Rabbi Michael Leo SamuelAs we have pointed out in other postings, a strong case can be made that one of the most serious “deadly sins” of history is the sin of misogyny. Every faith grapples with this problem in one form or another. In Judaism, there is a well known blessing men say every day upon getting up in the morning:
“Blessed are you, Lord, our God, ruler the universe who has not created me a woman.”
The Original Rabbinical Source of the Blessing
The origin ...
Learn More ShareSometimes even the most obvious biblical passages can be perplexing. One interesting verse is a case in point:
“Therefore, do not say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we do not then sow or reap our crop?’ I will bestow such blessings on you in the sixth year that there will then be crop enough for three years. When you sow in the eighth year, you will continue to eat from the old crop; and even into ...
Learn More ShareI have often felt that misogyny has been one of the oldest sins since Adam and Eve. The woman’s liberation movement has some remarkable antecedents in American history. It is remarkable how much the 20th century fight for gender rights have completely overturned thousands of years of male hegemony. It is no wonder why traditional religious societies across the globe fear it-change is necessary as it is inevitable.
Seducing By Scents
I came across an interesting article from House and Garden Magazine ...
Learn More ShareThe “Jim Crow Laws” remind us of one of the most shameful chapters of American history, a time when many Southern states enacted laws designed to keep Afro-Americans from enjoying the same civil liberties and rights that blacks enjoyed in the Northern states.
Intimidation tactics were routinely carried out for several decades until the last of the Jim Crow laws were banned once and for all by 1971, In 1971, the Supreme Court, in Swann v. ...
Learn More ShareWhenever I celebrated Purim in Me’ah Sharim, the Haredi epicenter of Jerusalem, I always marveled at the costumes the Haaredim used to wear. Every year, the Haredim participate in cross-dressing. Haredim in drag. What a sight to behold. Haredim and Hasidim literally let their hair down.
Any good Christian bible reader knows that cross-dressing is forbidden in the Torah. Men are forbidden to dress as women, since the proscription reads, “neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment, neither may a ...
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