Does the Jewish tradition have anything to say about self help? Is the stereotype of the neurotic Jew a good thing? Using classical texts as well as Martin Buber’s The Ten Rugs, we explore the idea of human perfection, mental illness and ultimately, how to be a more fulfilled person. Download the class notes here. [...]
The Old/New Universe
January 24, 2012 By 1 Comment
Introduction Ever since science has attempted to determine the age of the universe there has been a fierce intellectual battle between the forces of science and creationism. I tend to believe that the two perspectives don’t have to conflict, especially so fiercely. Today, there are several genuine approaches which can reconcile the two accounts of [...]
Judaism 101: What is God?
July 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Five Lesser Known Jewish Movements
February 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Most people basically believe there are only three major movements in the U.S. today: Reform, Conservative and Orthodox. The truth is there are many established and fledgling movements growing all around the world. The differences between Jewish movements today is not so much a matter of theology, rather more a matter of how literally the [...]
Karaite Siddur
January 24, 2011 By 2 Comments
“The Last Demon”
January 20, 2011 By 1 Comment
I am just starting to get the hang of reading science fiction. I like to live a very fact based life and find that only some of this genre is appealing. I can not quite grasp the world of fantasy. I bring this up because of two reasons. First Patrick and Michael are awful keen [...]
Kabbalah & Tzimtzum
August 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Jonathan B. Freirich Kabbalah appears in the public eye more now than perhaps ever. The Kabbalah Center in Los Angeles, and world wide, made it popular, and now people from Madonna, to Demi Moore claim to follow the way of Kabbalah. So, given all this attention, I figured a little discussion about Kabbalah would be [...]
A Kingdom of Priests and an Open Source Nation
August 10, 2010 By 2 Comments
By Leon Adato, originally posted here I met Aaron through his blog – Open Source Judaism – and was intrigued by his focus on ideas about ideas. I also appreciated his direct style of writing, his interest in showing Torah in an amusing, if not pop-culturally-accessible, light (such as the lolcat bible:), and the fact [...]
Blessed Tension, Holy Contradiction
August 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
We’re All Zocher Shabbos
August 10, 2010 By 5 Comments
By Patrick Aleph There’s a great debate between the Shabbat observant about whether to be Shomer Shabbos (guard the Sabbath) or Zocher Shabbos (remember the Sabbath). In a generalized nutshell, Shomer Shabbos Jews believe in observing the law for the law’s sake (or a literal interpretation). This means that the following activities would “break” Shabbat: [...]
