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Joel Hoffman

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May 30, 2018, 8:45 AM

Why not intermarry

Dennis Prager once said “If Judaism is important to a person, then no arguments against intermarriage are necessary, but if Judaism is not important to a person, no arguments against intermarriage will be effective.” Nevertheless, in this article I...

May 6, 2018, 1:38 PM

Judaism’s Recipe for Happiness

One of Judaism’s 613 commandments (mitzvot) is to be happy. But how does one obtain happiness? At Barnes & Noble, one can find 50 different books in which the title promotes that the book will help one have a happier...

Oct 29, 2017, 6:09 AM

Three misconceptions about orthodox Judaism

1) Orthodox Judaism Claims the Universe is Only 5,778 Years Old. The current Jewish year is 5,778, but Judaism has never taught that the Jewish year is the age of the universe. Rather, this is the number of years...

Sep 13, 2017, 2:18 AM

Who wrote the Torah?

The foundation of Judaism is the teaching that God dictated the Torah to Moses 3,300+ years ago during the forty years that the Jewish people were in the Sinai Desert after leaving Egypt. But is it possible to prove...

Apr 21, 2017, 6:53 AM

The Outreach Imperative

How Bad is the Assimilation Crisis? According to the latest study of American Jews (Pew 2013) only 60% of non-Orthodox Jews attend a Passover seder, which is down from 68% in 2000; just 13% of non-Orthodox Jewish women light...

Mar 31, 2017, 12:13 AM

Pesach Cleaning & Spirituality

As Passover approaches many Jews go into spring-cleaning mode. Getting rid of chametz concretizes into actions such as putting away all of our everyday pots and dishes, or making them kosher for Passover. Many of us also clean out...

Dec 14, 2016, 7:45 AM

Trump and Climate Change

This week President-elect Donald Trump made headlines for his statement that no one knows if climate change is real. There is a huge difference between naturally occurring climate change and man-made climate change, as well as catastrophic man-made climate...

Jun 17, 2016, 4:56 PM

Calling All Orthodox Jews

Every Orthodox Jew is needed to do something to curve the assimilation crisis in America. Rabbi Noah Weinberg z”l periodically repeated a teaching from the Chofetz Chaim that says: if a person sees someone drowning then s/he has the obligation...

Jun 8, 2016, 2:34 PM

Dear Hebrew School Graduates

8 teachings I want my 7th grade students to remember. Dear Hebrew School Graduates, I tried to make our time together engaging and fun, while at the same time deepening your understanding of Judaism. Nevertheless, I know that a year from now almost...

Jun 3, 2016, 10:46 PM

Intermarriage & the Western Wall Compromise

This past Wednesday leaders from the Reform and Conservative movements and the Jewish Federation system had an “emergency meeting” with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu about the Western Wall compromise. Undoubtedly, the Federation leadership was in attendance to excerpt a...

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About Me

Rabbi Joel E. Hoffman is a special education teacher for his "day job," and an outreach rabbi in his free-time. www.birthrightjudaism.com