Review of Ronald Benun's New Volume on Psalms
Rabbi Hayyim Angel reviews a new book on Psalms by Ronald Benun.
Rabbi Hayyim Angel reviews a new book on Psalms by Ronald Benun.
Moshe Hecht, a member of our Institute's University Network, discusses how his early lessons in Jewish history focused on the persecution of Jews, anti-Semitism, Jews as victims. As his studies advanced, he began to view Jewish history in larger--more accurate and more nuanced--terms.
The Covid crisis demonstrated how society rallied massive energy and budget to bolster society’s physical health. Shouldn’t we be able to act with an equal sense of emergency on behalf of society’s moral and psychological health?
The Jewish Press has a bi-weekly feature in which questions are asked to a panel of rabbis. One of the respondents is Rabbi Marc D. Angel, and here are his responses to recent questions in this series.
Song of Songs contains some of the most tender expressions of love and intimacy in the Bible. On its literal level, the Song expresses the mutual love of a man and a woman. From ancient times, traditional interpreters have almost universally agreed that there is an allegorical or symbolic layer of meaning as well.
We must remind the world that there is a God, that there is ultimate justice, that evil does not and cannot prevail. We can remind the world that those who demonstrate injustice, cruelty, and moral depravity in their attacks on Israel will be judged by the Heavenly court with these very same standards of harshness.
As we are in the season of Yom Hashoa, I think of Rembrandt’s superb Large Self-Portrait. It cast a spell on me when I first saw it. But on Yom Hashoa it invites thoughts that penetrate deeper into my very being. When trying to do the impossible—imagining what happened to members of my family and to millions of other Jews who perished in the Holocaust—Rembrandt’s self portrait awakens me from my slumber.
By opening with the story of creation, the Torah teaches that one must have a living relationship with the natural world in order to enter and maintain a living relationship with God. Jewish spirituality flowers and deepens through this relationship and is organically linked to the natural rhythms of the universe. To a great extent, Jewish religious traditions serve to bring us into a sensitive relationship with the natural world.
Book Review
Pesah: Insights from the Past, Present, and Future (The Habura, 2022)
Rabbi Hayyim Angel
Great teachers impact mightily on the development of their students. Great teachers not only impart knowledge but provide the intellectual tools that enable students to learn for themselves and to think for themselves. Rabbi Marc Angel reminisces on some of the most influential teachers in his life.