Last week, I was interviewing for a job at a pluralistic Jewish institution and was asked the following question: “About 10-15% of our students are not technically Jewish, so would you feel comfortable teaching them as if they were Jewish?”…
Taste of Torah: The Significance of Settings
(Photo: Nepenthes) With Shavuot just a few days away and as we begin studying the book of Bamidbar, the book of Numbers, we are presented with an implicit question regarding the nature of receiving of the Torah. We all know…
Taste of Torah: Making Time Count
Perhaps one of the most unique features characterizing Shavuot is the extensive “Omer” counting that leads up to the holiday. It is fascinating that the Torah does not prescribe a specific calendar date for Shavuot but rather dictates that it…
Taste of Torah: Building the World
By: Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan In less than 24 hours, Jewish communities throughout the world will come together to read Parshat Shemini. The portion stands as the climax of a long story that began in Exodus, chapter 25. In our portion,…
Taste of Torah: The Priests
Passover is a holiday filled with learning — friends and family gather to recount the story of the Jewish people’s journey from slavery to freedom and to ask questions throughout the process. Following the Passover seder, the learning continues through…
In an Attempt to Explain and Save Religion
From Ha’Am’s Winter Edition, “The Divide” It seems to me that we need to separate what we call “religion” in our modern world into two disparate entities. On the one hand, we have the moral ideas that a religious man…
Taste of Torah: Offerings of Abomination
If you keep up with the weekly Torah portions, then you would know that we are about to read Parsha Trumah, the first of many Torah portions dealing with the Tabernacle/Sacrifices. For those of you that try and read the…
Taste of Torah: On Law and Spirituality
by Chayi Hanfling of Jewish Awareness Movement (JAM) at UCLA This week’s Torah portion is Parshat Mishpatim, a portion that details laws and ordinances. It is filled with legal intricacies and minutia, primarily surrounding interactions between human beings. It covers…
Taste of Torah: Enthusiasm to do what is right
This week’s Torah portion tells the story of when G-d gave the Ten Commandments to the Jewish People. It was the first and only time in Jewish history that G-d ever directly communicated with His people. However, oddly enough, the…
Tu B’Shevat: Tree-Hugging and Ecology in Jewish Tradition
Today, in Israel, cutting down a fig tree in Tzfat is not something you can get away with easily. Several years ago, I volunteered with the Israeli city’s municipality. One day, my fellow volunteers and I were tasked with helping…