The famous Hasidic Kotzker Rebbe commented that God comes where God is invited. In principle, God should be invited to every daily minyan in every synagogue throughout the world. Each worshiper should feel the presence of God when praying. The services should be conducted with love, devotion, piety…with a genuine desire to experience the Divine. Regrettably, the daily minyan experience isn’t always like this ideal model.
If someone asked Enoch if he was religious, he would have answered: “I am striving to be.” When someone asks us: are you religious? The answer should be, like Enoch’s: “I am striving to be.”
Jewish and Zionist identity is the inheritance of a people whose collective memory has been shaped by exile and return, persecution and creativity, political vulnerability and national renewal—and, above all, by an extraordinary determination not to disappear.
With the holidays coming toward an end, Rabbi Hayyim Angel will be resuming his classes, many of which are available to members of the Institute.
On Mondays October 12, 19, and 26, from 1:15-2:15 pm Eastern, Rabbi Hayyim Angel will give the next installments of his series over Zoom on the history of Biblical Interpretation (Rabbi Yitzhak Abarbanel, Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno, and the 16th-19th century commentators). It is hosted by Lamdeinu, and registration is required.
The Jewish story we tell ourselves is not complete. Essential parts of it have been preserved outside the written canon, within the rhythms of life itself, and especially in the voices of women. For the Jewish story to continue, it must also include what has been preserved beyond texts, the wisdom carried through women’s tradition.
I encourage parents to dream of ways to mark their child’s special day in a way which is meaningful, special and appropriate—whether they are a person with autism, anxiety and other mental health issues, visual impairments, deafness, are non-speakers or have minimal speech, mobility issues, or deal with learning disabilities. I encourage them to think about the many options available.
A grounded Jewish identity, shaped by our sacred texts, faith, practices, and history, and strengthened by our families and communities, provides stability where none exists in the accusations of others. It is not a shield against hatred, but it allows us to withstand it without being defined or destroyed by it. That kind of identity does not emerge on its own. It must be taught, learned, and lived.
When we talk about “God,” we intuitively think of a powerful, nonphysical entity that created and runs the universe. Classical theologians have posited the Greatest Possible Being (GPB) thesis as the primary mode of understanding God. This article argues that a GPB identifiable as the God of religious tradition will contain responsiveness as one of its attributes rather than complete immutability as the Greeks and other classical theologians have posited.
We are thrilled to announce that Rabbi Hayyim Angel has published the second volume of his new commentary series, The Heart of Tanakh. The Heart of Joshua joins the Heart of the Five Megillot.
On the way over the next several months: Judges, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, and 2 Kings (and then more to follow after that!).
The road ahead, both in Israel and in the diaspora, is full of hurdles due to the threats from external enemies on the one hand, and the stubbornness of established institutions and religious extremists on the other. Yet it is precisely within these tensions that the next chapter of Jewish history is being written—not in the margins of other nations, but at the center of our own.