From: Adam Dear Rabbi, Is there any spiritual benefit to living in Eretz Yisrael nowadays when there is no Temple and no prophecy? Or is it the same as living in any other country? Dear Adam, There are definitely spiritual benefits to living in the Land of Israel even after the Destruction and Exile, and[…]
From: John Thundercloud Dear Rabbi, I appreciate your informative and straight-forward answer to my question about Judaism and Native Americans. I don’t necessarily agree with everything that you wrote, but I was certainly intrigued by your perspective. In fact, I have a follow-up question on your conclusion regarding Judaism’s non-acceptance of the pantheistic nature of[…]
From: John Thundercloud Dear Rabbi, Might Judaism or Jewish people have special sympathy for the plight of Native Americans insofar as the Indians are also ancient peoples who were forcibly exiled from their ancestral land by a mighty European nation intent on eradicating their unique belief system, way of life, culture and language? Dear John[…]
From: Jo Anne Dear Rabbi, Shalom! Can you please give me some information on the origins and history of Sefardic and Ashkenazic Jews? Though I am not Jewish, I enjoy your posts, and think they are very informative and thorough! Blessings and thanks. Dear Jo Anne, Thank you for your interest, encouragement, and kind words.[…]
From: Britney Dear Rabbi, I and many other non-religious Jews are very upset about the intolerant position of Orthodoxy against non-Orthodox conversions. Who are the rabbis to decide what conversion is kosher or not? And shouldn’t they be interested in maintaining the unity of the Jewish People rather than causing divisiveness? Anyway, many converts are[…]
From: Jesse Dear Rabbi, I recently heard of a yeshiva being saved from the Holocaust through Shanghai. Is this true, and how did it happen? Dear Jesse, Before recounting the actual history, it is important to qualify that even more significant than the interesting events is recognizing the hand of G‑d in history which orchestrated[…]
From: Ryan Dear Rabbi, Is it OK to use the non-Jewish system of counting years, or must we use specifically the Jewish year? Dear Ryan, The Jewish year is based on the Torah’s reckoning of the passage of years from Creation. Using this system of counting the years thus recognizes the existence of G‑d, the[…]
From: Russell Dear Rabbi, I have an interesting history. I was raised as a non-Jew. For all I knew, my entire family, from as far back as anyone knew, was a non-Jewish family. At some point, through a series of events which were so strange I can’t even describe them, I found out that my[…]
From: Bracha Dear Rabbi, I know someone who claims to be Jewish but a Karaite. The person was saying things about Judaism which didn’t seem right to me and the discussion became a little sensitive so I changed the subject. But I was wondering what you can tell me about Karaism and its relationship to[…]
From: Shlomo Dear Rabbi, With all of the terrible attacks taking place in Israel and Jerusalem, I am confused about what the proper Jewish approach or response should be. Should we, or is it permitted, to feel fear? Should we, or is it permitted, to take precautions? If so, what would they be and what[…]