THE FIRST COMMANDMENT: God exists or God is in charge?
Previously, we have explained that for Jewish tradition the opening statement of the Ten Commandments "Im the Lord your God who brought you out of...
Don Isaac Abarbanel (1437-1508)
As we saw last week (see this) Rabbi "Don" Isaac Abarbanel was a famous statesman, a wealthy merchant, a Jewish philanthropist and one of the most...
JEWISH THOUGHT: Yesha’ayahu vs The Lord of the Rings
Last week ( see this) we began to explore the complex question: "Why bad things happen to good people?" We explained that according to our...
SPECIAL EDITION: The aleppo Blood Libel (13 of Sivan)
"Blood libel also called blood accusations, the superstitious accusations that Jews ritually sacrifice Christian children at Passover to obtain blood for unleavened bread (...
Rabbi Don Isaac Abarbanel (1437-1508)
Rabbi "Don" Isaac Abarbanel (or Abravanel) was born in Lisbon Portugal, in 1437. He was a famous statesman, a very wealthy merchant, a Jewish philanthropist ...
TEFILA: Blessing vs Magic
Rabbi Isaac Abarbanel (1437-1508. Tomorrow BH we will have a special column about him) explained that the concept of berakha (=blessing) must be understood...
The most powerful SEGULA
ועתה, אם-שמוע תשמעו בקולי, ושמרתם, את-בריתי--והייתם לי סגולה מכל-העמים, כי-לי כל-הארץ. ואתם תהיו-לי ממלכת כוהנים, וגוי קדוש
Today is the 1st day of the month...
SHABBAT: the ‘erub debate (Part 1)
We are reviewing the melakha called hotza-a, "transferring" on Shabbat from one domain to another domain (see here) and as an extension of it...
FIRST COMMANDMENT: We, the People?
We have seen last week (see here) that the Ten Commandments include two commandments that were conveyed directly by God, these are the First...
TEFILA: From turbans to kippas
כי פריס סודרא על רישיה לימא עוטר ישראל בתפארה
"Blessed are You haShem Who crowns Israel with glory".
This blessing was established by the...
