Why does every religion seem to have a problem with sex criminal clergy sheltering under its protection? In our Jewish world too. The Charedi world has been shaken by another sex abuse scandal. This latest case of a man called Chaim Walder has, like no other, rocked the community. He was a very popular writer of children’s books about religious…
Desmond Tutu and the Jews
Archbishop Desmond Tutu who has just died, was a Nobel Prize winner, a hero of the anti-apartheid movement. Yet despite all his many qualities, he had a real problem with Jews and the Jewish State. He had many Jewish friends and admirers. But his blatantly anti-Semitic rhetoric on public record, consistently, simply proved that you can be a likable, even…
Why Religion
Whenever I hear people talk, or I see articles about religion in general and Judaism in particular, I feel disconnected. The word conjures up a lot of negativity because of the abuses of religion. But it is also because when one talks about matters of faith, belief, or religion it is usually about a system of thought, a doxy, orthodox or not.…
Tainted Money
An Oxford University Professor, Lawrence Goldman, together with Sir Lloyd Dorfman and other influential alumni, have suggested the British government should intervene because they believe that Oxford University has lost its moral compass in accepting money from tainted sources. In this case, the twelve million pounds comes from the inheritance left by Max Mosley’s father, Oswald Mosley, the leader of the…
The Case for King David
All major Biblical personalities are described as being imperfect beings. It was not until the challenges of other religions deifying their founders, that Judaism followed suit. In the Talmud, some claimed that men like King David were saints in a rabbinic mold. “Whoever said that King David sinned, is mistaken” (TB Shabbat 56a). David certainly was a complex character. Weren’t…
Forced Conversions
As we come to the end of Chanukah, apart from the heroics, there is another side to the Hasmoneans I am not particularly proud of. To be specific, it is their propensity for forced circumcision and conversion. In those days, two and a half thousand years ago, victorious armies, in addition to massacring defeated people, sometimes branded the losing army and…