What Does Judaism Think

Some people like to make fun of the fastidiously observant. The details of Sabbath observance, for example, can seem quite ridiculous. "What, you can't even pick up a pen even if you don't write with it?!" What difference does it make if you just have a small taste of Matza on Passover? Isn't it just symbolic?

There are so many details in Judaism, and many of them seem just silly. Yet it is exactly in those details that a true appreciation of God resides. Yes, God does care if I pick up the pen on the Sabbath. Here's why. Read More

They say that revenge is sweet. Well, there is something much sweeter than revenge. Reconciliation. Taking someone who was important to us in a negative sense, whom we felt hatred towards, and turning them into a friend can be the sweetest thing on earth. Revenge, by the way, is forbidden by the Torah!

Reconciling, however, can be very difficult, emotionally almost impossible. There is one blockage that, more than anything else, prevents reconciliation. What is it, and can anything be done about it?
Read More

We sometimes come in contact with people whom we, shall we say, disapprove of. They may have made life decisions that we feel are harmful to them, and may have personal habits and characteristics that are self destructive. Is there a way to fix them? Won't lecturing them be counterproductive?

Probably, almost certainly. So is there something we can do instead of standing by helplessly watching a person self-destruct?
Read More