Torah portion Lech Lecha
I Turned Down A Ticket To Heaven While attending college, a fellow student offered me a ticket to heaven. All I had to do was “believe in Jesus,” and if not, I would go to hell. I turned down his offer and explained that Judaism requires that we believe in
Torah portion Noah
What Skeptics and Believers Can Learn From Noah Most people are familiar with the Torah’s story of Noah and the Ark. Whether skeptic or believer, it is interesting to know that many cultures have flood stories. One account inscribed in Sumerian on clay tablets dates to the late third
Torah portion Bereishis
God Is ONE — Not Two or Three During the long years of exile, the Jewish people lost the Land of Israel, the Temple, the priesthood, the Davidic kingship, and sacrifices. We survived despite these temporary losses because we never abandoned the Torah with its moral, legal, and spiritual teachings. The
Zechariah 12:10
Sukkot and Simchat Torah The War of Armageddon Is Not The Apocalypse The Jewish High Holidays, known as the Days of Awe, constitute a spiritual progression. On Rosh Hashanah, we coronate God as our King, on Yom Kippur, we receive God’s forgiveness; and on Sukkot [the Festival of Booths]
children of God
Yom Kippur Should Be Uplifting, Not Boring When I was growing up, my family attended synagogue and fasted on Yom Kippur. Although the day was holy, the all-day service was tedious and I did not feel spiritual. As my relationship with God and Judaism grew, Yom Kippur became more spiritual
Torah portion Vayigash
Israeli Girl Brought Back to Life On a sweltering summer day in Israel, my wife and I witnessed a horrible accident. A 14-year-old Israeli girl was hit by a car, thrown into the air, and crashed down on her head. There is an expression, “Heroes are made, not born.” In
Torah portion Ki Tavo
How To Experience A Revelation Of God The prophet Isaiah mentions someone who will experience a Godly revelation when he prophetically and rhetorically asked, “to whom has the arm of God been revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1). To understand this verse and its spiritual lesson, we must examine the context and
Torah portion Ki Teitzei
Myth Busting the Virgin Birth This week’s Torah portion Ki Teitzei (Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19), describes a marriage when a husband suspects his wife of infidelity and claims she was not a virgin. The Hebrew word for virgin is “betulah” and refers to a woman of any age
Torah portion Re’eh
I Challenged The Preacher’s Hateful Speech The preacher on the UCLA campus made himself out to be a prophet. He predicted doom for any minority group whose religious beliefs did not match his narrow Christian faith in Jesus. I was standing with members of the Jewish Student Union when
Torah portion Eikev
Crying, She Asked If God Hears The Prayer Of Jews When Baptist minister Bailey Smith said, “God does not hear the prayer of a Jew,” the Jewish community was outraged. While speaking on a college campus, a Jewish student approached me crying. A fellow student told her this anti-Semitic trope
Torah portion Va’etchanan
How to Turn Sadness to Joy The saddest day of the Jewish year, the ninth day of the month of Av, was observed Thursday July 30, 2020. The ninth of Av commemorates the destruction of the ancient Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. This devastating event marked the beginning of the Jewish
Torah portion of Matot-Massei
Kosher Guardians Of The Universe I grew up in a Kosher home, and on Passover, my mother sent me to school with buttered matzah instead of bread. My non-Jewish friends were jealous. For me, keeping Kosher was never a burden; it was a way of life. I accepted this without
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