in which we are commanded to remember Amalek and his evil schemes to obliterate the Nation of Israel. But currently, Israel is in the throes of a desperate attempt to erase its history. In doing so, it has lost its internal reference point, leaving it completely dependant on its enemies. Without Judaism, we have no right to be here. We are nothing more than foreigners occupying the land of the Hamas, who are simply fighting a war of independence. Those who...

Setting priorities in keeping with your values is a daily task for us all. I may, for example, feel the need to spend two hours exercising every day. But if that conflicts with my family responsibilities, I have to consult an overall worldview, a scheme of values, to decide which imperative comes first. So it goes in public life no less than in private. The world Jewish community is united in few things, but a rough consensus has emerged that our greatest worry, our top priority in need of being addressed, is the threat posed by Muslim extremists. With some...

Israeli politicians are busy 24 hours a day trying to solve the "Arab problem". Deals are made, complicated agreements are signed and dangerous risks are taken. In an effort to make the Arabs happy; terrorists are released, Jews are kicked out of their homes, shuls and yeshivot are smashed and billions of dollars are taken from Jewish poor and given to the "Palestinians". After all has been said and done, there is still no peace. Want to know why??? Because all of these efforts are going towards a problem that simply does not exist. There is NO Arab problem in...

Toledot (Genesis 25:19–28:9) This week Jews will read Toledot on our annual progression through the Torah. The section begins with a depiction of Rebecca's pregnancy which certainly must be the most difficult one in the entire Bible. Did G-d give Rebecca the right to "choose"? The life struggle of Jacob/Israel with his twin, Esau, is described from his time in Rebecca's womb. It continues for the much of the rest of the book of Genesis. The struggle wasn't interrupted for even the moment of birth. Who can read this portion and suggest that "life" begins at birth? ML/NJ

How long since you had to look inside a math book? Because here's a question that might have got by you: A down payment on a home costs $5,000. Housing one brain-damaged man for a year costs $20,000. How many families lose homes to mental retardation? This extra-credit teaser comes from a Nazi-endorsed schoolbook (currency adjusted). It was the first step in curing society of the unneeded. Shortly after, with the country now ready, beautiful killings ("euthanasia" in Latin) began. It is comforting to think that Nazis were demons rather than humans. But following their defeat you couldn't find an...

"We're getting divorced. But we're doing it amicably, with mutual respect." When ex-spouses (or ex-es) describing their divorce sound like "we're withdrawing our offer on the house we looked at Thursday", you can get the idea that they never invested enough to be hurt by the loss. But listen again: you'll hear emptiness in the voice: Pain in the heart. Yes, the stigma is lost. Yes, some koffee-klatch and water-cooler conversations have an "everybody's-doing-it" attitude. No. No one who went through divorce thinks it's painless. But if pain-free divorce is a myth (in the shattering), divorce is a reality, an...

A new “mishigas” (nonsense) has entered the Jewish world. It is becoming more popular by the day. It’s called traveling to Europe to see the great “alter haym” (old home). The goal of these trips is to relive the wonderful life the Jews had back in those good old days. Very often, prominent Rabbis lead these trips, whose frequency and popularity are growing rapidly. Virtually every week, a major Rebbe goes to Hungary, Ukraine or Poland. Thousands flock with him to walk the sacred European ground where his grandfather once stood. Ahhhh... what holiness! What a privilege to travel to...

The State of Israel has entered a sort of values vertigo. The heavens are the earth, the earth is the heavens, good is evil and evil is good. The first obvious expression of this vertigo was Rabin's handshake with Arafat on the White House lawn. It blurred the distinction between friend and foe, good and evil and justice and depravity. "Behold, I have set before you today life and goodness, and death and evil." (Deuteronomy 30:15) There is good and there is evil -- and not as the paganistic post-modernism would have us believe. There is life and there is...

"G-d spoke to Moses on Mt. Sinai and said ... Six years you may plant your fields... and the seventh year shall be Shabbat, you shall not plant.” Why was this Divine commandment of shmita (Sabbatical year when fields are left fallow) particularly related to Mt. Sinai? After all, the entire Torah was taught to Moses on Sinai. Shmita, perhaps to a greater degree than other commandments, tests the Jew's faith in G-d, because it explicitly calls upon him to demonstrate his confidence in G-d's bounty, his belief in G-d's power and providence. "And if you ask what will we...

Most of the Jewish people are so scattered and removed from each other that they hardly ever find a common language, or even any language that makes sense to them as Jews. This is what is called assimilation, which is basically the loss of their common heritage. We therefore have to try to reach some deeper levels of the soul, many of them bordering on the unconscious, to help us get back to talking together, to having some kind of a common language. Jews can hardly be categorized as a nation (even though there is now an emerging Israeli nation);...

I'm very rich. That I never hear. I'm very humble. That I never hear. I'm very spiritual. Ah, at that I cringe very often. Why don't they realize spirituality is humility? Truth is, when they say "spiritual" they mean abstract: a quest for the unnoticed, unstated, the uncommon. But spirituality, in that definition, is not something inherently good, worthy or desirable. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak (known in Yiddish as the Freidike Rebbe) was unimpressed by yeshiva bochurim, the boys in yeshiva, who opened the refrigerator just to see what was inside. When I first heard that, at about fifteen, I pretty...

In a world of crises, an immediate problem is the dissolution of the family. We regret the passing of the fabled Jewish family, not out of sentimentality, but from realistic appreciation of a personal experience. The devoted family, an anchorage amid confusion, is rapidly disappearing, even among Jewish people. "What can we do?" is the distressed cry of parents seeing their children growing away from them, going elsewhere for guidance and even affection. We attempt, futilely, to recreate the old family spirit, and wonder why we don't succeed. The atmosphere of a Jewish home was not produced by spontaneous generation,...

Biblical Liberation from Liberalism By Michael Medved Wednesday, April 11, 2007 With the arrival of the eight day Passover Festival on Monday night, I was preparing some material for our family-reunion Seder meal (Diane and I will be together with all three of our children, plus my visiting father from Jerusalem) when I stumbled across one of the most important of all verses in the Hebrew Scriptures. Leviticus 19:15 declares: "You shall not commit a perversion of justice: you shall not favor the poor and you shall not honor the great, with righteousness shall you judge your fellow." About fifteen...

An overlooked enigma of political life is why there are distinct ideological groupings at all. We take the liberal/conservative divide for granted, rarely pausing to contemplate how mysterious it actually is. The Hebrew Bible solves the mystery. The solution can be found in the unexpected context of the Torah's seemingly primitive and bizarre laws of ritual contamination. The relevant material is laid out in dense detail mainly in Leviticus, a.k.a. the stuff most Jews skip over in shul (as Christians do in church). If you don’t see the mystery, consider the following: Doesn’t it seem equally if not more plausible...

My grandmother came to America -- from Russia with a four-year stopover in Israel -- around 1930. She, with her husband and two infant boys, settled in a Jewish neighborhood in New Jersey. The older boys in the neighborhood welcomed them by snatching their yarmulkes off their heads. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak (the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe) was visiting America around that time. His death sentence had only recently been commuted to life in internal exile, and shortly thereafter he was released/deported from Workers' Paradise. In America Jews lined up to seek his counsel, his blessing. My grandmother came into his room:...

In describing the people qualified to construct the Sanctuary and its instruments, the Torah repeatedly calls them "wise-in-heart" in referring to their skill. The craftsmanship these artisans possessed was more than technical, their wisdom was a special sort -- that of the heart. Some people are brilliant intellectually, their gifted minds master sciences, their logic and reasoning are unimpeachable. Despite these mind-gifts they may be cold, unsympathetic, unmoved by suffering. Others are kindlier, charitable, more emotional by nature, not particularly given to analysis and profound understanding. They may also be overindulgent, gullible, suspicious of or impatient with reasoning. While each...

After the enthusiastic reception of the Ten Commandments, the people, impatient for Moses' descent from the mountain, made themselves a new god -- a Golden Calf. Examine the text carefully1 and perhaps a few observations might be made. Can't we find some exoneration for their idolatry? Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, so the people demanded of Aaron a "god that will go before us," for the Moses who led the people from Egypt is gone. Was this not a sincere religious quest for the divine? Was not their rejection of Moses (and all he taught) justified,...

Mitzvot, the commandments which G-d enjoins upon the people, can be classified into three groups: Mishpatim -- the social legislation: rulings similar to those every society espouses -- a grid of rational social intervention. Edut -- the testimonies of our culture and history: commemorations similar to every society's need to remember and keep alive its past. Chukim -- the super-rational dictates only the Divine can comprehend and mortals follow on faith alone. Our Torah portion's name is Mishpatim; it deals with the first category, the mitzvot, the precepts, of social legislation that has a basis in logic. "And these are...

Israel eagerly accepts the "Yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven" in this week's Torah portion, with the unusual declaration, naase venishma, "We will do and we will hear."1 Why they promised to do first and hear (or "comprehend") later, has supplied preachers with sermonic material for countless years. Many Jews are in a quandary regarding observance of mitzvot. In an age of questioning and understanding, the relevance and meaning of many Jewish practices are obscure. "Why?" is the constant challenge; "What will this observance do for me?" is the implicit demand. There may be certain human experiences that can be...

The great part of the Torah portion is concerned with laws of society (damages, criminal law, debts, etc.), an area popularly regarded as beyond the strict province of "religion." Our world has succeeded in defining the rightful sphere of religious influence, immunizing other aspects of life of the demands and criteria of religion. Morality itself has become "secularized," its origins and nourishment from religious teachings obscured. These laws of justice are readily comprehended; there seems to be little of the mystical involved. Man's intelligence subscribes to these laws and would probably have developed most of them, in principle at least....

The story you are about to read is true. Some names have been changed to protect the guilty. Some names have been omitted to protect us from the grumpy. The story first started thousands of years ago, when the world was young... An angel descended heaven to sell the Torah to the world and his first drop was high in the Tibetan mountains. "It's a Torah," he told the Master as the llamas looked on. "We appreciate new teachings," intoned Master. "Tell us your wisdom." "I am L-rd Your G-d. Have none before me." The master smiled sympathetically; the llamas...

There are two accounts of the Ten Commandments, in Exodus 20 and in Deuteronomy 5. One of the main divergences in the two texts is in the Fourth Commandment, the Shabbat. The Rabbis taught that both texts were simultaneously pronounced, indicating a basic unity, or complementary nature. In Exodus the reason for Shabbat is the fact that G-d created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. In Deuteronomy Shabbat commemorates Egyptian slavery. In the first, "G-d blessed the seventh day and hallowed it”; in the second, "G-d commanded you to make the Shabbat day." Shabbat has social...

If it can be said that the Torah has a climax, it would surely be in this week's Torah portion -- the Giving of the Torah at Sinai, the Ten Commandments. Here is a code everyone subscribes to, possibly without even reading it. "Thou shalt not kill," and "Thou shalt not steal" are for many people all the Ten Commandments, all of morality in fact. I have heard self-styled skeptics question the Divinity of the Torah, and readily affirm G-d's authorship and their personal acceptance of the Ten Commandments. We aren't apt to worship graven images; we will honor father...

The First Word: Jeremiah's wish Richard Elliott Friedman, THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 1, 2007 The Bible plays different roles in the ways that people formulate their views on different issues. On homosexuality or capital punishment, there are passages of law that rule on aspects of it, and there are stories that may involve it. So - even though I still suspect that most people's views of these things are more visceral and cultural - it is possible that the Bible genuinely influences some people's decisions about such matters. On abortion, however, the passages are few and questionable. After all, it...

The crossing of the Red Sea, the manna, the water from the rock, and the war with Amalek, are some of the events described in this week's Torah portion. Each of these pleads for discussion, and at the moment we will dwell on the manner of victory over Amalek. The Torah portion's last words make Amalek the eternal enemy of Israel, proclaiming "war with Amalek from generation to generation." "When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. And the hands of Moses became heavy…"1 With these words the battle is decided; not...

Two enemies attack Israel -- Pharaoh and Amalek. Though Israel was armed they did not fight Pharaoh -- "G-d will do battle for you and you be silent."1 When Amalek attacked, Moses sent out troops to fight. Pharaoh and Amalek represent different threats to our people, and Moses' tactics symbolize the defense against these enemies. Pharaoh was the material enemy, the slave-master. Pharaoh seeks mastery over the body of the Jew; he would literally kill the infant boys. Amalek, the spiritual foe, stands between the Jews and Sinai, blocking the path toward the Torah, disparaging the faith of the Jew,...

The women grabbed my hands and joyously led me into the circle. Rather than circle dancing, this felt like spiral dancing – each spin propelled me further from the ground and into the endless Jerusalem night sky. It was late Friday night, the usual prayer services at the Western Wall had long finished. We were part of an impromptu group led by a charismatic rabbi who sat on the partition separating the men from the women to lead the prayers for welcoming in the Shabbat. The spiritual energy was palpable. With each kick from under a colorful flowing skirt we...

Taking the Jews out of Egypt was the easy part for G-d; He's in the miracle business. Taking the Egypt out of the Jews, now that's hard. And Egypt was very into the Jews; the pharaohs had enticing culture and entertainment (abomination in both sleazy and non-sleazy flavors); the Jews desperately wanted to shed immigrant status and blend in. They pretty much did. One of the most adored of the Egyptians' adorations was... the sheep (no, I don't know why.) It was the portent of, oh I don't know, the television? Now imagine your coming home one day, taking the...

The last three plagues befall Egypt before the people of Israel leave their slavery. The ninth plague, darkness, is described in this week's Torah portion in these words: "No man saw his brother, neither did anyone rise from his place."1 With this description, an event in history becomes current and contemporary. The plague of darkness becomes part of the timeless history of man, symbolic of analogous afflictions that admit no immunity. Simple physical darkness of the night becomes a malady of the individual, of the soul. There is no blindness like the selfishness that blots other men from one's vision...

The Jews as a people receive their first commandment in today's Torah portion. The few preceding commandments were given to individuals, Abraham for example was given the mitzvah of circumcision. The reckoning of the calendar according to lunar cycles introduces Israel to formal Judaism. The lunar calendar must obviously have a special quality beyond its specific function, a pervasive characteristic to merit its beginning Jewry's service of G-d. The moon has phases of growth, decline, disappearance, and rebirth. The sun is relatively constant, not appreciably different from day to day. The lunar calendar rather than the solar governs the religious...

Moses has demonstrated the signs Pharaoh demanded of him as a messenger of G-d. Several of the destined ten plagues have already struck Egypt and the stubborn king is prepared to bargain with Moses. "Go bring offerings to your G-d in the land (Egypt),"1 he proposes. Moses refuses. Israel must take a three-day journey into the desert there to worship G-d. The three-day journey is repeated a number of times in the Exodus account. Why wasn't Pharaoh's reasonable offer acceptable to Moses? Moses had not yet demanded the unconditional freedom from slavery -- that thought had not even been broached...

The slavery in Egypt is approaching its final stages. The ten plagues are beginning to descend upon a hapless Egypt. Though Pharaoh's reactions are not spontaneous -- his reversals and broken promises were foreordained -- still, men of free and not pre-determined will, often emulate him. It was after the second plague, Pharaoh had assured Moses that Israel would be freed, and the plague was in fact lifted. "But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart"1 and repudiated his pledge. His promises were forgotten when the pressure was removed. Religion and G-d are frequently kept...

"Where were you?" Whether the question is from Mom, the boss, the wife, the husband or the grown children; they are not asking, they are accusing: Why weren't you where you were supposed to be? Your answer is an excuse. Unless you answer "I've been here the whole time." A shepherd sees a little lamb run off. The shepherd runs after the lamb: to save it from wolves, to ensure the lamb has enough water and enough tender green grass. While chasing the lamb, he sees a bush on fire, but it isn't burning. He takes off his shoes in...

If you want to know what a bureaucracy does, suggests PJ O'Rourke, watch it when it does nothing. If you want to know what people think about life, watch them when death sticks out his calling card. Many act like it ain't happening. They dress the dead in tuxes and ballroom dresses and do the dead's hair and apply them with make-up. We're here to celebrate a life, they chirp, while the elephant in the room swishes his large head. They exchange stories of (I'm not making this up) the deceased's delicious flanken and chicken soup (we called them Godzilla...

The TRUTH About the Holy Beautiful Ethical Great Talmud Interesting  Sites  True Quotes 'An Eye for an Eye' Literally? Not according to Holy Talmud FACTS!  What Is?  Talmud = Peace!  Ethics  More Samples "Receive - Embrace All Human Beings with Cheer and Joy." - Talmud --- "Do not do unto others that which you dislike." - Talmud How interesting it is that Haters from the Islamo Militant Propaganda Camp, that claim to have a 'beef' with Zionism only, mix the Old Lies on Talmud (already exposed) with their Political Agenda. 1) (Even if one disagrees with A. Sharon's Defense Policies),...

A reminder of the historic significance of the Jewish People's first day in the Holy Land was provided by a trip for Russian-speaking Israelis to Joshua's Altar on Mt. Ebal outside Shechem. The story began just before this past Chanukah, when two busloads of Russian-speaking Israelis - new immigrants, veteran immigrants, and some tourists - made their first visit to the site known as Joshua's Altar near Shechem (Nablus). Security concerns notwithstanding, the visitors - many of whom had never been to the area - came away greatly inspired, and some were even moved to tears. Secular Jews found themselves...

If you want to predict on which side an American will line up in the Culture War wracking America, virtually all you have to do is get an answer to this question: Does the person believe in the divinity and authority of the Five Books of Moses, the first five books of the Bible, known as the Torah? ("Divinity" does not necessarily mean "literalism.") I do not ask this about "the Bible" as a whole because the one book that is regarded as having divine authority by believing Jews, Catholics, Protestants and Mormons, among others, is not the entire Bible,...

Menelaus would have been proud. He was the Hellenistic high priest installed by Antiochus who championed the battle against traditional Jews that brought about the holiday of Hanukka. Not much has changed - it would seem - in 2,000 years. Instead of the Greeks and the secular Jews combining forces to stifle Jewish observance, today it's Labor MK Ophir Paz-Pines. He has introduced a bill in the Knesset that would effectively punish an adult who brings a minor closer to mitzva observance or Torah study. Invite a teenager to put on tefillin, and you could be prosecuted.

Arab marauders smashed up a Talmud Torah in the northern city of Acco (Acre) over the Sabbath, painting Arabic graffiti and swastikas on the walls, destroying furniture, and scattering holy books. The latest and gravest escalation in the struggle between Jews and Arabs in the mixed city of Acco, between Haifa and the Lebanese border on the Mediterranean coast, occurred this past Friday night. Rabbi Avraham Shushan, a rabbi at the school at which the vandalism occurred, told Arutz-7's Shimon Cohen that a worshiper who arrived for early Sabbath morning prayers was the first to discover the destruction: "He...