http://moreaboutmen.com/genre/ethnic/g45/

http://moreaboutmen.com/genre/ethnic/g45/

http://moreaboutmen.com/genre/ethnic/g45/

http://moreaboutmen.com/genre/folk-neo-folk/g92/

http://moreaboutmen.com/genre/folk-neo-folk/g92/

http://moreaboutmen.com/genre/christmas/g57/

http://moreaboutmen.com/genre/christmas/g57/

http://moreaboutmen.com/genre/christmas/g57/

why can't we view the comments made on the rabbi's article??? is this anti-semitism by the WAPO???????????????

Look, “And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.” Do you not understand.

Look at these Words.
“And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.”

Look, “he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh” Who is this “he also shall become a people”, this is Aaron. Look, who is this “he also shall be great” Moses.

And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.

Look, “This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands”

Look “God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh”

Look, “And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

Look who came first “And Aaron was an hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in mount Hor.”

Look, “because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.”

Look, “And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house.”

And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him.
And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

Look : “Lord said, My spirit” “yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” Look, “And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.”

What did the LORD say to Noah, “because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.” Now Look at “Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake”

Let’s look at “and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.” Now Look at “but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.” Who do you think is Ephraim and Manasseh, this time.

Look, “And the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people did eat them with the blood. Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the Lord, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed: roll a great stone unto me this day. And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say unto them, Bring me hither every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat; and sin not against the Lord in eating with the blood. And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew them there. And Saul built an altar unto the Lord: the same was the first altar that he built unto the Lord.”

Look, “Behold, the people sin against the Lord, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed: roll a great stone unto me this day.” “And Saul built an altar unto the Lord: the same was the first altar that he built unto the Lord.” What did the LORD say to Noah, “because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.” Now Look at “Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake”

“And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded. And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.”

Look “And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.”
Look, “This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands” Look, “And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

Who is who?
“but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he”
“and his seed shall become a multitude of nations”

" And David went out to meet them, and answered and said unto them, If ye be come peaceably unto me to help me, mine heart shall be knit unto you: but if ye be come to betray me to mine enemies, seeing there is no wrong in mine hands, the God of our fathers look thereon, and rebuke it. Then the spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said, Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers; for thy God helpeth thee. Then David received them, and made them captains of the band."

Is the begining like the end.

Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
‘Do you see “Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall” “and of the womb:”

“whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel”

again "that both thou and thy seed may live"
“and his servant Moses”

“whatsoever openeth the womb”
“both of man”

“on the other side of the flood” “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” “all the wicked men”

“whatsoever openeth the womb”
“and of beast”

“and in Egypt” “in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,” “and men of Belial”

Rabbi Steinsaltz,

I wish you a pious Rosh Hashanah and a joyous Yom Kippur. I am myself fasting for the month of Ramadan and on or about 12 October I shall be celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr.

I deplore the aggressive incursion of Israel into Syrian and Turkish territory recently (about one week ago). I deplore the insanely vituperative threats of Bernard Kouchner against Iran, and the warning to the world that they should prepare for war against Iran.

You are right, Sir, that it is always time to repent, and there are many reasons, many modalities in which we can repent and re-turn to God. Unfortunately, Bernard Kouchner chose the less-honorable way. He had to submit to a vigorous dressing-down by Putin to tone down his hateful warmongering against Iran. But even then, it might be a sincere repentance and I pray that he re-tursn to God.

Now, America has a huge problem. It has a financial problem – an impending crash, huge balance of payments and fiscal deficits, unmanageable household debt, an intractable proclivity to overspend, and aggressiveness – incredible aggressiveness that it cannot recognize and that it even construes as beneficence to others! Over the weekend Alan Greespan gave us an insight into as you put it 'how low [America] has fallen'.

You write : " Wherever we are, no matter how far we have fallen, the opportunity to repent and change is always there for every one of us. We do not need a fixed time ... ".

Do you think, respected Rabbi, that America will repent and change its ways? Do you think that Israel will be more conciliatory towards its neighbours, including Syria and Turkey? Will they do that in time to avoid what Robert McNamara called 'apocalypse soon' in an article in Foreign Policy journal of Carnegie Mellon University?

Thank you again, Sir, and once more, I wish you a pious Rosh Hashanah and a serene Yom Kippur.

Why is it that no matter what the occasion or topic, no matter how inappropriate it might be, christians always want to proselytize?

Too bad, saying "The only real "teshuvah" is through Jesus Christ" isn't correct.

The translated words of Jesus may say, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." ( John 14:6-7) but the wording does leave it open to interpretation as to whether he was speaking of his methods, himself, or of God directly.

I came across this passage which speaks more eloquently about it: "Craig Koester gives us an important clue about how this verse ought to be read. “The image of the way can best be understood by noting that Jesus spoke about going the way himself before he spoke about being the way for others. Focusing initially on what it means for Jesus to go the way shows what it means for Jesus to be the way” (1993, 295). When read in this light, we come to see that the whole of Jesus' ministry has been nothing but a sustained journey to the cross. Jesus is one who walks the way to the cross. Still more, he just IS the way of the cross. His life is the very embodiment of self-giving love. He is the one who lays down his life for his friends, the good shepherd who gives his life for his sheep. In John 14:6, Jesus is teaching his disciples that the only way to the Father is the way of self-giving love. The only way to the God who is Love is through Love itself." http://www.vanderbilt.edu/staugustines/sermonpdfs/2006/No%20One%20Comes%20to%20the%20Father%20But%20By%20Me.pdf. 20070918.

So if you live your life the way Jesus lived his, you'll get to the same place as he did, even if you never beleived in him, himself.

Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddists, and any other relgious people who go around patting themselves on their own backs about how good they are, and how bad everyone else is, are all going to be very unpleasantly surprised when they find themselves at the end of the line in the afterlife.

The minute you think you know it all is the moment when you know the least.

Too bad, saying "The only real "teshuvah" is through Jesus Christ" isn't correct.

The translated words of Jesus may say, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." ( John 14:6-7) but the wording does leave it open to interpretation as to whether he was speaking of his methods, himself, or of God directly.

I came across this passage which speaks more eloquently about it: "Craig Koester gives us an important clue about how this verse ought to be read. “The image of the way can best be understood by noting that Jesus spoke about going the way himself before he spoke about being the way for others. Focusing initially on what it means for Jesus to go the way shows what it means for Jesus to be the way” (1993, 295). When read in this light, we come to see that the whole of Jesus' ministry has been nothing but a sustained journey to the cross. Jesus is one who walks the way to the cross. Still more, he just IS the way of the cross. His life is the very embodiment of self-giving love. He is the one who lays down his life for his friends, the good shepherd who gives his life for his sheep. In John 14:6, Jesus is teaching his disciples that the only way to the Father is the way of self-giving love. The only way to the God who is Love is through Love itself." http://www.vanderbilt.edu/staugustines/sermonpdfs/2006/No%20One%20Comes%20to%20the%20Father%20But%20By%20Me.pdf. 20070918.

So if you live your life the way Jesus lived his, you'll get to the same place as he did, even if you never beleived in him, himself.

Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddists, and any other relgious people who go around patting themselves on their own backs about how good they are, and how bad everyone else is, are all going to be very unpleasantly surprised when they find themselves at the end of the line in the afterlife.

The minute you think you know it all is the moment when you know the least.

Faith and Salvation

“Faith” was the foundation piece of Pauline theology. Although it was not part of Judaic teaching at the time, it in fact comes from the Book of Habakkuk a text of Old Testament apocrypha dating from before 500 BCE which reads “the upright man will live by his faithfulness”. Paul uses these exact words to support his theories. But the Habakkuk Commentary found among the Scrolls comments on this statement as follows,

“But the righteous shall live by his faith. Interpreted , this concerns all those who observe the Law in the House of Judah, Whom G-d will deliver from the House of Judgment because of their suffering and because of their faith in the Teacher of Righteousness.”

This extra-ordinary passage is tantamount, in effect, to a formulation of early Christian doctrine. It states explicitly that suffering and faith in the Teacher of Righteousness constitute the path to deliverance and salvation. This is where Paul derived the foundation for his theology but he contrives to leave out the most important part, namely, that it only applies to ‘those who observe the Law in the House of Judah’.

Brad Burge:

Don't believe everything you read.

It is the small flaws, the not so obvious, in
our lives that are the hardest to let go. The
drug addict knows, the alcholic , etc. But allowing negativity to persist in our lives is
harder to let go. It's much harder to do good
in a negative world,that is life's biggest challenge for humanity.

The only real "teshuvah" is through Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ the Lord said that He is the Way the Truth and the Life and that no man comes to God but through Him. (John 14:6)

The choice is ours and it has eternal consequences. Choose carefully!

What will the current Sanhedrin choose?

Shalom.

Congrats on your new year, I hope and pray that America will always stand by Israel's side.

Excellent comments by Rabbi Steinsaltz. It is great to see the WAPO finally having Jewish theology as a core discussion item. The Rabbi's writings are always helpful for persons of faith and good intentions.

Of course, I would like to believe that the opportunity for teshuvah is always there, but I am not so sure. Sometimes I feel like it is too late, that I have committed too many bad acts to deserve the opportunity for teshuvah, and I think that many others feel that way as well.

Rabbi, how does a person generate the courage to believe that they are worthy of the opportunity for teshuvah??

The biggest and best changes would come as a result of admitting that God is an idea,and the supernatural world another word for the imagination.
Its ridiculous to go on and on believing what the ancients believed.
Why change if you always return to the same silly idea,that a skygod actually exists.
Time to be brave and put aside wishful thinking.
God never existed except in our minds.