God & Theology
Was the Torah Really Given on Shavuot?Tuesday, May 14, 2013 by David Glasner | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In Jewish tradition, the holiday of Shavuot is said to commemorate the giving of the Torah at Sinai. But, as the Talmud often asks, mena hani mili, how do we know this?
God the EconomistMonday, May 13, 2013 by Joshua Berman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The Occupy rallies of 2011 were the largest Israel has ever seen. As I looked at the young couples in Tel Aviv protesting the inaccessibility of housing they could call their own, I thought of the land tenure reforms of Leviticus.
Beyond the GiantsFriday, May 10, 2013 by Robert Nicholson | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Strange as it may sound, my idea of Israel did match reality. I’ve never imagined it to be some spotless utopia where everybody knows your name. It is a land haunted by terror and tragedy, fear and doubt. And yet it’s the land where God has chosen to reveal Himself to man.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
What does it mean to "walk" in God's laws? (Click here for source sheet.) Download
Tithing and TaxesFriday, April 12, 2013 by Shlomo M. Brody | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
A significant proportion of tax revenue is used for charitable purposes: food stamps, Social Security, housing assistance, public healthcare. May Jews therefore count tax payments as charitable contributions?
What Is Free Will?Monday, March 18, 2013 by Simon Gordon | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
For millennia, philosophers have attempted to prove or disprove the existence of free will. Ludwig Wittgenstein saw this as a misguided exercise—which obscures a genuine moral issue.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Three surprising words — two of them English — for an offering made of flour. (Click here for source sheet.) Download
The Voice That Speaks in My SoulFriday, March 8, 2013 by Susan Taubes | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Echoing Kafka in this 1949 letter of protest to a domineering male, Susan Taubes writes: "I can no more keep to the laws of the Bible than I can cross myself or take the sacrament."
Who Says There Are No Coincidences?Wednesday, March 6, 2013 by David Glasner | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In certain Orthodox circles, the idea that there are no coincidences has become a principle of faith. But it contradicts a more fundamental Jewish doctrine: human free will.
When Liberal Protestants Were ZionistsTuesday, March 5, 2013 by Judah Bellin | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
It is hard to imagine a liberal Christian theologian passionately defending Zionism today. But Reinhold Niebuhr praised Zionism as a means to the establishment of "highest civilization."
Editors' Picks
Heaven on Earth Nathan Lopes Cardozo, Cardozo Academy. Jewish law rescues man from unrealistic dreams, replacing them with dreams that are viable.
Hiding before God Jonathan Sacks, Algemeiner. "The tallit [prayer shawl] hides the person we are and represents the person we would like to be, because in prayer we ask God to judge us, not for what we are, but for what we wish to be."
Restoring the Grand Gesture Naftali Brawer, Jewish Chronicle. Whatever happened to the worship of God through a spontaneous outpouring of the soul?
Voice in the Wilderness Nathan Lopes Cardozo, Cardozo Academy. "Avraham found God in the desert and so the people of Israel received the Torah in a place of ultimate authenticity: The Desert of devastating conditions and great opportunities."
Where Worlds Collide Eli Rubin, Chabad.org. "At Sinai—the Torah tells us—'God descended upon the mountain.' From this point on, man would be able to enjoy a direct relationship with the essentiality of the divine self."
Rage against the Rebbe Baruch Sterman, Huffington Post. The Pshiskhe Hasidim challenged the establishment belief that "only the great and holy Rebbe could bring salvation," maintaining instead that spirituality comes from within.
Lost Cause? Francis J. Caponi, Marginalia. A new book argues that the root of the conflict between science and religion is the reductive modern understanding of causality—which many scientists are now rejecting.
God, Your Healer Daniel Eisenberg, Community. The Shulhan Arukh states, "the Torah gives permission to the physician to heal; moreover, this is a mitzvah." But how does that square with the Jewish conception of God as the ultimate healer?
The Sound of Silence Karen Armstrong, Literary Review. "Negative theology does not mean the suppression of speech; rather, it takes us through speech to another dimension of reality."
Is Blood Thicker than Holy Water? , Economist. Mary Eberstadt argues that religion goes hand in hand with the traditional family. But religions are often founded on the triumph of faith over kinship.