The American constitution says that we have the right to happiness. What is happiness? Can the pursuit of happiness be a right, an experience, a state of mind, or an aspiration? The Hebrew word most often translated as Happiness is ASHRey ( in modern Hebrew MeuShar ). A word with a root SHaR which can also mean a poem or song. It is used only once in the…
Author: Jeremy Rosen
Divorce
Both in the Torah and in the Talmud, marital difficulties are the current topics. The Torah lays down the obligation to marry and specifies what a male is required to provide for his wife ( otherwise he will be in trouble). But it gives men the right to divorce not women. Of course, circumstances were different without any question, and…
The Coronation
Whatever one may or may not think of monarchy, the coronation of King Charles was a magnificent pageant. It illustrates why it is that the Talmud was so keen on going out of one’s way to witness a king ( or queen) in all their glory and making a blessing on seeing such a manifestation of earthly power (Brachot 9b, 19b,…
Evolving Judaism
Many people think that Judaism is so conservative that it simply doesn’t change, and we are still rooted in a tradition that is 3000 years old. The reality is that Judaism is constantly changing. Not always in the same direction and not always as quickly or as dramatically as we might like. And a great example is the period of…
Hypocrites
We Jews have always been outliers. Now it seems everyone else wants to catch up with us and claim victimhood, discrimination, abuse, and alienation and the only way to cope is to be mean to everyone else. We are admired and despised, and we are our own worst enemies. We are commanded to love each other, to be responsible for…
Israel at 75
I have recently read two great books. “Israel’s Declaration of Independence: The History and Political Theory of the Nation’s Founding Moment” by Neil Rogachevsky and Dov Ziegler (Cambridge University Press). Just published. And the 2019 “A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion” by Tom Segev (Picador). Both are essential for anyone interested in the mechanisms of establishing…