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Jeffrey Radon

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Jun 24, 2018, 2:46 PM

The Book of Job — a widely misunderstood book

The Book of Job, in my view, is widely misunderstood - it is the classic book of the Hebrew Bible that seemingly is orthodox (correct belief) and theological in nature in dealing with the philosophic question of evil in...

Jun 10, 2018, 5:04 PM

Who is a good Jew?

Judaism is a religion in a very different sense than Christianity. Christianity is a religion in an orthodox (correct belief) sense of a faith commitment – faith in God and in Jesus as the messiah. There are in Christianity...

May 24, 2018, 5:28 PM

A Book Review: “Who really was the Biblical David?” by Rabbi Israel Drazin

I am the author of the internet site Orthoprax Judaism, and the author of a book on the Hebrew Bible Reconciling a Contradictory Abraham, and I regard myself as a disciple of Rabbi Israel Drazin. I have never had...

Apr 22, 2018, 7:39 PM

Can one deny the existence of God and be a good Jew?

Dennis Prager and Rabbi Joseph Telushkin open the first chapter of their book The Nine Questions by claiming that the question of God’s existence “is life’s most crucial question”. In spite of my great admiration for the book, and...

Apr 8, 2018, 7:59 PM

The Passover Haggadah and the telling of the story of the Exodus — factual history or religious myth and narrative?

On Passover, we celebrate as Jews the exodus from Egypt representing the birth of the Jewish people. According to the Jewish tradition, Passover is the “time of our freedom” -- when we celebrate the exodus in which our ancestors...

Feb 25, 2018, 4:51 PM

Maimonides and Religious Language

Maimonides’ great work of philosophy (that he actually presents not as a work of philosophy but commentary), the Guide of the Perplexed, is an esoteric work in which Maimonides declares that he wants to disguise his true views (from...

Jan 21, 2018, 4:29 PM

Rabbi Soloveitchik and Halachic Man

Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, who lived in the 20th century, was a leader of Modern Orthodoxy, a halachic (legal) scholar and a very profound thinker who pursued secular as well as traditional Jewish education. I want to discuss Rabbi Soloveitchik’s book...

Jan 14, 2018, 4:57 PM

Rabbi Soloveitchik and the Lonely Man of Faith

Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, who lived in the 20th century, was a leader of modern orthodoxy, a Halachic (legal) scholar and a very profound thinker who pursued secular as well as traditional Jewish education. The names of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s two...

Dec 24, 2017, 3:06 PM

The essence of Judaism and religion — Orthodox (faith) or Orthoprax (good deeds)

There is an ancient debate in the Talmudic tradition concerning the question as to the essence of Judaism and religion – faith or good deeds. Rashi (the great commentator of the 11th century) cites a debate between two great Talmudic...

Dec 17, 2017, 7:21 PM

The verse ‘I am the Lord your God’

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, in his blog on the Torah reading of the week (Va’etchanan 5777), presents two arguments in the Jewish tradition regarding the opening verse of the “10 statements” (and the Biblical term is “10 statements” and not...

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About Me

Jeffrey Radon is a teacher of Jewish studies and the author of the internet site - www.orthopraxjudaism.com - a site devoted to Jewish studies in a democratic spirit. He studied over 10 years in yeshivot in Israel. He has a teaching degree as a teacher of Jewish studies from Achva (brotherhood) College, a small secular teachers' college in Israel, and a master's degree in Jewish philosophy (from Bar Illan University in Israel). He also has a master's degree in educational psychology (from the Israeli branch of Northeastern University in the United States), as well as certification as a marriage counselor and mediator.