There are so many really nice, good, religiously observant people, who keep kosher and Shabbat and all the mitzvoth, whose kids go to yeshiva, who learn Torah and dress modestly. All this is crucial—it's who we are and what we need to do and it's keeping Judaism alive. Yet, sometimes, it seems like people lose the center and purpose of it all; a truly intimate, authentic, personal relationship with themselves and Hashem.
Beginning Monday, February 17, Rabbi Hayyim Angel will teach an eight-part series on the interface between traditional and academic methods of Tanakh study. Topics covered include authorship of the Torah, archaeology, contradictions and redundancies in the Torah, literary methods in the study of Tanakh, and traditional commentary in an age of Humanism.
The series is hosted by the Beit Midrash of Teaneck.
Each of us can be a philanthropist on our own financial level if we give what we can without even being asked. Or if we are asked, we can respond early and enthusiastically. Together we can build a better, stronger community.
Holiness is linked to the way we live our daily lives; it isn’t an ethereal concept restricted to prayer, meditation and study. "Kiddush Hashem" is a daily responsibility and privilege.
You do things that shouldn’t be able to be done. You endure things that shouldn’t be put up with. That is part of the existential job description of what it means to be a Jew. And I cannot imagine a greater privilege than the opportunity to be part of it all.
Rabbi Halevy’s writings reflect a conflict. On the one hand, he firmly believed that we were at the beginning of the period of redemption. On the other hand, he acknowledged that no one knew for certain how the redemption process would unfold. Rabbi Halevy evaluated sources about messianic calculations, natural vs. supernatural redemption, repentance during the period of redemption, and other matters relating to Divine Providence.
Good-hearted, thoughtful and generous people are the ones who sanctify life. They do not eat “the bread of shame.”
The Torah’s teachings on Shabbat are particular to Israel and universal to humanity. Our ideal Shabbat incorporates both components—covenantal observances and grand religious vision.
Rabbi Hayyiim Angel offers important insights on the Prophet Malachi and on the nature of prophecy itself.
The quest to understand the rationale that underlies the mitzvoth assumes that we should strive to articulate the spiritual messages of the halakha. By affirming our commitment to those laws whose reasons we may find personally or ethically challenging, we ensure that the Torah is, in fact, the source of our value system, and not simply an ancient text that validates the contemporary zeitgeist.