What Does Judaism Think

When there is a breakdown in a family, in an office or any form of relationship, nobody feels good. Being insulted, or being vindictive, harboring a grudge or actively taking revenge may provide a temporary feeling of relief or justification, but these things do not make you feel good. You feel good when there is love, period.

But life happens, and sometimes relationships rupture. And it is hard to be the "big man" and make the overture, especially when our pride has been hurt. This was the challenge of Joseph and the brothers. A glimmer of light into how to deal with this kind of situation and restore happiness after all that has happened comes from the seemingly incomprehensible thing Jacob did at the moment he was reunited with his long lost son, Joseph. Read More

There is no easy explanation for the continued existence of the Jewish People. Despite the lies being spread by our adversaries, Jews indeed have existed for millennia, and indeed were the native residents of the Land of Israel. The Temple was real, as attested to by overwhelming historical evidence, and Hanukkah really happened.

But centuries of exile, of persecutions, pogroms, inquisitions and the Holocaust, plus rampant assimilation where Jews were made to feel more welcome, should have pretty much erased our unique identity. And yet here we are, celebrating a military and spiritual victory of more than two thousand years ago! We have been doing so continuously!

What is the secret of our endurance, and how can we ensure that our children remain in the fold? The answer is in HOW we light the Chanuka candles. Read More

Mistakes. We all make them. Most of the time they are inconveniences. On rare occasions, and may we all be spared such occasions, they can change our lives in such dramatic ways that we may become filled with an un-healing regret. In our evening prayers, we ask God to "remove the Satan (evil inclination) from in front of us and from behind us". "Behind us" may mean that we beseech God to free us from the permanent guilt of a great mistake. Sin is the ultimate mistake.

How do we deal with those kind of mistakes and live our lives with wholeness again? Read More

A lot of noise has been made about the proposed law to define Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. In fact, such a law should be superfluous, as Israel's Jewish character is defined in her Declaration of Independence, and by the world community in the Balfour Declaration and the subsequent UN resolution on Partition. But such a law perhaps should be passed in a different form. This cuts to the core of who are the Jewish People, and how are we to participate in the world. Read More