The Center For Jewish Thought
By Rabbi Dovid Markel There have been many articles written about the recent Riskin controversy, of which the Chief Rabbinate wishes to review his tenure. Articles entitled, “Firing Riskin will Cross a Redline,”...
A teaching of the Baal Shem Tov, of blessed memory[1]: “As waters reflect the face to the face, so does the heart of man reflect to man.” When a person stands beside water, his...
I heard from my master (the Baal Shem Tov) of blessed memory[1], on the matter of,[2] “And the Chayot run and return,” that everything is aflame with desire to return and adhere to its...
The relevance of the counting of the Levites to our lives.
On morality and chastity
By Avner Friedmann In this Parsha HaShem commands Moshe and Aaron to take a tribal census of all males between the ages of twenty and sixty, the eligible age for military service. But...
By Avner Friedmann On Shavuot we relive the experience of the most significant event in all of history; the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. The Holy Zohar states,[1] “Woe to those...
By Rabbi Dovid Markel The 6th of Sivan commemorates the giving of the Torah to the people of Israel. What is curious though, is that the Talmud (Yuma 28b) states, “Our ancestors were...
The Jerusalem Talmud (Berachos Ch. 9) describes the love that G-d has for the Jewish People, using the following formula: “When an individual of flesh and blood has a relative who is a philosopher,...
By Rabbi Dovid Markel This week’s parsha, Parshat Bechokotai, deals with the rewards and punishments that result upon one following or transgressing G-d’s will. The story is told (Hayom Yom, 17 Elul) of...
Rabbi Avraham Bar Hiyya’s Defense of Astrology
18 Dec, 2015
18 Dec, 2015
The Litigants’ Appointment of the Court
26 Nov, 2015
On The Disqualification of Personal Testimony
11 Nov, 2015
Rabbi Tzadok and Willpower Fatigue
7 Nov, 2015
18 Dec, 2015
From Exile To Redemption (Full Essay)
18 Feb, 2013
9 Dec, 2013
Parshas Noach – Perfect In His Generation
4 Oct, 2013
27 May, 2013
