Archive for 'Jewish symbolism'

HomeJewish symbolism

Rethinking the Theology of Prayer (Part 2)

Human beings, since the earliest stages of its history, has always participated in a world of prayer. The English word “prayer” derives from the Middle English preiere, which derives from Medieval Latin precāria, from feminine of Latin precārius, “obtained by entreaty.” In the last posting, we briefly talked about some of the difficulties modern people experience with prayer.

One of the most intriguing critiques regarding prayer expressed in Late Antiquity, comes from one of the most famous and brilliant of the ...

Learn More

Categories: American Jewish Issues, Bible, biblical history, biblical theology, Contrarian wisdom, Heart-Centered Judaism, Jewish Prayer and Meditation, Jewish symbolism, Maimonidean Wisdom, Talmud, Zohar, and Midrash, The Future of Judaism, Theology and Philosophy

Rethinking the Theology of Prayer (Part 1)

Hello everyone,

I thought it would be nice to focus on a topic that I think many of us struggle with-prayer. Here are a few of my meditations.

In our modern age, it is not uncommon for people to think of traditional prayer as childish, if not absurd. Many years ago, I came across an interesting theological objection to the enterprise of petitionary prayer: If God is allegedly “Omniscient,” then surely God knows what we mortals need, without having us to remind ...

Learn More

Categories: American Jewish Issues, Bible, biblical history, biblical theology, ethics, Hassidic Theology, Heart-Centered Judaism, Jewish symbolism, Maimonidean Wisdom, science and religion, The Future of Judaism, Theology and Philosophy

How Many Israelites Actually Left Egypt (Part 2)

As we mentioned earlier, exegetic scholars-both Jewish and Christian-have long recognized the problems with the numbers mentioned in the Bible. Judging by the numbers listed in the beginning of Numbers, the Israelite nation must have consisted of about two and a half million people. This must have been a rigorous job for the two midwives in charge of their birth (Exod 1:15 )! There were precisely 22,273 firstborn males (Num. 3:43); given 600,000+ males, this would mean an average of ...

Learn More

Categories: Bible, biblical history, biblical theology, Contrarian wisdom, Holidays, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish symbolism

How Many Israelites Actually Left Egypt? (Part 1)

According to Numbers 1:46, the Israelite army stood at “six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty.”

On the basis of the census taken, one must assume there was an excess of 2,000,000 Israelites in the wilderness, of which 603,550 were soldiers. The sheer numbers raises many questions: How could the wilderness provide for such a large number of people over a forty year period? By the same token, how could the livestock and other flock animals subsist on a relatively sparse ...

Learn More

Categories: Bible, biblical history, biblical theology, Contrarian wisdom, Israel, Jewish Folklore, Jewish History, Jewish symbolism, The Future of Judaism

The Best Question of the Passover Seder

Children have an unusual ability when it comes to confronting our spiritual hypocrisy as parents and as adults; very often they get to the essence of the problem as they perceive things. Frequently, as parents we often fail to hear the questions our young people ask of us; often we overreact whenever we feel that our beliefs and values are being questioned or attacked.

Rather than listening with an inner ear, as parents, we often react with harshness and anger. Sometimes ...

Learn More

Categories: American Jewish Issues, Bible, biblical history, biblical theology, Contrarian wisdom, Current Events, ethics, good and evil, Heart-Centered Judaism, Israel, Jewish and Jungian ideas, Jewish customs, Jewish Folklore, Jewish History, Jewish symbolism, The Future of Judaism, Theology and Philosophy

Page 3 of 10 12345...»