April 25-May 1  

Believe it or not, faith is in the air (and the news). In Israel, from Olmert to Herzl, the people have lost faith in their leaders. In Politics, from Obama to Ahmadinejad, faith is suddenly omnipresent. In Environment, from Global Warming to coral reefs, faith is all that seems to be left. In Science, from apes to new planets, faith is dissected. In Economics, from Wolfowitz to Wal-Mart, in G-d they trust. And in The Middle East, well, faith has always been their ...

Question:  

I read the following story and it really shook me. I would love to hear your comments:

A rabbi once met a Buddhist monk. The monk invited the rabbi into his temple, but the rabbi refused, saying, "I am not allowed to enter a house of idol worship". The monk asked why. The rabbi answered, "Because worshipping an object is an affront to G-d".  

The monk took a small Buddha statue out of his pocket, looked at the rabbi with a calm smile and threw the statue onto the ground, smashing it to ...

An astonishing and sobering contrast concerning the nature of the human psyche captures our imagination in this week’s Torah portion (Emor).

The Torah prohibits a Kohen, a priest (which includes all descendents of Aaron), from marrying a divorced woman. It also prohibits a Kohen Gadol, a High Priest, from marrying a divorcee and a widow (1).

Now, one can perhaps make sense out of the former prohibition: Since a priest served as the spiritual agent of the Jewish people in Divine service, he was required to live a life of complete innocence and purity. Therefore, the Torah did not want him marrying a person involved in strife, innocent or not.

But why could the High ...