It has been a while since I last wrote about one of the subjects that really concerns and troubles me, the Agunah. An Agunah (literally, the tied/encircled woman, see Ruth 1.13) is a woman whose husband refuses to give her a divorce, or is unable to (perhaps he has been killed or kidnapped but more usually he’s just being a…
General Topics
Corruption
The term “jeremiad” describes a doom laden diatribe against a corrupt society, associated with the Biblical prophet Jeremiah. This is going to be an example of a jeremiad. Now Jeremiah certainly knew that at the time he lived, two thousand six hundred years ago, there were far more corrupt nations around than his own little kingdom of Judea. He was…
Be Happy
During the festival of Sukkot (“Tabernacles” for some), we are catapulted into a totally different mood and atmosphere just five days after Yom Kippur. But I am going to admit that it does strange things to me. It makes me totally aware of contradictions, mine and others. According to the Talmud we must leave our permanent homes and move into…
Law or Therapy?
There is a myth that on the Day of Atonement most Jews turn up at synagogue. I have serious doubts about this “statistic”. Even it is true, attendance is around the synagogue rather than in it and is a social identification rather than a spiritual one. In order to explain why I think this is let me digress. I have…
The Pope and Islam
Well now it’s the Pope’s turn to get it! It’s over his remarks about Islam’s history of spreading religion by the sword. It is true he was quoting a medieval source and, frankly, the record of Christianity in Medieval times was immeasurably worse than Islam. Just recall what happened to the population of Jerusalem when the Crusaders conquered it in…
Sliding to the Right
As an interested party, I am delighted at the rejuvenation of Torah in Judaism and the increase in commitment of a very significant section of it. Yet I am very worried about the drift to the right primarily because of its anti-intellectualism, conformism, and fundamentalism. But I have always maintained that this is a phase and it will pass. Very…