QB Tim Tebow: Update on John 3:16 and Hebrews 12:1-2 and the NFL Jets

Update: Tim Tebow did not merit eternal life with the Jets. See this report, "Noisy Courtship, Quiet Breakup - Jets Dump Tebow" on the NYTimes.comThe Times ran a lengthy article about Tebow, when he entered the NFL and struggled as a QB: "In Tebow Debate, a Clash of Faith and Football". Tebow was still over the top in his religious ostentation, almost Pharisaic in it, dare we use the term. And the Times used this instance to open a much needed discussion...

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Is Jonathan Krohn Jewish?

No and yes. According to the Times, the young (former) conservative is being brought up as a Christian. So no, definitely Jonathan Krohn is not Jewish by religion.Update: At 17, Krohn was doing teshuvah - repenting his conservatism - i.e., he adopted liberal ideas and went to study philosophy at NYU. MSNBC reported in the video clip below, wherein Lawrence O'Donnell lauded him for converting to the "bright side".Update 2: The Times reported...

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Update: Rabbi Michael Broyde is Sinking Fast

Yet another update 4/25/2013:  The Jewish Channel's Steven I. Weiss reports that it turns out that Broyde himself (posing as David Weissman) circulated the story that he was being considered as a candidate for the British Chief Rabbi post. And so it was Broyde who called Broyde "the finest mind of his generation" in the name of Norman Lamm in a claim to a reporter at The Times of Israel on 8/8/2012. More on all of this here. Isn't that nice....

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Inventing the Past: Michael Broyde and Morton Smith

The Jewish Channel's Steven I. Weiss continued his outstanding investigative reporting with a new story on Rabbi Michael Broyde of Emory University, "Investigation Reveals Additional Questionable Identity With Connections to Broyde’s Scholarship". It now appears certain that Broyde invented letters by two imaginary rabbis to support his opinions on religious matters. Weiss also found that an 83 page article published by Broyde in the journal Tradition was bolstered in part by evidence from Broyde's manufactured authorities and was published with...

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Eat less; swim more

Strange advice from USA Today, "Double up: Diet, exercise together are key to success". We've known all along that if you want to get into good shape you need to eat less and swim more:Folks who want to get in better shape and eat healthier are often encouraged to make one change at a time, but a new study finds that people are the most successful when they tackle their diet and exercise habits simultaneously."It comes down to making them both priorities and thinking about both throughout the day," says lead researcher Abby King, professor at the...

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Free Download of Reuven Brauner's Revised Version of Pirkei Avos from Talmudic Books

Free: Updated, revised version of Pirkei Avos with the complete Hebrew text of the Perek and Reuven Brauner's translation. He says, "I added footnotes based on the commentary of Prof. Hanoch Albeck in his commentary on Mishna, which I found succinct and enlightening."The new Pirkei Avos is now more useful and user-friendly, and looks wonderful when printed out. Nice for these days between Pesach and Shavuous, too. Great to read to the kids at the...

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Introduction to Judaism - Online Course

Open publicationIntroduction to JudaismOnline Course GuideProfessor Tzvee Zah...

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Talmudic Chaos v. Halakhic Linearity in the Logic of Judaism

In 2011 we published an article, "In Search Of The Logic Of Judaism: From Talmudic Chaos To Halakhic Linearity," which you can download and read from the link here.   We used mathematical ideas to differentiate the linear organization of the halakhah from non-linear thinking of the Talmud. Our abstract says:  In this paper we examine some common views of scholars concerning the idea of the halakhah in Judaism. We then explain...

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Is Ryan Lochte, Olmypic Swimmer and Sex Symbol, Jewish?

No, we do not think that swimmer Ryan Lochte is a Jew. His national team bio does not specify his religion. We would guess from his last name that his family goes back to Dutch Protestant roots.The Times' Style section had an extensive article about Lochte. Ryan Lochte, Olmypic Swimmer and Sex SymbolThe U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte is poised to be the breakout star of the 2012 Summer Games, both in and out of the pool. Ryan Lochte,...

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Jewish Standard Op-Ed: A Bully in the Pulpit

In politics a "bully pulpit" is considered to be a good thing. In the synagogue, mosque or church a "bully in the pulpit" is not a good thing.The term "bully pulpit" was coined by President Teddy Roosevelt to describe the White House as a superb platform from which to propound a political agenda. Roosevelt used the word bully to mean "wonderful" a common adjectival usage in his day.Now we use bully mainly as a pejorative noun meaning a ruffian who...

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What are the connections between religions and terrorism?

What are the connections between religions and terrorism? That's a big set of questions. We tried to answer, explain and understand them in the past.Here is a selected list of our blog posts of study resources in the analysis of the connections between terrorism and religion (compiled when we taught a course on religion and terrorism at FDU a few years ago).Questions about American Christian TerrorismReligion and Jewish Terrorists (and...

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On my father's Yahrzeit my thoughts on his immortal soul

At the breakfast at the Park East Synagogue this morning in honor of my dad's yahrzeit I spoke briefly about the dimensions of the immortality of his soul. I explained that by observing the mourning customs and reciting Kaddish for the soul of the departed, we seek immortality on its behalf in heaven above and on earth as part of the eternal Jewish people. Last month I summarized my thoughts on this process as follows below.Is the Jewish soul immortal?...

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What is Kaddish?

We said Kaddish for our dad this past year. Some writers responded to their year of saying Kaddish by writing books about it. Four good ones are shown above.We published a popular book about prayer a in July 2011, so we don't feel the need to go ahead and write another one about our Kaddish year.In fact in that book, we resolved our main understanding of the meaning of the Kaddish. We have not changed our mind. Here is some of what we said in "God's...

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Rav Soloveitchik on Israeli TV

Ethan Isenberg writes to us that Rav Soloveitchik will be featured on an Israeli Broadcast Premiere Sat night. Lonely Man of Faith will be on Israeli TV in two parts, on successive Saturday nights: April 20 and 27, both at 10 PM.The 18th of Nisan marked the 20th yarhzeit anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.  This year, that date fell out on March 28 - 29. Recordings are now available online of these memorial events: Yom Iyun at Beit Knesset "Ohel Ari" in Ra'anana, Israel, held on March 14 (3rd of Nisan)Yom...

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Understand how to have compassion on yourself via an essay by Tzvee Zahavy, "A Pragmatic Study of Kol Nidre: Law and Compassion"

Just in time for Yom Kippur....Wait. It's not Yom Kippur. It's springtime.We don't believe that you need to wait until the autumn to atone, repent, turn over a new leaf or clean up your act.Call it what you may, April is a good month for cleaning out the garage of your soul.And you can do that via compassion. There is nothing legal or magical about compassion. Release all those vows, those bad habits, bad emotions, bad relationships. So you did some...

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Happy Yom Haaztmaut - Israel Independence Day

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NYTimes on Your Google Afterlife: Who Will Say Kaddish Over Your Digital Soul?

After you die, your digital soul will live on - all the data in your Google and other accounts. That material contains personal and impersonal captures of aspects of your consciousness - what some creative social scientists might try figuratively to label as parts of your "soul".From The New York Times BITS BLOG we learn that, "Google Introduces a Tool for Planning for Your Digital Afterlife. As Web companies and legislators grapple with who controls...

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Technology to the Rescue to Solve the Social Problem of Sock Puppets

The integrity and value of social networks and of commercial product and service reviews depends on the authenticity of the content. Big companies like Amazon and big universities like Cornell and others are hard at work developing policies and algorithms to solve the problem of sock puppet posting of reviews and other content on the Internet.Here are three examples:1. Cornell software fingers fake online reviews: Cornell brainiacs have come up with...

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Video: A Touching Memorial Service for Yom Hazikaron 2013

A Touching Memorial Service for Yom Hazikaron 2...

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Tiger Woods Gets Talmudic Defense at the Masters

The Times reported that golfer Tiger Woods was penalized for an illegal ball drop at the Masters at Augusta, but was not disqualified.He was not disqualified based on a clever Talmudic interpretation of the golf rules. Although he did violate one rule, another rule says that he need not be disqualified for that violation based on his intent and the intent of others at the time of the infraction and at the subsequent time of his signing his scorecard...

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Jewish Channel's Steven I. Weiss Reveals that Rabbi Hershel Goldwasser is the Sock Puppet identity of Rabbi Michael Broyde

The tireless journalist and spirited blogger at the the Jewish Channel, Steven I. Weiss, revealed yesterday that Rabbi Hershel Goldwasser has been the sock-puppet identity of Rabbi Michael Broyde for twenty years, "An investigation by The Jewish Channel reveals a fake rabbi’s connections to a leading rabbinical court judge."Weiss is a thorough reporter who has no sympathy for supposedly good rabbis who hide their identities to do bad...

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The Master Talmud Performer: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik

In honor of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik's 20th yahrzeit we present this excerpt from our 2011 book - God's Favorite Prayers...The Master Performer L et me give some background about my mentor, Rabbi Soloveitchik. His followers extolled him with a reverent nickname. They called him the Rav, simply the Master. I consider the Rav to be a master performer par excellence of the synagogue liturgy (when on occasion he led the services), a great...

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