Wants & Needs
There are a lot of things in life we may want, but do we need them? There are also a lot of things in life we may need, but do we truly want them?
Acheinu Kol Beis Yisrael
What is your identity? For the Jewish people, religious or secular, Zionist or otherwise, our identity is that of acheinu, mishpacha. For those not as familiar with the Hebrew terminology, acheinu means brothers and mishpacha is family. What this translates to is that it does not matter one’s personal experiences or life choices – being part of the Jewish people unites…
Acheinu Kol Beis Yisrael
What is your identity? For the Jewish people, religious or secular, Zionist or otherwise, our identity is that of acheinu, mishpacha. For those not as familiar with the Hebrew terminology, acheinu means brothers and mishpacha is family.
Ethno-Religio-Cultural People Group?
What Does It Mean to Be Jewish? Jewish identity is not solely religious, nor is it solely national. We have a long tradition and history as a people group that makes the Jewish an ethnicity, Yiddishkeit a culture, and Judaism a religion. Whether Jewish by birth or a convert, to be Jewish is not a…
Bikkurim for the New Year
In this week’s Parasha, Ki Savo, the text opens with the bringing of fruit to the altar. This seems rather normal, since it takes a year to read through the Torah. What is rather abnormal about it, however, is that it is actually quite a timely portion to read.
Free Will & An All-Knowing Creator
One thing that many religions have in common is the concept of an all-knowing deity and free will of humankind.This is an interesting paradox, and is one that Judaism professes as well. Since this site is grounded in a Jewish approach, we’ll stick to this lens for the conversation.
Rights & Responsibilities
Life. Liberty. Health. The pursuit of happiness. All human rights…or are they? This is where we need to establish a distinction: are human rights endowed by a Creator, as America’s Declaration of Independence asserts, or are they self-endowed by creation?
Anti-Semitism & Defining Jewish Identity
Are Jews a people group or a religious group? One’s definition of what it means to be a Jew determines the definition of antisemitism.
Messianic Judaism: Complicated, Challenging, and Confusing
Messianic Judaism, or Messianic Christianity (according to Orthodox Jews), is widely misunderstood and feared in both the Jewish and Christian communities. It’s time to clear the air.
Once Upon a Shutdown…
The American government shutdown that welcomed 2019 into the world brings to the front my of mind a stark reminder: the temporary and the eternal.
Multifaceted Prayer
On Kabbalah Pod I aired an episode briefly highlighting an interesting semiotic tidbit from Parshas Chayei Sarah. In the episode I mention the Torah’s repetition of Eliezer’s journey and the connection to prayer, but only in a brief form. I really want to bring this up as I connects beyond Kabbalah and finds a real…
Baseline Semiotics
In last week’s episode, which this post is associated with, Terry and I discuss semiotics and rehash the basics of it from our individual perspectives. We both bring up semiotics from a philosophical and religious perspective, which is similar yet different from secular semiotics.