g-d

Why I Am Converting To Judaism - Part 3

Why I Am Converting To Judaism - Part 3

This is the last part of the 3 part series by Angela Dekort about why she converted to Judaism. You can read Part 1 and Part 2 as well. Perhaps, I thought, it really wasn't important that Jesus hadn't fulfilled the main prophecies of the Messiah if he had at least fulfilled some of the others.  I started to go through the prophecies outlined in Matthew, who, as a Jewish writer keenly interested in establishing Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, relied heavily on these prophecies.  But I didn’t get fa
g-d jesus
Zalman Kravitz

Zalman Kravitz
How do we know G-d hears our prayers on Yom Kippur?

How do we know G-d hears our prayers on Yom Kippur?

We often ask: “How  do we know that G-d  hears our  prayers and forgives us on Yom Kippur,  especially since we no longer have the Holy Temple and the sacrificial system for atonement?” The Tanach (Torah,  Prophets and Holy Writings) is filled with dozens of verses that prescribe ways to ask, and receive, forgiveness for our sins;  whether it is Yom Kippur or another day.   In fact, King Solomon never mentions sacrifices when dedicating the Holy Temple to G-d, and,  instead, so eloquently state
g-d hashem
Zalman Kravitz

Zalman Kravitz
Awakening Our Passion for G-d – How Does Our Own Passion Play?

Awakening Our Passion for G-d – How Does Our Own Passion Play?

By Varda Bronfman (www.carobspring.com) We are reading about the new movie “The Passion” from Mel Gibson ad nauseum. The movie raises problems for us because Jews are portrayed as the villains in this emotion-charged drama about the last hours of Jesus. We are worried about the anti-semitic backlash that could be aroused by the masterful cinematography which is as real-to-life as you can get. Even the dialogue is spoken in Aramaic or Latin with English sub-titles to deepen the illusion that thi
baal shem tov g-d
Zalman Kravitz

Zalman Kravitz
Question of the Week: What does G-d look like?

Question of the Week: What does G-d look like?

Question of the Week: My kids keep asking me theological questions I can't answer. Yesterday my five year old insisted he wanted to know "What does G-d look like?" I had no idea what to say.... Answer: Sometimes the best thing you can tell your child is "I don't know." You teach your much child more by being open about your inability to answer a question, than if you would give a half-baked answer just to get off the hook. If you don't know something, but fudge an answer, you teach a child t
child g-d
Zalman Kravitz

Zalman Kravitz
The Spirituality of Giving: Kicking Giving Up a Notch

The Spirituality of Giving: Kicking Giving Up a Notch

Over the past ten years, our community’s focus on continuity has led to a growing interest in Jewish spirituality. This has not been limited to a desire for more intensity and passion in synagogue services, but a quest for the transcendent in all areas of life. Could there be more to giving and community involvement than the emergence of our “inner mentsch”? In a famous biblical story, the Almighty’s presence came to comfort and visit with Abraham after his circumcision. Spying some desert trav
almighty consciousness
Zalman Kravitz

Zalman Kravitz
What Are You Smoking?

What Are You Smoking?

Question of the Week: I read an article by a professor in Israel who suggests that the revelation at Mt Sinai was actually a drug-induced hallucination. I thought it was a ridiculous proposition, but it did get me thinking. How do we know that it was indeed G-d who spoke to Moses and not some mind-altering mushroom? Answer: I read that article too. I am not sure what that professor was smoking when he wrote it. There are ways to test whether a revelation is truly divine or just the product o
g-d israel
Zalman Kravitz

Zalman Kravitz
Every Shavuot is a New Level of Revelation

Every Shavuot is a New Level of Revelation

This past Sunday, exactly 3,330 years ago, G-d addressed our ancestors whom He had brought out of Egypt and told them, in the 'voice of G-d,' the first two of the Ten Commandments. This event, which they all experienced, changed us from a family of tribes into the Jewish nation. Matan Torah, the giving of the Torah, was a magnitude of revelation of G-d that never happened before or since. Here we learned that G-d cares and is involved in what we do. G-d has a plan to make this physical world a
g-d mt sinai
Zalman Kravitz

Zalman Kravitz
DO YOU HAVE TO BE JEWISH TO BE OK WITH G-D?

DO YOU HAVE TO BE JEWISH TO BE OK WITH G-D?

• The righteous of all nations will have a share in the world of eternal bliss. (Tosefta Sanhedrin, XIII:2) • If a pagan prays and evokes G-d's name, Amen must be said (Jerusalem, Berachot 8). • Antonius once asked Rabbi Judah the prince, "Will I have a share in the world to come?" To which the later answered "Yes." But is it not written (Obadiah 1:8): "Nothing will remain in the house of Esau?" "true," Rabbi Judah answered, "but only if they do the deeds of Esau." (Avodah Zarah, 10b) • The M
g-d holy
Zalman Kravitz

Zalman Kravitz