The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is really a parable about why we make the wrong decisions. One theory, proposed originally by Greek philosophy and then Christianity, is Original Sin. Humans are simply bad people more inclined to make the wrong choices in life rather than good ones. We are selfish and self-centered. Freud argued…
Author: Jeremy Rosen
Do we take the Torah literally?
Are we supposed to take the Creation narrative literally or not? On the face of it, it contradicts everything we know about how the world developed. The process took millions of years, not seven days. Was a “day” the sort of 24 hour days we mean now? What was day then if the Sun and Moon were not in position…
Fritz Haber
I went to a very good Jewish school in England, Carmel College (the one my father founded), which was known for the strength of its sciences. In those days they were divided into three separate faculties—chemistry, physics, and biology. The senior master and head of sciences was a brilliant chemist and pedagogue, Romney Coles. He had written several textbooks on…
Going Mad
I do not want to come across as a rabbi-basher or an opponent of Haredi Judaism. Most things are like curates eggs—there are parts that I love and parts that I do not. And I like to vary my subject from week to week. But something happened this week that I simply cannot let go without comment. It is not…
When Rebbes Fight
The Talmud (Yoma 23a) says, “Any Talmid Chacham who does not strike and attack like a snake, is no Talmid Chacham.” Perhaps this explains why religious leaders tend to fight. Is it because they care so much? Are the issues so important they are worth fighting over? Too often they are over power, succession, or money. When this infects men…
Elijah
Elijah (Eliyahu in the Hebrew) the Tishbite is one of the most important and most complex characters in biblical and Jewish lore. One might even say he is second only to Moses. We know that he was a passionate opponent of idolatry and in particular of King Ahab of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and his Phoenician wife, Jezebel. They…