Increasing lights is an appealing concept, both aesthetically and spiritually. When we cast light on a problem, we clarify the issues. The more light we enjoy, the less we succumb to shadows and illusions.It is all too easy to make mistaken judgments by chasing shadows rather than realities.
Rabbi Dr. Sabato Morais (April 13, 1823-November 11, 1897) was described by a New York Yiddish newspaper as “without doubt…the greatest of all Orthodox rabbis in the United States.” This encomium was written several years after the death of Morais, when a full picture of his life and accomplishments could be written with historical perspective. Today he is hardly remembered...but he should be!
The Jewish Press newspaper has a bi-weekly feature in which questions are posed to a group of rabbis. Rabbi Marc Angel is one of the respondents. Here are his answers to several recent questions.
When Rabbi Marc Angel served as President of the Rabbinical Council of America (1990-92), he asked Rabbi Moshe Tendler to develop a health care proxy for the RCA, that would take into consideration issues relating to halakhic organ donation. An internationally renowned authority in halakha and medical ethics, Rabbi Tendler concluded that brain-stem death constitutes halakhic (as well as medical) death; that organ donation is permissible and praiseworthy according to halakha.
Rabbi Marc Angel replies to questions from the Jewish Press on various topics: young married couples applying for welfare; proposing marriage; cell phones for children; beards for men; the power of forgiveness.
It is one of the unique joys of life to have studied with great teachers. It is one of the unique qualities of great teachers to expand the intellectual horizons of their students. Dr. Louis H. Feldman was that kind of teacher and that kind of human being.
The New York Daily News published this op ed piece by Rabbi Marc D. Angel on September 18, 2020.
We applaud the historic decision of Israel and the United Arab Emirates to establish full diplomatic relations. We pray that other nations will have the courage and the wisdom to follow their example, and bring lasting and genuine peace to the Middle East and beyond.
This is the story of one Jewish family's confrontation with the Holocaust--a Sephardic family from the Island of Rhodes.
The Talmud records a poignant story relating to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE. Although historians describe various political, sociological, and military explanations, the Talmud—through the story of Kamtsa and Bar Kamtsa—points to a moral/spiritual cause of the destruction:
