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Ben-Tzion Spitz

Jul 8, 2018, 3:49 PM

Pinchas: Secret Jews

If most of us remain ignorant of ourselves, it is because self-knowledge is painful, and we prefer the pleasures of illusion. -Aldous Huxley During my years in Uruguay, I met multiple people who had discovered, some quite recently, that they...

Jul 7, 2018, 12:55 AM

No Future For American Jews

At the risk of sounding fatalist, I do not believe there is a viable future for American Jews. Let me explain, because I'm an American Jew, and far be it from me to preach doom and gloom to my...

Robert L. Wolkoff

Jul 6, 2018, 11:18 PM

Liberal Jews Cause Earthquakes. Who Knew?

It is no coincidence that Parshat Pinchas, which centers on blind zealotry, always comes during the build up to Tisha B’av, which commemorates the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem—which was destroyed, the rabbis tell us, because of sinat...

Sharona Margolin Halickman

Jul 6, 2018, 8:37 PM

Guess who was not involved in the sin of the spies?

When we speak about Chet HaMiraglim, the sin of the spies, we mention that Yehoshua and Calev were the only two of the twelve spies who did not bring a false report and they were therefore not punished as...

Jul 6, 2018, 12:55 AM

The lost masterpiece

Illustrative: Michal Baratz Koren's portrait of the five daughters of Zelophehad, who first raised before Moses the case of a woman’s right and obligation to inherit property in the absence of a male (Courtesy, Michal Baratz Koren)

If women like Zelophehad's daughters had gone out to spy the land, they'd never have spoken negatively of it (Pinchas)

Nathan Lopes Cardozo

Jul 4, 2018, 2:00 PM

The Search for God

The Greatness and the Present Setback of Halachic Living Taken from a chapter in Jewish Law as Rebellion. A Plea for Religious Authenticity and Halachic Courage. Urim Publications, 2018 There is little doubt that Halacha greatly complicates life for the...

Menachem Creditor

Jul 2, 2018, 11:12 AM

Redemption in a Mighty Jewish Rumpus

The past seventy-two hours have offered an amazing array gifts of comfort and inspiration to this rabbi's heart. No verbal description could possibly do the experience justice. But here goes: I'm at Camp Ramah in Northern California, my third summer...

Ariel Ben Avraham

Jun 30, 2018, 11:40 PM

Parshat Pinchas: The powerful of the jealousy of goodness

“Pinchas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned My wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was very jealous for My sake among them so that I consumed not the children...

Jun 30, 2018, 9:57 PM

7 ways to keep Jews from fighting each other

The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem, by David Roberts, 1850. (Wikipedia/ Creative Commons)

We must work to listen to each other, to forgive each other, and to stick together, as the extended family we are

Jun 29, 2018, 5:54 PM

Parashat Pinhas: be prepared…even with regret

“Assail the Midianites and defeat them for they assailed you by the trickery they practiced against you” (Numbers 25:16-18). This is G-d’s command to Moses, after rewarding Aaron’s grandson Pinchas for his response to a public and wanton act of...

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