PRINCIPLE 6: The Prophets of Israel (2 of 3)
Last week we explained what were the three prerequisites for a person to be a candidate for prophecy (see here). Besides being a God fearing...
RELIGIOUS INTEGRITY: Representing and misrepresenting God
The Tora is very strict about our obligation to say the truth and our duty to keep away from falsehood. Speaking the truth and...
LETTER of RABBI AVRAHAM NISSANIAN
בהנ"ו ערב פורים ה'תשע"אErev Purim 5771Dear member of the Community,I hope this letter finds you excitedly anticipating the wonderful holiday of Purim. Rejoicing the...
Jewish Bioethics: Prenatal genetic screening (4 of 4)
Can a Jewish mother undergo during her pregnancy prenatal screening tests. In other words, all those routine tests aimed to detect certain genetic conditions...
Rabbi Yehuda Bibas vs. the reform movement (1776-1852)
Previously (see here) we mentioned that Rabbi Yehuda Bibas served as the Rabbi of the Island of Corfu (today, Greece) from 1831 to 1850. Rabbi...
PRINCIPLE 6: The prophets of Israel were true (1 of 3)
The Prophets of Israel were exceptional human beings, called by God to rebuke the Jewish people. In order to be credible preachers, the Prophets had to...
Religious integrity: The honest seller.
Question: A car seller agreed over the phone to sell to Mr. A a car for 5000 dollars. Mr. A will come to buy...
Jewish Bioethics: Abortion and congenital diseases (3 of 4)
Previously (see here) we explained that the modern rabbis have very different opinions on the issue of abortion, when facing a congenital disease. We presented...
The 13 principles of Judaism: #5. Praying to God, the right...
Previously, we've explained that we should pray exclusively and directly to God (see here ) and communicate with Him only by means of prayer. Sometimes,...
RELIGIOUS INTEGRITY: The Honest YES
In the Tora it is written: (vayiqra 19:36) "You shall have just balances, just weights, a just epha, and a just hin; I am...
Abortion and congenital diseases (3 of 5)
As we previously explained (see here) the fact that a case is not dealt with in Talmudic and early Rabbinic sources, virtually warrants a lack...
Rabbi Yehuda Bibas (1776-1852)
Today, I would like to start writing about one of the most prominent Sephardic rabbis of modern Jewish history, Rabbi Yehuda Bibas. His thoughts...
The 13 Principles of Jewish Faith: # 5: Praying directly and...
The Fifth Principle says that it is proper to pray only to God, and one may no pray to any one else besides Him.
We...
One step down
In the Talmud Yebamot 63a the Rabbis gave many advices on the issue of shidukhim (=finding your spouse. See here). One of them is:...
Abortion and congenital disorders (Part 2/5)
The issue of abortion in case of a congenital disorder could not have been directly addressed in older rabbinic sources. Only today we have...
Giving the benefit of the doubt
The Tora instructs us to judge people giving them the benefit of the doubt. By doing this, we fulfill a very important Mitzva:betzedeq tishpot...
Rosh Chodesh Shebat
Shebat is the eleventh month of the Hebrew year counting from Nisan. Rosh Chodeh Shebat consists always of one day, because the preceding month, Tebet,...
The principles of Jewish Faith: # 4 “(Only) God is eternal”...
Jews never believed in the eternity of the universe. The Fourth principle of our faith asserts that only God is eternal. The 13 Principles...
Rab Safra and Religious Integrity
The real test of integrity takes place when someone is faced between keeping his word and suffering a financial loss. King David expressed this...
BIOETHICS: Abortion and congenital disorders in Jewish law (2 of 4)
Other than for medical reasons (see for example, here) abortion is forbidden by Jewish Law. However, Jewish Law does not considered abortion as murder,...
