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We are pleased to announce that Shir Hadash has been selected to receive a grant in order to promote the study of Science and Religion. This project is part of an international program entitled “Scientists in Synagogues,” a grass-roots initiative run by Sinai and Synapses in consultation with the American Association for the Advancement of Science Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion, and…
What should a Kohen do if there is no Levi to wash his hands before Birkat Kohanim? He should look for a bechor – a first born – to fulfill this role in place of the Levi. The reason behind this halacha is due to the fact that First Borns were initially slated for this role — indeed, all the…
Here’s an interesting thought from the Talmudic tractate Bava Kama (a work highlighting the Jewish laws relating to damages). In a discussion focusing primarily on the obligations a private individual has to the public vis-a-vis the disposal of his personal property, a beautiful environmental lesson is offered. The particular law in question is the prohibition against this individual tossing rocks…
Parshat Lecha Lecha Rabbi Yehuda Amital raises a fascinating – seemingly, at first, purely literary — question on this week’s Torah portion. Abraham has just returned from his successful battle with the Four Kings and rescued all those captured during the preceding war between the Four and Five Kings (Genesis Chapter 14). The King of Sodom comes out to greet…
As part of our Summary & Comment Series on Modern Jewish Scholarship, Rabbi Pear offers (below) a brief analysis of Professor Alexander Kaye’s article, Democratic Themes in Religious Zionism. The original article can be found here. SUMMARY By primarily, but not exclusively, focusing on the writings of Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli, the article explores the National Religious Rabbinic response to the…
This past Shabbat during my weekly sermon I broke my general rule of not speaking about politics. And I have Noah to thank for it …Yeah, that Noah, the one of Flood fame. According to the Zohar, when he exited the Ark and witnessed all the destruction, he turned to God and challenged God. “You are called the Lord of…
Please find attached the source sheet for Wednesday, September 9 Yahrzeit Shiur by Rabbi Pear.
“Scholarship has indicated that Jewish responses to evolution have been numerous and did not always play out as might have been expected.”
Throughout Jewish history, a number of halachik[1] terms have existed to describe the non-Jewish population with which the Jewish community interacted; these terms, in turn, helped define the nature of the relationship between the two populations. Being a member of the “Seven Indigenous Nations of the Land of Canaan (ז’ עמים),” for example, would propel the relationship in a negative…