judaism

Judaism is a way of life that challenges it's adherents to use their freewill to carry out Abraham's mission of bettering the world. Judaism insists that a person live very much in this world, and the Torah texts and the mass of rabbinic literature reflects this. So much of what they talk about is how to simply be a mentsch, take responsibility for yourself, and be kind and compassionate to others.

God gave Abraham trials that asked him to shake himself free of the world around him and take radical action that would set him apart as the ivri - the revolutionary - and at the same time make real, lasting change to the corrupt world around him. Picking up and leaving his childhood home and family estate, rejecting the pagan approaches to understanding and using nature, Abraham was building himself up to become a true leader of people, and the founder of Judaism.

Millions of words have been written about the application of the ancient wisdom of the Torah and the Talmud to modern challenges. The dynamism of Jewish scholarship and the proverbial stubbornness of the Jewish people have made Judaism remain as relevant today as it ever was.

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Original Technorati articles tagged “judaism”

• in Lifestyle
  The Pope Tweets, Joins Twitter's Religious Crowd
  Pope Benedict XVI tweeted recently, joining an already brimming religious conversation on Twitter. Here are a few other great viewpoints to follow!
  by dopodomani / on Jun 30, 2011
• in Technorati Women
  Proposed Circumcision Ban Runs Afoul of First Amendment
  Activists seeking to ban circumcision fail to understand the First Amendment consequences.
  by ekpaster / on Jun 12, 2011
• in Politics
  The Food Truck That Drove Right Over Kosher Politics
  Why the monopoly on Kosher certification must end.
  by rabbijason / on Jun 1, 2011

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “judaism”

 

• Introducing Jewish spirituality

  
  PATRICK COMERFORD — Authority: 111
  Rabbi Zalman Lent speaking to delegates from the Church of Ireland Interfaith Conference in Terenure Synagogue in September 2010 (Photograph: Orla Ryan) Patrick Comerford Opening hymn: The God of Abraham Praise ( Irish Church Hymnal , 323) Introduction During your time here, you spend much of your time ...
  21 hours ago

• “I’m Jewish, I Can Live Where I Want!”

  
  The Impudent Observer - Global Liberal Issues — Authority: 428
  Itai Harel, a nice Jewish settler inhabiting a hill located in the West Bank, which originally was seized by Israel troops during a war, believes he has a right to live where he desires because he is Jewish and God gave the Israelis the land of what is known as the West Bank. “Look at all this wonderful empty land ...
  2 days ago

• The Golden Rule: The Essence of Interconnectedness

  
  Create and Share - Creating a kinder world — Authority: 111
  A strange thing happened at the US Republican South Carolina debate on January 16th, 2012… the Golden Rule was vehemently booed  (click the link to watch the video). In a display of being as opposed as one can be to the central teaching in essentially every major ancient and modern belief system , a sizable ...
  4 days ago

• Rav Yitzchak Kadouri, zatza"l

  
  Lazer Beams — Authority: 111
  Rav Yitzchak Kadouri of blessed and saintly memory, the Kabbalist leader of our generation, departed the physical world 6 years ago at the age of 110. Since today is his yahrtzeit, and its a mitzva to see the face of a true tzaddik, so here is a rare clip with Iraqi Jewish music in the background, for the Rav was born ...
  6 days ago

• Clueless

  
  The Edible Torah — Authority: 99
  I arrived at the kollel , the house of study (literally – this was a house that had been emptied of everything, including interior walls, and re-purposed as a space for married men to come and study Talmud, Torah and other texts throughout the day) at 7:45pm, the usual time. I found one of the few English-Hebrew ...
  1 week ago

• Fighting Yesterday’s Battle – A View from the Beit Shemesh Front Lines

  
  Cross-Currents — Authority: 518
  by Dov Krulwich On September 6 I became an activist. Parents at the Orot school in Beit Shemesh were complaining about Chareidi zealots demonstrating against the school, and commenting that their kids were afraid. My response was one of disbelief. I knew people living in the buildings near Orot, and I davened and ...
  1 week ago

• Of Fault Lines and Forgery

  
  Cross-Currents — Authority: 518
  Many people, myself included, believe that the fallout from Beit Shemesh and Kikar Shabbos will have a longer half-life than others suppose. One item to keep an eye on is the fault line that has surfaced, much as those that sometimes appear on the earth’s surface after an earthquake. This fault line separates ...
  1 week ago

• Trust vs Verification

  
  The Blog of Garnel Ironheart — Authority: 449
  It is a given that pushing too hard in one direction inevitably leads to a pushback in the opposite one.  For every frum fanatic screaming "Shabbos!" there is an annoyed chiloni who decided to go shopping or to the beach on Saturday just to "show them".  A backlash against extremism, both left and right, is ...
  1 week ago

• Iranian Nukes Aid Israel!

  
  The Impudent Observer - Global Liberal Issues — Authority: 428
  Israel military planning division chief, General Amir Eshel argues that if Iran gets atomic weapons it would constrain Israel from striking at Palestinian forces in Lebanon, Gaza and would impair assaults on Hezbollah or Hamas. “If we are forced to do things in Gaza or Lebanon, under the Iranian nuclear umbrella it ...
  1 week ago

• Breaking news; NYT and Haaretz scare Israel because they (now and then) talk about occupation

  
  Antony Loewenstein — Authority: 467
  Amazing and revealing  (via JTA):  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s two greatest enemies are The New York Times and Haaretz, the editor of The Jerusalem Post said in a speech. Steve Linde, addressing a conference in Tel Aviv of the Women’s International Zionist Organization, said ...
  1 week ago

• Join Shalom Salaam!

  
  Shalom, Salaam — Authority: 103
  Join Shalom Salaam! : readyokaygo : Pro-Peace, Pro-Israel, Pro-Palestine, Pro-Democracy, Pro-Justice, Pro-Human Rights. The group almost has 50 members from Tumblr that are Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, Israeli, Christian, atheist, etc. We get together and engage in dialogue on inter-faith issues, the ...
  1 week ago

• Join Shalom Salaam!

  
  Ready? Okay. Go! Tumblr — Authority: 427
  Join Shalom Salaam! : Pro-Peace, Pro-Israel, Pro-Palestine, Pro-Democracy, Pro-Justice, Pro-Human Rights. The group almost has 50 members from Tumblr that are Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, Israeli, Christian, atheist, etc. We get together and engage in dialogue on inter-faith issues, the Arab-Israeli ...
  1 week ago

• Web Yeshiva

  
  Exploring Our Matrix — Authority: 122
  Today I learned about the site Web Yeshiva, which has links to a wide range of important classic Jewish texts -the Tanach, Mishnah, Talmudim, Midrashim, other commentaries, and more. I’ve added... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
  1 week ago

• The Torah Declaration: Orthodox Judaism’s impossible position

  
  Box Turtle Bulletin — Authority: 572
  One of the more fascinating things to watch is the peculiar struggle that Orthodox Jews are going though in their effort to determine where gay Jews fit in the world, the family, and the tribe. While conservative Christians may be content with “well the Bible says”, the Jewish tradition requires that an ...
  1 week ago

• Kavkazi Jewish Center Arrives On Avenue Z

  
  Sheepshead Bites — Authority: 125
  Tovushi, a Kavkazi Jewish Youth Center, has moved into 2309 Avenue Z, former site of the remarkably short-lived Butcher Boy Meats. Butcher Boy closed in October after just a few months in business. Kavkazi Jews form one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world, having settled in the Caucasus Mountain region after ...
  1 week ago

• Rabbi joins the crazies, gets sacked

  
  The Freethinker — Authority: 459
  UNTIL recently, Christian evangelicals have been in the vanguard of the “let’s-cure-The-Gays” movement, but it now appears that Jews of all stripes have been scrambling onto the bandwagon. Earlier this week, I was alerted to some bilge called the Declaration On The Torah Approach To Homosexuality , which ...
  1 week ago

• Israel and the Palestinians: Reading Recommendations Sought

  
  Exploring Our Matrix — Authority: 122
  I’m hoping to read three books with students who will be participating in the trip to Israel/Palestine in May 2012. The first I’ve already decided on, and it is A Hitchhiker’s Guide... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
  1 week ago

• Worldwide Association for the Study of Religion: a work in progress

  
  Islam, Muslims, and an Anthropologist — Authority: 89
  The Worldwide Association for the Study of Religion is an association for scholars studying religion or with an interest in religion that aims to develop a platform accessible to any scholar or student wherever he or she might live.  The goal of the association is to study religion in all of its forms and not to ...
  1 week ago

• Iran remains connected to much of the world (although MSM only sees Israeli and American views)

  
  Antony Loewenstein — Authority: 467
  Every day now sees yet another threat of isolation  of Iran by Washington and Israel. The corporate press dutifully report every official statement but as usual miss the bigger story. Here’s Pepe Escobar in TomDispatch : Let’s start with red lines. Here it is, Washington’s ultimate red line,  straight ...
  1 week ago

• Exposing hypocrisy of Zionist lobby and its role as shills for Israeli state

  
  Antony Loewenstein — Authority: 467
  Following the ongoing pressure by the Australian Zionist establishment to censor The Promise , a wonderful letter appeared in yesterday’s Age which was spot-on: A leading Jewish body, in an effort to suppress DVD sales of the SBS series The Promise, has likened the program to Nazi propaganda. This ...
  1 week ago

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