Purim and the Challenge of the Holocaust
Jews have been an ever-dying people that never died, experiencing a continuous resurrection, like the dry bones Yechezkel saw in the valley. Purim, like the Jewish nation, will never cease.
To Have or to Be…that is the Question: Parshat Bechukotai
To learn the secret to a happy life, please read Rabbi Cardozo on parshat Bechukotai.
Be Fearful of Religion: Parashat Veyetze
Yaakov introduces a great foundation of Halacha: To give a religious moment an ongoing effect it must be translated into the tangible, the mundane. He picks up a rock.
Kriyat Yam Suf: Jumping Into Deep Waters
Judaism is about new ideas. It is dependent on fresh concepts deeply rooted in its tradition. We must be aware that if we do not apply new remedies we should expect new evils,
Finding One’s Neshomeh: Franz Rosenzweig and the Berliner Shtiebel
We suggest all Jews and Israelis enter a small synagogue filled with dedicated and passionate worshippers, and then to release all external and artificial components from their souls; to penetrate the surroundings in which they find themselves, and then to let go. Th
The Deliberately Flawed Divine Torah: The Theology of the Halachic Loophole
I believe that the Torah is often morally, deeply, and deliberately flawed, and that furthermore, God Himself intentionally made it flawed. It is the latter issue that I will discuss in this essay.
Parashat Korach: The Curse of Camouflaged Jealousy, And the Blessing of Enjoying the Achievements...
What Korach doesn’t realize is that he’s been manipulated by his friends while convincing himself otherwise. He allowed himself to be used by his friends while thinking that he was using them.
Simchat Torah: The Unyielding Sefer Torah
Looking at and taking notice of a Sefer Torah is therefore of great value. Here is an item that has not changed an iota. Its physical nature attests to its stability. It is the only thing in the world that would not give in to innovation.
Kohanim: The Challenge of Educational Dissent
Children need a strong environment, conducive to their development as Jews, while at the same time their Jewish education must provide them with so much pride that later in life they will be able to deal with the outside world as well and still be fully committed Jews.
Pesach: God’s Sporadic Presence and Overwhelming Absence in Human History
It is perhaps this fact that makes Pesach so relevant for our own times: The realization that even at the time of the greatest of miracles, many years passed without God revealing Himself openly.
The Curse of Religious Coercion: Parashat Chukat
Moshe's punishment came, counter-intuitively, to prove coercion comes at a cost
Seventy Years of an Unyielding 3,330-Year Marriage
Like the prophets of old, our religious leaders must generate a spiritual revolution, triggering an ethical-religious uproar that shakes the very foundations of the state. Israelis are waiting for such a move, and there is little doubt that their response will be overwhelming. Only then will the Jewish people fully re-engage with its land.
The Purpose of Sefer Bereishit
The foremost point of departure in any halachic decision must be that all people are created in the image of God and that ALL human life is holy.
Jesus, A Warning to Our Rabbis
The astonishing fact that Jesus, one Jewish child considered the Messiah in the eyes of billions but utterly rejected as an apostate by his own people makes us wonder even more. What went wrong?
What is There in a Sound That Words Cannot Express — and Why Do...
What is there in the sound of the shofar that words can't express? The blowing of the shofar proves we can surpass ourselves. By our own voice we cannot produce this penetrating terrifying resonance
Megillat Esther and the Nervous-Syndrome Chess Game
Purim Sameach!
The Challenge of Yitro: Would You Convert?
Yitro confronts us for the first time with a new phenomenon: to be a Jew by choice. By doing so, he presents all Jews with a major challenge: how to become a Jew by choice even when one has been born into the fold.
Change of Faith?
Originally, Judaism was highly unorthodox. While it always believed in God and Torah, it never offered any specifics of what God meant or what Torah consisted of.
Scandalous Halachic Decisions: Ethiopians and Wine
Despite a clear ruling by famous Chief Rabbi of Israel Ovadia Yosef z"l that these Ethiopians are surely Jewish (Yabia Omer 8, Even HaEzer 11)— the rabbinical council of the Eida HaHareidit decided that there is doubt about their Jewishness
Thoughts to Ponder: The Kotel – Have We Gone Mad?
The Wall is not a synagogue. It never was a synagogue and should never become one. It is a place where we Jews can meet, pray and share what we have in common instead of focusing on what divides us; where we can smile at each other even when we vehemently disagree.
Amalek: A Warning to the Chief Rabbinate
“Blot out the memory of Amalek” may quite well mean that we are obligated to uproot from within ourselves the ways in which our ancestors dealt with the ancestors of Amalek.
Calling for Religious Unity Only Leads to Division
Nobody doubts that unity of the Jewish people is of crucial importance. Still, we have to ask ourselves if in all cases unity is really THE highest value to strive for.
Sefirat HaOmer: The Secret to Human and Rabbinical Autonomy
Nothing is more dangerous for a person than to remain spiritually stale, and for this reason we are required to count the 49 days of the Omer. To prepare ourselves for the upcoming celebration of Shavuot and the giving of the Torah, we are asked to climb a ladder of 49 spiritual steps, each day adding another dimension to our souls.
Rabbi Soloveitchik and his Paradoxical Influence: An Answer to a Friend
Rabbi Cardozo responds to a letter concerning his article on Rav Soloveitchik (zt"l)
The Remarkable Paradox of Sukkot
The Sukkah represents our life span on earth. For what is a Sukkah but a frail structure which we need to dwell in for 7 days and these 7 days represent man’s average life span of about seventy years
Parshat Vayikra: The Trouble with Sacrifices
Perhaps the institution of sacrifice is grounded in deep symbolism, the meaning and urgency of which escapes our modern mentality.
Thought to Ponder: The Betrayal of Freedom – Yom Ha’atzmaut 2024
The nature of the people of Israel is to live by a sacred mission. The existence of the people of Israel is dependent on its refusal to surrender to normalcy.
A Modern Day Inquisition: Rabbi Joseph Dweck
Those rabbis attacking Rabbi Dweck may be great Talmudic scholars, but instead of using their exceptional knowledge to make Orthodox Judaism more and more vibrant, they drown in it and become stuck in the quicksand of intransigence, which they themselves have created.
Yom Kippur: Ultimate Love and the Danger of Religious Exhaustion
Repentance is, by far, the greatest miracle. In the dimension of time there is no such thing as going back. But in the world of repentance, time is created backward. It allows the re-creation of the past, to make the past better than it used to be
Why a Second Day Yom Tov? The Incomparable Greatness of the Land of Israel
As anyone can testify, celebrating the Jewish festivals in Israel is an act of supreme delight. The festivals are invested with a very special spirit that cannot be experienced anywhere else. No other land can compete with the Land of Israel!
