Shabbat

Welcome to our Shabbat morning service and to my Bar Mitzvah! I would like to thank everyone for attending my Bar Mitzvah, especially my family who came here from all over, including Hawaii and the East coast. Becoming a Bar Mitzvah only happens once in a lifetime and I’m glad you (point at a person), and you (point at a person), and all of you (point all around) could be here to celebrate with me! My Torah portion is called Ki Tavo and comes from the book of Deuteronomy. It is from chapter 26…

This week’s Torah portion is the first torah portion in the whole torah. It’s very exciting. I probably don’t need to summarize that much because you all are likely very familiar with this portion. God take 6 days to create the universe, night and day, earth and all its inhabitants, and man and woman. These miracles of creation begin the Torah with a sense of optimism and curiosity. What will this new planet be like? What will this Adam and Eve do? What does it mean to be fruitful and multiply?…

It is neither ethical nor does it fit within Judaism’s values, to eat meat on a frequent basis, especially considering the environmental and ethical implications of the modern meat industry. Some justify human consumption of meaning by explaining that humans are separate from and superior to animals. Yet, this doesn't mean we have the right to kill and eat them; only the right to use them for work while treating them with respect (e.g. travelling on horseback or police dogs). If anything, our…

Hey Joshie, I have a few words for you and hope you read it. I am willing to put down a lot of money that you left Torah Judaism because you are mad at the institutions that are associated with it. You dont hate Shabbat or Kashrut, you dont hate Teffilin and Tzitzit, you are mad as hell at the "frum culture" that is rotten from the inside out. You hate the "chumra of the month club"; you hate the unneccesary barriers between men and women (outside of Tefilah); you hate the Shiduch system and…

The Resistance Imagine waking up and seeing your home and all of your town is in ruins, being forced out of your home, separated from families, and restricted from all of your rights. This is what the Jews of Warsaw, Poland faced in September, 1939. When Adolf Hitler and the Nazis came to power in the 1930s, they accused the Jews of their losses and struggles from the Versailles Treaty written after World War I. This led them to make a plan to exterminate all of the Jews in Europe. The…

Cohen and Wertheimer claim that the main issues contributing to the challenges of Jewish continuity are intermarriage, falling birthrates, and the differences between the Jewish denominations. According to the Pew survey, around 2,100,000 American people who are of a Jewish parent who has intermarried do not identify as Jewish. Another issue is the falling birthrates. A major component of this is the fact that any people are “coupling off” during or after prime childbearing years. For…

centralize the concept of Christian superiority, promotes oppression among the Jewish, as they were prohibited from obtaining positions of power and confined in their homes or synagogues when celebrating their religious practices. In Judaism, the Shabbat, for example, is considered a day of celebration and prayer that represents not only freedom, but also is considered a holy day to commemorate the God’s creation of the universe and Israelites’ redemption from slavery in ancient Egypt. In Las…

Organ banks are considered acceptable as long as the organs are to eventually be used for transplants. Animal or artificial parts are allowed if viable and able to save a life or restore health. These animals do not have to be considered kosher because the intention to save a life is greater than dietary laws. The topic of donating one’s body to science is debatable. Some argue that Jewish people must do it so Jewish individual avoid animosity towards Judaism. One rabbi stated that “one may make…

In this article, Saira Shah speaks extensively about being Afghan and living in Britain. She remembers helping her father cook many Afghan foods, and he would tell her stories about Afghanistan. He said that stories are not the same as experience, the stories are just facts, and explaining feelings. An experience is feeling what happens, a story can never replace an experience. Sometimes, when Saira and her father were in the kitchen, they tried to make their own meaningful experiences and plan…

The Bible refers to months by number, not by name (Judaism 101 par 14). The Sabbath is known as the Shabbat, the seventh day of the week. The Jewish calendar doesn't have names for the days of the week. The days of the week are simply known as the first day, second day, third day, etc. Sometimes they are referred to more fully as First Day of the Sabbath…