The Oral Torah

The Oral Torah What It Is And Why It Is Valid The Oral Torah is the oral tradition of the Jews spanning from the exodus to the present day. When the Jewish people were traumatically dispersed and the Temple destroyed by the Roman Empire in 70 C.E., interpretations of Jewish law, which had always been … Continue reading “The Oral Torah”

This Song Really Speaks To Me Right Now

This Song Really Speaks To Me Right Now “All These Things That I’ve Done” by The Killers Leave it to Nick to express High Holy Days reflections in the form of an alt/rock song. I put “All These Things That I’ve Done” by The Killers on my MySpace profile, check it out. It is a … Continue reading “This Song Really Speaks To Me Right Now”

Religious People Against Torture

Some People Of Faith Uniting To Stop American Torture I apologize if I came down too harshly on Christians supporting torture in my previous post. Many sincere Christians oppose torture. Check out this article from Christianity Today magazine: 5 Reasons Torture Is Always Wrong. It gives an accurate assessment and lays out some great Biblical … Continue reading “Religious People Against Torture”

Islam On The Rise In America: More Latinas Becoming Muslims

In An Unexpected Trend, Hispanics Becoming More Islamic As I wrote about previously, this is the religion century. Those who don’t offer clear, strong answers to life’s big questions will continue lose out to hardcore groups in churches, synagouges, and, increasingly, mosques. Today I saw even more evidence my hypothesis is true, with this fascinating … Continue reading “Islam On The Rise In America: More Latinas Becoming Muslims”

The Pope Calls Religious Violence Unreasonable, Triggering Religious Violence

Reaction Way Worse Than Comment The Pope gave an academic lecture on “Faith and Reason” in which he says violence in the name of G-d is unreasonable, and he touched on a Byzantine Emperor’s quote blasting the idea of Jihad. Incredibly, this has spurred a massive round of protests and violent reprisals. If you read … Continue reading “The Pope Calls Religious Violence Unreasonable, Triggering Religious Violence”

Love Your Neighbor: The Whole Torah?

More Torah Commentary Veahavta l’reyacha kamocha, or, in English, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18) is one of the core mitzvos (commandments) of the Torah, and is in nearly every religion. This is counted in Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvos as its own commandment, but he also notes that this mitzvah falls under the … Continue reading “Love Your Neighbor: The Whole Torah?”

Serve G-d Without Thought Of Reward

Commentary On Sefer HaMitzvos It’s time for a post about Torah before Shabbas (Sabbath) starts. As I mentioned earlier, I’m studying Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvos, which lists all of the Torah’s 613 mitzvos (commandments), what they mean, their reasons, how to do them, and why they’re included as one of the 613. In my study of … Continue reading “Serve G-d Without Thought Of Reward”

The Religion Century

Religion Will Shape Our World The last century, 1900-2000, was “the communism century” and was defined by the USA vs. USSR struggle. Now the world is no longer bi-polar, the only pole left is the US, and in place of a conflict between nation-states, we have clashing cultures and ideologies. A rising tide of religious … Continue reading “The Religion Century”