Uncategorized

By Bob Gorelik & Dolores Jones

When a study comparing Judaism and Christianity involves history, theology, practice and/or Biblical interpretation—any disagreement we may have with the “Church” in any of these areas sometimes makes Christians feel uncomfortable.  Or, they may feel criticized—personally. They say, “Don’t you mean ‘Christians’ when you say ‘Church’?” The answer is no—we don’t!

 Debates and/or disagreements cited between Judaism and Christianity are aimed at corporate (or institutional) Christianity. When we speak of the “Church” we need to define terms.  In our teaching programs, a reference to the “Church” is a reference to corporate doctrinal positions; creeds; practices and theological constructs—NOT people.  …

“Christianity” and “Christians”Read More »

Immediately after the breaking of the fast on Yom Kippur, the sound of hammers tapping can be heard in Jewish neighborhoods. A start is made in building the temporary booth or SUKKAH, in a backyard or on a balcony, which will be the center of the week-long Festival celebration. The booths, or sukkot, symbolize the temporary shelters that housed the Israelites during their forty-year journey through the wilderness en route to the Promised Land. A sukkah must have at least three walls and be big enough to eat a meal inside it. The main message of the sukkah lies in the fact that it is a temporary dwelling. It reminds us that our lives on earth are also temporary and just as God protected, guided and provided for His people on their precarious travels through the wilderness, so our Father will care for us as we undertake our tenuous journey through this world. As His children, we can joyfully, in complete faith and trust, rest in the knowledge that our true shelter is found in His constant Presence. …

SUKKOT- THE FEAST OF BOOTHSRead More »

Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year—the day on which we are closest to God. It is the Day of Atonement—"For on this day He will forgive you, to purify you, that you be cleansed from all your sins before God" (Leviticus 16:30).

In Biblical times, when the Temple was standing, Yom Kippur was the one day of the year when the Cohen Gadol, the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies and performed the atonement ritual on behalf of the entire community before the Ark of The Covenant. The High Priest wore white robes on Yom Kippur—today as both an act of remembrance of the Temple services, and to symbolize the purity that represents God’s cleansing, we wear white also. We also refrain from wearing leather and excessive outer adornments such as jewelry and other fine things to symbolize that neither wealth nor poverty divide us, but we are all equal before the eyes of God. …

YOM KIPPUR—THE HOLIEST DAY OF THE JEWISH YEARRead More »

By David Meir-Levi, originally published in FrontPage Magazine.

In his op-ed to the New York Times on May 16, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told the world in no uncertain terms that Palestinian statehood and UN recognition would not end the conflict:

Palestine’s admission to the United Nations would pave the way for the internationalization of the conflict as a legal matter, not only a political one. It would also pave the way for us to pursue claims against Israel at the United Nations, human rights treaty bodies and the International Court of Justice.

But no one seemed to notice that this admission contradicts the core argument for Palestinian statehood: the Palestinians are fighting for their state, so they have told the world, for their political self-determination, for their national self-realization; so the creation of a Palestinian state is the way to end the conflict. …

Palestinian Statehood – to what end?Read More »

The following is a "Daily Dose" email from chabad.org...

Fill Your House

A container is defined by its contents: A pitcher of water is water. A crate of apples is apples. A house, too, is defined by what it contains.

Fill your house with books of Torah, and your house becomes a Torah. Affix charity boxes to its walls and your house becomes a wellspring of charity. Bring those who need a warm home to your table, and your house becomes a lamp in the darkness.

(Based on letters and talks of the Rebbe, Rabbi M. M. Schneerson)