The Jewish tradition generally places a high value on learning and study, especially of religious texts. Torah study (compromising study of the Torah and more broadly of the entire Hebrew Bible as well as Rabbinic literature such as the Talmud and Midrash) is considered a religious obligation.
A Bewhiskered Believer Bewildered By Beard-Hating Brethren Several years ago I was interviewed by a pastor for a job as principal of a Christian school. At the end of the interview, the pastor offered me the position, and said he really hoped I would accept it. "There’s just one more thing," he said rather hesitantly. "If you do decide to take the job, I’ll have to ask you to shave your beard." The pastor was quick to assure me that he himself had nothing personal against beards. It was just that a few parents from some fundamentalist churches had enrolled their children in the school. These parents wanted good role models for their children, and a fuzzy-faced principal in a Christian school did not fit their definition of a good role model. I assured the pastor that if I decided to accept the position as God’s will, I [...]
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If one is in search of a single codification that represents the essential core of Jewish belief, no source is better than the Rambam’s thirteen principles of faith (apart from the Hebrew Bible of course). The Rambam himself refers to these thirteen principles as "the fundamental truths of our religion and its very foundations" (Pir ...
Giving may seem like a sacrifice at times (especially when money is tight) or we often wonder if the person we give to is worthy or really needs our help, but in reality being charitable to others does more for us, for our relationships with G-d and with our fellow human beings than it does to the people who we give to. Jewish people are reno ...
Shabbat (sabbath) is the only ritual observance instituted in the Ten Commandments. Primarily a day of rest and spiritual enrichment, the word ‘Shabbat’ comes from the root Shin-Bet-Tav, meaning ‘to cease, to end, or to rest’. The injunction to “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy” is the fourth of the Ten ...
Weekly Sidra: Terumah (Gift) Torah Portion: Shemot / Exodus 25:1-27:19 Haftorah: Yeshayahu / Isaiah 66:1-24 He who pays Maaser removes part of his self love for the sake of the Creator. Maaser kesofim literally means a tenth of money. Tithing one’s income for charity, is an age-old practice dating back to our forefathers’ days. Avraham ...
The story of the Marranos, the lost Jews from Spain, started in the 14th century when the Spanish Inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church persecuted the large Jewish community in Spain and Portugal. Many Jews preferred to die rather than to give up their faith and convert. Many other Jews were forced to become Christians. Despite this, the church ...
When we study the Hebrew Scriptures (from Genesis to Revelations writen by Jews to Jews), we find some very interesting verses concerning the tzitzit / fringes. In Hebrew, we say tzitziyot. Specifically, these verses are Mattityahu 9:20; 14:36a, Mark 6:56; and Luke 8:44. Without a shadow of a doubt, they demonstrate that Yeshua definitely was a Tor ...
Quienes son los marranos? Cuando la Iglesia Catolica establecio la Inquisicion en España en 1481, en conjunto con la explusion de los judios en 1492, la practica del judaismo era una ofensa castigable por el gobierno. Estableciendo las mas grotescas torturas y penas de muerte a todos los judios que no confesaran con su fe en el catolicismo. ...
The Jews of India aren’t one singular community. Among themselves they are divided into different communities. Each community has its own different culture, background and origin. Each community claims its arrival in India in different ways and it is not always clear how they really came to India. The three main Jewish communities of India ar ...
The earliest followers and disciples of Rabbi Yeshua of Nazareth believed that Yeshua was the promised Mashiach (Messiah) of Israel and the Redeemer of all nations. However, they did not believe that Yeshua came to start a new religion or to abolish the Torah (Teaching, Instruction) of Moshe; instead, they continued to worship the God of Abraham, I ...
One of the most difficult sections of the Torah to understand is the discussion of "Tzarat," a skin disease commonly mistranslated as "leprosy." In truth, Tzarat is a physical manifestation of a spiritual deficiency. The Talmud (Arachin 16) says that Tzarat comes specifically as a consequence of "lashon hara" – n ...
The largest Jewish community of Indian Jews is that of the Bene Israel. Earlier the Bene Israel lived in the villages of west Maharashtra in the Konkan coast. In the nineteenth century they started moving to the cities, mainly to Bombay (now called Mumbai) and to other cities among them Pune, Ahmadabad and Karachi which is now part of Pakistan. Fro ...
So, what is a “ger”? What is Zar? Let’s start off with what ger means. Strong’s translates the Hebrew word ‘ger’ as stranger, sojourner, alien. It is defined as: a) a temporary inhabitant, a newcomer lacking inherited rights b) of foreigners in Israel, through conceded rights. A “ger ...
This year, This Thursday April 19 is Yom Hashoa v’Hag’vurah- Holocaust Memorial Day. Really it is the Day of the Martyrs and Heroes . begins on Sunday, April 11th starting at sundown and continues through Monday, April 12th at sundown. The commemoration of Yom Hashoah is held on the 27th day of Nissan, one week after the seventh day of ...
Here is some of what I have found in my studies on the subject. “Don’t round your hair at the temples or mar the edges of your beard.” - Leviticus 19:27 Nowhere does HaShem say that cutting the beard is acceptable. One of the humiliations of a conqueror was to shave or take off the beards of the men. The reason for both prohi ...
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