Min haMuvhar

1. Women: Tradition, and Thoughts for the Future

2. Intermarriage and Conversion

3. Universalism vs. Particularism: Sephardism and/or Sephardic Ethnicity

4. Rationalism/Mysticism/Superstition

The laws of the Red Heifer are in the category of "hok," laws which transcend human comprehension. Yet, we can learn a lot from this kind of law.

Rabbi Alan Yuter describes the halakhic approach of his late teacher, Hakham Yosef Faur. Hakham Faur was a controversial figure who was both highly traditional and highly independent as a religious thinker.

Purim is a reminder that there is a fine line between reality and illusion. Blurring that line once a year underscores how easily one might lose sight of truth and authenticity. But after the day of masquerading, we are supposed to have come to a better understanding of who we are under the mask…and who we are when we don’t wear masks.

We may find it jarring to come into contact with Jews who observe minhagim different from ours. We may think that their practices are quaint, or odd, or plain wrong....The hope is that through greater awareness and empathy, we will function as a stronger, happier, and more diverse Jewish community. We need a genuine recognition that in our various searches for Divinity, different Jewish communities have followed diverse—perfectly halakhic and proper—roads.

Rabbi Marc D. Angel describes the lives and teachings of significant American Sephardim of the Western Sephardic tradition. These men and women were influential during the course of their lifetimes...and deserve to be remembered and appreciated.

When one spouse has grown up with Sephardic traditions and the other with Ashkenazic traditions, whose customs prevail in the marriage and in their family? Must they choose one custom, or may they fashion their own combination of customs for themselves and their children?

The Jewish Press Newspaper has a feature in which several rabbis are asked to respond to relevant questions. Rabbi Marc D. Angel is one of the respondents, and here are his answers to some of the recent questions,

President Joe Biden signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which had been passed overwhelmingly by both houses of Congress. It is a forceful response to the disgraceful attacks on Asian-Americans by bigots who blamed them for the Covid-19 pandemic. Nothing of the sort appears to be contemplated in response to the attacks by Palestinian sympathizers on Jewish-American persons, synagogues, and restaurants during and after the latest Israel-Hamas conflict.

Steve Lipman reviews a new book by Rabbi Natan Slifkin on trends in Orthodox Jewish thought...rationalism vs. mysticism.