Rabbi Mordecai Finley
Rabbi of Ohr HaTorah Synagogue, mostly online synagogue in Los Angeles
Palestinians and Israel as the ‘Jewish State’: Symptoms of neurosis
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, in an interview quoted in The New York Times, repeated his objection to recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.
Emek Ha-Hodayah: The Valley of Gratitude
Chanukah and Thanksgiving don’t line up very well for me. Chanukah celebrates an unlikely military victory, of the “few against the many.” The closest rough equivalent to Chanukah in the American tradition is probably the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown on Oct. 19, 1781. Had our government been established and centralized at that point, it might have actually issued an edict for days of praise and thanksgiving to God for salvation from the predatory British. It had been a long war.
Rabbi Mordecai Finley: Peace and protection
I have tried to figure out why Rabbi Sharon Brous’ thoughts left me empty when I read them. As Rabbi Daniel Gordis has written, there is nothing objectionable in them.
5 theories you meet in heaven
What is the singular essence of Rosh Hashanah? The core meaning of Rosh Hashanah is the sovereignty of the divine. By sovereignty of the divine, I don’t mean any particular level of Jewish practice. Jewish pietistic literature is well aware that anyone can go through the motions of outward observance. By sovereignty of the divine, I mean finding a way to find a standard for the duties and habits of the inner life.