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Virtual Talmud

What a pleasure it was to read Rabbi Jen Krause’s new book The Answer. Make no doubt about it this is not your regular self-help book. “The Answer” is more about realizing that ultimately life’s greatest challenge is coming to terms with the fact that sometimes we are so quick to find the answer that…

Rabbi Krause writes that she is not scared of new influences coming into Judaism–that bringing in new ideas and perspectives helps keep Judaism dynamic and relevant. This assertion is central to Reconstructionist Judaism’s approach to understanding how our religion works. Judaism is not, and never has been, a static series of laws and rituals that…

Improving the self–whether through books, magazines, prayer, meditation, or study–has always been a Jewish enterprise and the rabbis were among history’s first “life coaches.” Today it is the same. I do not have one doubt that Judaism continues to offer a variety of ways we’ve already discovered and approaches yet to be revealed, which are…

The connections Rabbi Stern and Rabbi Grossman have drawn between the story of Noah and the modern environmental crisis are, sadly, very much to the point. One of the salient points of the Biblical story is that the crisis is brought about by sinful human action. In the words of the Torah, “Now the Earth…

Last Shabbat we read about how God commanded Noah to collect an ark load of the Earth’s biodiversity and ride out the mother of all storms, which cleansed the earth. When Noah and his family finally emerged from the ark to a fresh new world, God makes a covenant with them and seals it with…

In Judaism we tend to think that God’s promise to Noah after the flood means that the world will never be destroyed. But all God says is that “He” will never destroy the world through rain. “We” on the other hand are a whole other story. As of now, our behavior of excess and rampant…

In thinking about Senator John McCain’s comments in his interview with Beliefnet— that America is a Christian nation–I spent some time online trying to figure out what the substance of the label is. Certainly ‘Christian nation’ sounds like it should be a clear concept, but I’m not sure that it is. And the various evangelical…

John McCain 2000: Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and a few Washington leaders of the pro-life movement call me an unacceptable presidential candidate. They distort my pro-life positions and smear the reputations of my supporters. Why? Because I don’t pander to them. John McCain on Beliefnet 2008: I would probably have to say yes, that the…

Presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain caused quite a stir recently when he stated–in a video interview on Beliefnet–that he believes the Constitution establishes America as a Christian nation. His comments should have caused a stir for a number of reasons. First of all, it is scary to think that a presidential hopeful knows so little…

If the Jews are so smart, why is it we bundle five holidays together in a row, one on top of the other, through an entire month in the fall? Of course, every month, except one, does include a Jewish holiday. The exception is Heshvan, the month that follows these fall holidays. I guess even…
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