tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78905474392259673452011-04-22T01:16:29.640+01:00Jewish Perspectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07299465828274070688noreply@blogger.comBlogger91100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890547439225967345.post-23120808475233734902008-11-15T16:42:00.000Z2008-11-15T16:43:19.598Z

There are two kinds of schools within Judaism, two types of Beth Midrash: The Beth Midrash of Moshe Rabenu and the Beth Midrash of Avraham Avinu. Although both of them are an integral part of Judaism, the difference between them is critical.Rambam, in Hilchoth Avodath Kochavim (1:1-3), states that Avraham Avinu started a movement of “emunah” (religious faith). While Rambam sees Avraham’s

Jewish Perspectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07299465828274070688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890547439225967345.post-58900371428877576462008-11-15T16:39:00.000Z2008-11-15T16:40:18.198Z

MEGILLAThere is a halacha that one must read/hear the Megilla in order. Why? We have all heard the reason why Hashem’s name isn’t mentioned in the Megilla – to show that in reality He was behind every action and that it the miracle was that the different events happened ‘by chance’ in an order by which the Jews managed to survive.But what of the Jews living through the story? Did they know what

Jewish Perspectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07299465828274070688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890547439225967345.post-500548304339725232008-11-15T16:37:00.001Z2008-11-15T16:39:03.807Z

Depending on our mood, whether we have done other good deeds that day, what’s on TV tonight, whether our football team is playing or not and what’s for supper, we may get in the car, drive off and be the most popular man in the Shul or just stay at home.A minyan is an intriguing concept. If we really value the Amidah, the silent meditation, as the central point of Tefillah (prayer), why do we

Jewish Perspectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07299465828274070688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890547439225967345.post-76121425221801826082008-11-15T16:36:00.000Z2008-11-15T16:37:19.627Z

Nowadays, there are many frum people. In fact, it is quite fashionable to be frum. Being frum often means wearing certain clothes: kippot, black hats, pe’ot, white shirts, black suits. There are frum places, frum phrases and frum pronounciation of Hebrew.But what does frum mean? In Yiddish, it means ‘pious’ or someone who keeps Mitzvot. However in modern terminology it is a word often used to

Jewish Perspectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07299465828274070688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890547439225967345.post-89341463186846325282008-11-15T16:09:00.002Z2008-11-15T16:09:56.504Z

There was once a man who walked into a shul. He didn’t have any background in Judaism; in fact he had never even contemplated the thought of doing anything Jewish. But he decides to try it one day and goes to Shul on Yom Kippur. He sees the masses of people, anticipates what could be so interesting and walks into the main hall, sees a friend and says hello, when suddenly – “STOP, how dare you!

Jewish Perspectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07299465828274070688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890547439225967345.post-6141498411454302012008-11-15T15:58:00.000Z2008-11-15T16:02:02.539Z

There is a famous Jewish concept from Pirkei Avot (1:6) that one should judge all of mankind favourably. Rav Bartenura explains this mishna as the requirement to give the benefit of the doubt to a person who has done a questionable act and whose reputation hangs in the balance between being righteous or not. Another explanation comes from the Sfat Emet, who says that even if you know a person’s

Jewish Perspectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07299465828274070688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890547439225967345.post-56669522679829367762008-11-01T19:57:00.000Z2008-11-01T19:58:00.569Z

There is a modern fascination with finding the number one, whether it be in gameshows, reality TV shows, rich lists or ‘top 100’ lists. In a survey to find the greatest ever Jew, names such as King David, Rabbi Akiva and Rambam may be challenging but the top two places would surely be occupied by Avraham and Moshe:Avraham has a pretty good claim: he was the first ‘Jew’, that is to say that the

Jewish Perspectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07299465828274070688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890547439225967345.post-70599227079840504282008-11-01T19:37:00.000Z2008-11-01T19:38:28.040Z

The strangest time of the Jewish year is the period of mourning during the Omer. It is also the most confusing, as many people do not know why they do what they do, apart from the vague answer that 24,000 of Rabbi Akiva’s students died a long time ago. But if we analyse this properly, this is a bit bizarre, for a few reasons:1. There have been many tragedies in Judaism – why do we have around

Jewish Perspectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07299465828274070688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890547439225967345.post-13536068923898423502008-10-02T23:46:00.001+01:002008-10-02T23:52:48.153+01:00

Yael Simon: Chief Rabbi, we use the term 'the chosen people' but yet, in our vocabulary, we effortlessly use the words 'Jew' and 'non-Jew' suggesting perhaps that there is 'Jew' and then everyone else is almost a negative identity as a 'non-Jew'. How can you address this?Chief Rabbi: I just did. It took me 75 minutes. I really tried so hard tonight to turn our conventional understanding

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