Articles

Sephardic Book Talks with Rabbi Marc Angel

Mondays beginning Oct. 19th

7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT

Yes, humans have done wonders, but it is Almighty God that has guided them, given them the abilities and aided them in seeing the presence of the Creator. Open up the books of science if you really want to see Ma’aseh Bereshith.

Rabbi Haim Jachter presents the opinions of important Sephardic and Yemenite sages on a variety of topics. The article reflects the need and the value of a comprehensive view of Judaism/halakha, that includes the voices and opinions of a wide range of scholars.

Despite the COVID-19 era, we are grateful to continue to provide meaningful content via Zoom, publications, and other venues.

Rabbi Hayyim Angel is coming out with a new book, Cornerstones: The Bible and Jewish Ideology. The book is reviewed by Steven Gotlib, a rabbinical student at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary who has served as a Campus Fellow for our Institute. Rabbi Angel's book can be pre-ordered on this link: https://www.jewishideas.org/corner-stones-bible-and-jewish-ideology-rabbi-hayyim-angel

 Yemima was not your run-of-the-mill teacher. She viewed herself as a channel for heavenly teachings that descended through her. She taught while covered in white scarves, sitting at first behind a curtain and then actually a full story above her students. This was so that the students’ attention would be focused on her message and not on her.

Modern Orthodox Jews do not recognize Da’as Torah outside the bounds of Halakha. They look to specialists for guidance on purely secular issues. Da’as Torah has been on the wrong side of Jewish history in multiple occasions, failing the Jewish people at critical times, including during the covid 19 pandemic.

Halakha has ample mechanisms for adapting in times of crisis. Competent posekim can utilize these mechanisms to develop creative strategies to reduce communal and individual burdens and allow better access to the consolations and joys of ritual.

When we talk about “God,” we intuitively think of a powerful, nonphysical entity that created and runs the universe. Classical theologians have posited the Greatest Possible Being (GPB) thesis as the primary mode of understanding God. This article argues that a GPB identifiable as the God of religious tradition will contain responsiveness as one of its attributes rather than complete immutability as the Greeks and other classical theologians have posited.

Rabbi Marc Angel replies to questions from the Jewish Press on various topics: young married couples applying for welfare; proposing marriage; cell phones for children; beards for men; the power of forgiveness.