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Allen S. Maller

Apr 18, 2018, 5:00 AM

Warm Muslin welcome for Jews

In the wake of the warm Muslim welcome that greeted many Ultra-Orthodox Rabbis who made aliyah in the 18th and 19th centuries, some Hasidic masters reflected on the positive experience that local Jews had with their Muslim neighbors; according...

Mar 29, 2018, 4:47 PM

Breaking news: Shtick is Shark at College

First comes the whistle. Once its shrill cry jumpstarts the battlefield, sneakers from opposing sides pound the floor of the arena as they race to the patiently waiting balls in the middle. The winners arrive first and immediately hurl the...

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...

Dec 10, 2017, 4:17 PM

Heresy and moral atheism

Maimonides (the great legal scholar and philosopher of the 12th century) is the first and only thinker in the Jewish tradition to codify principles of faith within a legal framework as a binding theological dogma in codifying his “13...

Dec 3, 2017, 3:35 PM

The source of authority and sanctity of the Torah (the 5 Books of Moses) and Rava’s anti-theological conception

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel points out (God in Search of Man, P. 257-278), that there is a fundamental difference between the concepts of the Torah (the 5 books of Moses) being from Sinai and being Divinely revealed (and sacred). ...

Nov 26, 2017, 6:00 PM

The interpretation of texts contradicting orthodox dogma

In traditional rabbinic Judaism we as Jews live not by what is written in the Bible (the Written Torah) but by the Bible as interpreted and understood by the Jewish rabbinic tradition (the Oral Torah) - the foundation of...

Nov 19, 2017, 3:54 PM

Principles of belief are subject to differing interpretation

From an ideological point of view, the origins of an orthodox (correct belief) conception of Judaism began in the medieval period with the formulation and legal codification by Maimonides (the great legal scholar and philosopher of the 12th century)...

Joseph C. Kaplan

Nov 17, 2017, 6:50 AM

Words from the Heart: The Ultimate, Inclusive Balm

It was a jam-packed Yomim Nora’im/Sukkot season this year, with three three-day yom tovs packed into just over three weeks. For some (particularly those in the kitchen), aliyah began to sound a bit more inviting; Israel had only one three-day...

Nov 12, 2017, 1:08 PM

The meaning of Shema — the great declaration of faith of the Jewish tradition

The verse Shema (usually translated as "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one"), the great declaration of faith of the Jewish tradition, is widely understood as an expression of monotheism. In my view, this is...

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