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Rabbi’s Reflections thoughts, writings, and photographs by your rabbi This week I was honored to perform a funeral for one of our member’s mothers. I got a lot of compliments on the eulogy I wrote from her family and friends so I thought I would share it with you all. Judith Beth Continue Reading »
This series will present what Rabbi Troster consider ten of the most important Jewish ideas that connect with modern environmentalism. This first lecture is an introduction to the concepts of the environment, what it means to be an environmentalist and the history of the Jewish environmental movement
In this Torah study, we looked at the character of Judah as revealed by his speech to Joseph at the beginning of the parsha. How has Judah changed from the jealous brother who stood coldly aside as Joseph was sold into slavery and watched his father react with horror at what appeared to be Joseph’s Continue Reading »
This is a review essay of three books in which the authors discussed a Jewish response to the Big Bang Theory and other recent theories in modern cosmology. The article also survey earlier Jewish writing on the Big Bang and is one of my more thorough attempts to understand the relationship between science and religion. Continue Reading »
On this Shabbat of Hanukkah, the material is about the book of Judith. Judith exists only in Greek although it was originally written in Hebrew in the Land of Israel in the late 2nd century BCE. It was translated into Greek by the Jewish community of Alexandria and included in their Bible the Septuagint. It Continue Reading »
This seventh lecture finishes the War Scroll 1QM, and looks at tyhe the way the DSS can illuminate our understanding of early Christianity and the rise of Rabbinic Judaism.
In this week’s parasha, Jacob is returning to his family after an absence of 20 years. He finds out that his brother Esau is coming to meet him with 400 men. He is afraid because of what he had done to Esau, tricking him and their Father Isaac out of the birthright and the paternal Continue Reading »
First discovered in 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) are one of the greatest archaeological finds ever made. Despite decades of research there are still a number of questions about the scrolls and their authors which have never been definitively answered. The most interesting and most basic question is: Who wrote the DSS? Were they Continue Reading »
First discovered in 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) are one of the greatest archaeological finds ever made. Despite decades of research there are still a number of questions about the scrolls and their authors which have never been definitively answered. The most interesting and most basic question is: Who wrote the DSS? This fifth Continue Reading »
This material talks about the character of Esau as he first appears in the Torah. Is Esau our brother or our enemy? Despite many of his negative character traits, Esau is not depicted as a completely evil person and our sympathy is aroused for him to some extent. The material also shows some later sources Continue Reading »