In the earlier parts of David’s reign, he was famed for executing “true justice among all his people” (II Samuel 8:15). Now, however, his listening to patently unequal narratives to act “even-handedly” dealt a profound injustice to Mephibosheth, rewarded the dishonest Ziba, and, according to Rav, sowed the seeds for the nation itself falling apart.
The Jewish Press newspaper has a bi-weekly feature in which questions are posed to a panel of rabbis, including Rabbi Marc Angel. Here are some of Rabbi Angel's recent replies.
Orthodox thinkers are faced with the task of resolving the conflict between the modern moral outcry against slavery and the Bible’s obvious sanction of the institution. Among Orthodox Jewish thinkers of the modern period, several creative—and sometimes mutually exclusive—approaches to this contradiction have emerged.
Dr. Irene Lancaster, who has long been involved in dialogue between Jews and Christians in England, shares her thoughts on a complicated topic.
Oliver Sacks (1933–2015) was dubbed by the New York Times as “the poet laureate of medicine.” His many years as a neurologist brought him into close contact with many human beings with severe disorders—and he seemed to learn from each of them. To him, they were not “cases” but real people, human beings whose lives had been seriously impaired, who still had something to teach.
Tisha B’Av is a day for fasting, prayer and introspection. It is a prod to national memory. It is a clarion call for a wiser, more humane and happier future. It is a challenge to overcome the pernicious sin of sinat hinam, hating to see the “hen” in our fellow human beings. It is a time for tears - and a time to move beyond tears.
At what point does charisma become dangerous? In a community (and a wider world) where an elusive quality called “spirituality” is constantly sought as representing the “authentic” in the religious quest, how can the individual, or the community, or the responsible leader, distinguish the teacher with integrity from the predator?
These are the kind of people whose melodies sound old, but are really as new as the morning sun. May our people be blessed to find their special melodies and may we never become so afraid of each other that we fail to sing and share our special songs.
The responsibility of Jews to be grateful to God is not only for facts of creation and our lives, but also for our liberation. Yet why does the Passover Haggada provide two versions of what would appear to be the same idea: from slavery to freedom and from enslavement to redemption? Why both formulations? Are freedom and redemption the same thing?
God offers each new generation of the Jewish people the opportunity to renew the covenant. Religious Jews today believe in the God of Israel and the truth of God’s Torah. Are we to believe any less in the eternal spiritual capacity of Am Yisrael to accept, with integrity, freedom and conviction, partnership with the Divine?