Friday, April 30, 2021

Beyond words

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Stirred by a yearning after the unattainable, they [mystics] want to make the distant near, the abstract concrete, to transform the soul int...
Thursday, April 29, 2021

Which came first? The institutions or the rituals?

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Throughout history religion is the constant element in diverse and changing institutions. Therefore we cannot discount it in favor of the ps...
Wednesday, April 28, 2021

We see but dimly…

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The universe, exposed to the violence of our analytical mind, is being broken apart. It is split into the known and unknown, into the seen a...
Tuesday, April 27, 2021

What's the big idea?

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The process of forming an idea is one of generalization and abstraction. Such a process implies a distinction between a situation and an ide...
Thursday, April 22, 2021

A notion? Or a name?

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I do not approve of the term the notion of God.” The God of Israel is a name, not a notion. There is a difference between a “name” and a “no...
Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Too truthful

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If I had to write a Bible, I would say that once they left Sinai, they become great Tzadikim and great Hasidim and the only thing that they ...
Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Concerning teaching

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According to Jewish tradition, God Himself teaches. This implies that the teacher has a very great responsibility. He must mobilize all h...
Monday, April 19, 2021

empty forms

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Our concern ought, therefore, to be less about technique and more about content. Judaism is not merely a matter of external forms—it is also...
Friday, April 16, 2021

A safe distance

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It is true of course that most synagogues [and churches] offer adults the chance to study the Bible. But most of these classes are ineffectu...
Thursday, April 15, 2021

Facade...

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To make the mistake we are making is to forget how much anguish there is in every human being. Scratch the skin of any person and you come u...
Wednesday, April 14, 2021

It's called metaphysical for a reason...

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Religion is not within but beyond the limits of mere reason. Its task is not to compete with reason, to be a source of speculative ideas, bu...
Tuesday, April 13, 2021

The lure of technology

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Let us never forget that some of the basic theological presuppositions of Judaism [and Christianity] cannot be justified in terms of human re...
Monday, April 12, 2021

Stronger than I

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Indeed, there is something which is far greater than my desire to pray. Namely, God’s desire that I pray. There is something which is far g...
Friday, April 09, 2021

The real problem

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The problem to my [philosophy] professors was how to be good. In my ears the question rang: How to be holy. At the time I realized that ther...
Thursday, April 08, 2021

Defining humanity

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Prayer is not a need but an ontological necessity , an act that expresses the very essence of man. Prayer is for human beings, by virtue of ...
Wednesday, April 07, 2021

And yet more on prayer…

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Decisive is not the mystic experience of our being close to Him; decisive is not our feeling but our certainty of His being close to us—al...
Tuesday, April 06, 2021

More thoughts on prayer

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If God is a what , a power, the sum total of values, how could we pray to it? An “I” does not pray to an “it.” Unless, therefore, God is at...
Monday, April 05, 2021

Prayer? Essential for theology!

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To live without prayer is to live without God, to live without a soul. No one is able to think of Him unless he has learned how to pray to ...
Friday, April 02, 2021

Why pray?

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If God does not have power to speak to us, how should we possess the power to speak to Him? Thus, prayer is a part of a greater issue. It de...
Thursday, April 01, 2021

Who is your model?

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Who is our model: Elijah, who disassociated himself from the congregations of his people, or the prophets of the Baal, who led and identified...