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eBooks and Sex
I’ve written in the past both about eBooks and sex, two of my favorite subjects. My stated position on eBooks is that they will supplant printed books entirely within 20 years, probably less;...
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Sleeping with the Enemy. It’s OK…Really
Seducing spies...a crowning Jewish achievement? Sometimes, Jewish law can be taken to the most unlikely extremes. Witness the report in Ynet this week that it’s OK for an Israeli woman to seduce an...
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L’ag b’Omer is Saturday Night. Or Maybe Not
The date of the next bonfire is no vanity The Jewish “bonfire” holiday of L’ag b’Omer is this Saturday night. Or maybe not. L’ag b’Omer commemorates the day some 2,000 years ago that a plague killing...
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Hanukah, Extremism and Light
Maccabee t-shirt on sale from Australian website Hanukah is probably the most confounding holiday on the Jewish calendar. If we move beyond the toys and the gelt of 20th century Christmas catch-up,...
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Circumcision, No Fine: On Why Mandating Religious Behavior Backfires
I’m circumcised. My two sons are circumcised. Pretty much every other male I know is, too (not that I check). But a ruling last week by the Supreme Rabbinical Court for Appeals in Jerusalem that...
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Roman vs. Jewish Law: What Happened to Patrilineal Descent?
My January 9, 2015 column in The Jerusalem Post generated a higher than usual number of comments, many of which were not particularly complimentary. In the piece, which addressed the United Synagogue...
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Magic, demons and Judaism: what to do with troubling texts?
Dr. Robin Stamler is a magic buff. It’s not magic tricks that interest him so much as the intersection between Jewish tradition and the mysterious and inexplicable. In a brisk one-hour session at the...
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Crowdfunded shnitzel without killing coming to your kitchen
Shir Friedman calls me a care-nivore. “You’re someone who cares about not harming animals…but you still eat them,” she says with a smile. Friedman wants to change all that. If Friedman’s new company...
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Keeping kosher “in my own way”
Dennis Prager has a radical proposal. In a column published earlier this month in the Jewish Journal, he makes the argument that “if you don’t eat bacon or shellfish because you are a Jew” – even if...
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Breaking the rabbinate’s monopoly on marriage
Rabbi Chuck Davidson is on a holy mission to end the Israeli Rabbinate’s monopoly on marriage. Nearly every night of the week, Davidson conducts wedding ceremonies that the rabbinate deems “illegal.”...
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What kind of God do you want to believe in?
“It’s just an accident that we happen to be on earth, enjoying our silly little moments, distracting ourselves as often as possible so we don’t have to really face up to the fact that, you know, we’re...
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When words and belief clash
It was Friday night, and as I was preparing to say the Shabbat kiddush – the traditional sanctification of the wine – one of our guests made a surprising request: “Could I, um, make my own kiddush?”...
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The death of rational Judaism
The Babylonian Talmud tells the story of the great rabbinic leader Rebbe who in the third century CE developed a malignant gastro-intestinal disorder. His followers set up a non-stop prayer vigil in...
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Judaism’s honesty problem
Judaism has a fundamental problem with honesty and it’s driving the Jewish world apart. That was the take-away from a challenging talk by Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz, the conclusion of a six-part series on...
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Roman vs. Jewish Law: What Happened to Patrilineal Descent?
My January 9, 2015 column in The Jerusalem Post generated a higher than usual number of comments, many of which were not particularly complimentary. In the piece, which addressed the United Synagogue...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Magic, demons and Judaism: what to do with troubling texts?
Dr. Robin Stamler is a magic buff. Itâ€s not magic tricks that interest him so much as the intersection between Jewish tradition and the mysterious and inexplicable. In a brisk one-hour session at the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Crowdfunded shnitzel without killing coming to your kitchen
Shir Friedman calls me a care-nivore. “Youâ€re someone who cares about not harming animals…but you still eat them,†she says with a smile. Friedman wants to change all that. If Friedmanâ€s new...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Keeping kosher “in my own wayâ€
Dennis Prager has a radical proposal. In a column published earlier this month in the Jewish Journal, he makes the argument that “if you donâ€t eat bacon or shellfish because you are a Jew†–...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Breaking the rabbinate’s monopoly on marriage
Rabbi Chuck Davidson is on a holy mission to end the Israeli Rabbinateâ€s monopoly on marriage. Nearly every night of the week, Davidson conducts wedding ceremonies that the rabbinate deems...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What kind of God do you want to believe in?
“Itâ€s just an accident that we happen to be on earth, enjoying our silly little moments, distracting ourselves as often as possible so we donâ€t have to really face up to the fact that, you know,...
View Article
