Light at the End of the Tunnel

Reflecting upon the Gaza War and the latest ceasefire, I found hope and inspiration in the following sermon, entitled “Now You Shall See,” written in the aftermath of the Second Lebanon War. That sermon, as well as one entitled “Jüdische Bitachón” (available only in German, sorry), explore what it means, to put one’s trust in G”d.

Truly Taking Responsibility

The first encounter of Parshat Vayigash, between Yehuda, as he takes responsibility for Benyamin, and Yossef in his role of Viceroy of Egypt, is also the story of great moral leadership. Yossef and Yehuda, each in their own ways, display and examplify the great, dearly needed moral qualities of honesty, integrity, repentance, forgiveness and accepting the consequences of one’s actions. In short, they recognize and accept their responsibilities.

Financial Regulators Seek Out Choshen Mishpat

This is just in from Time Magazine. There seems to be a growing interest in Jewish Civil Law (Choshen Mishpat) among economists, politicians and financial regulators, as is evidenced by this Time Magazine article, “The Financial Crisis: What Would the Talmud Do?” by David Van Biema.

I previously explored the conflict between Halakhah and secular civil law, as well as its moral importance, in the following essay:

True Freedom of Conscience

Wahre Gewissenfreiheit

Ist Jom Kippúr festlicher als Rosch haSchaná?

Ist Jom Kippúr festlicher als Rosch haSchaná?

Is Yom Kippur More Festive; Rosch haSchanah More Awesome?

Rosch haSchaná gilt als richtiger Jomtów, ein Festtag, an dem man besondere Speisen isst und mit Familie und Freunden an dem Festtisch sitzt. Hingegen gilt Jom Kippúr als geistiger Tag, des Sündenbekennens, des Bereuens. Ist es aber vielleicht genau umgekehrt? Ist der Fasttag vielleicht doch festlicher als der Neujahrstag? Die festlichkeit Rosch haSchanás wird in der folgende Predigt, die meinem Buch “Ein lärmendes, reissendes Wildwasser” seinen Namen verleiht, erforscht. Mehr

Rosh haShanah is usually thought of as a festive, celebratory day, while Yom Kippur is the day of prayer and aweful, awesome judgment, the day of repentance, prayer and spirituality. But is it perhaps the opposite way around? Could Yom Kippur be actually more festive than Rosh haShanah, and Rosh haShanah be more aweful and awe inspiring? These themes are explored in the following sermon that gave my German book Ein reissendes lärmendes Wildwasser (“A Great Mighty Torrent”) its name. More