Articles

From Our Selves to God: How a Siddur With Photographs May Help Us Pray

by Michael Haruni

Most of our religious observances are indoors--in our homes, in our synagogues.We generally do not like to create a public spectacle of our religious experiences, but we behave modestly and try not to call attention to ourselves as we perform mitzvoth.

            I'm going up the staircase when the exchange floats back between four spandex-swathed legs I am trailing to collect my nursery-aged son.

PART ONE: Shock and Horror

            This article is the product of another article, "How Two Guys Lost God and Found $40 Million," written by Zeke Faux and published online by Bloomberg, at www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-10-06/how-two-guys-lost-god-and-found-40-million.

The Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals welcomes you to attend classes in New York City, taught by Rabbis Marc and Hayyim Angel. For those living outside the New York area, Rabbi Hayyim Angel's will be available on the online learning link of our website jewishideas.org

Ancient Ethics, Modern Dilemmas

a class by Rabbi Marc D. Angel

Tuesday mornings, 8:40-9:30 am, beginning November 1

At the Apple Bank, 2100 Broadway, NYC

Coffee, tea and Danish are available.

by Dr. Morris Shamah

      In 1969, a very precise and intelligent law student approached me in a rather confused state. He had just learned the proofs for the existence of God as presented by Maimonides in the Guide to the Perplexed. These proofs were certainly disappointing to him as they said little to his practical twentieth century Western mind. Did I read them, he asked-yes, I answered, but they also said little that resonated with my way of thinking. At least all but one, the proof from design, lacked the punch that one expects from such “proofs”

Jewish thought generally understands human beings to be beset by a form of dualism arising from the spiritual and material components with which they were created.[i] These antithetical influences typically cause people to vacillate between extremes of altruistic (attributable to their spiritual dimension) and self-indulgent (the result of their “earthiness”) behavior.

Paul Gaugin, the famous 19th century French artist, commented: “When I want to see clearly, I shut my eyes.”

He was referring to two different ways of perceiving reality. With our eyes open, we see surface reality—size, shape, color etc. But with our eyes shut, we contemplate the context of things, our relationship to them, the hidden meanings.

By ARIK BENDER

Former antisemitic Hungarian MP who discovered Jewish roots to make aliya

A one-time MP for Hungary's extremist right-wing and antisemitic Jobbik party, who quit when he discovered he was Jewish, is now making aliya to Israel.

We are pleased to re-post an article by Nancy Khedouri, a member of the government of Bahrain, in celebration of the formal diplomatic relations established between Bahrain and Israel. This article originally appeared in issue 26 (autumn, 2016) of our Institute's journal, Conversations.