Happy Lappy New Year 2015

To all my friends,

A happy lappy new year. May the currents be with you!

Hope you have a swimmingly great year.

Tzvee

Does Santa Exist? A Jewish Buddhist Big Bang Theory Writer Says Maybe He does

"It's Not as Simple as You Think." A review of a quirky book in LA Weekly addresses this pressing issue, Does Santa Exist?.

The book purports to examine the notion of whether Santa exists, based on a wide ranging survey of religions and religious studies ideas.

I did not read the book and I am probably not going to. The review begins as follows:

Fans of The Big Bang Theory know the character of Sheldon Cooper as a nerdy, Klingon-speaking manbot who, according to his friends, is one lab experiment away from turning into a comic book villain. He’s a theoretical physicist who has no use for human contact, feelings or sentimentality, especially around the holidays; he calls Christmas “a bunch of bologna created by the tinsel industry.” Naturally, he doesn’t believe in Santa. 

So it’s no surprise that Eric Kaplan, one of the show’s writers and a co-executive producer, has written a book called Does Santa Exist?: A Philosophical Journey. The question does not have an easy answer — most kids believe, most adults don’t. And unlike his TV character, Kaplan isn’t interested in disproving the being of world’s biggest holiday symbol. Instead, he writes that like all of life’s ponderables — God, love, the self — Santa is a self-contradicting paradox that involves rationality, belief and faith. It’s complicated...

I'll just add here my agreement that it's clear - they have way more complicated stories than we do. We have a holiday based on one jar of oil that lasted longer than it should have - one time more than 2000 years ago. 

They have a magical guy who comes in a flying sled with presents - every year for every child - from a workshop at the North Pole.

We may want to work on our stories.

Atlantic: Why Do American Jews Eat Chinese Food on Christmas?

The Atlantic asks, Why do American Jews Eat Chinese Food on Christmas?

I always assumed it was because all of the other restaurants were closed!

Chuck Schumer agrees as the article notes citing the confirmation hearing of Elana Kagan to the Supreme Court. When asked where she was on one Christmas she replied:

During an otherwise tense series of exchanges, Senator Lindsey Graham paused to ask Kagan where she had spent the previous Christmas. To great laughter, she replied: “You know, like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant.”

Never willing to let a moment pass without remark, Senator Chuck Schumer jumped in to explain, “If I might, no other restaurants are open.”

Schumer might but editor Chandler has more to say about this matter up to and including this bon mot, "I would argue that Chinese food is the ethnic cuisine of American Jews."

I think he goes to far looking for more meanings in this quirk of acculturation. (Hat tip to K!)

NYTimes: Gil Marks, Historian of Jewish Food and Culture, Dies at 62

My friend has passed away. 

I am grateful to have known Gil for so many years and to have considered him to be a friend. He was a great person, sincere and sensitive and positive in every way. He was meticulous in his cooking, in his writing and in his relationships, always seeking the right ingredients and ever particular about all of the recipes of his life.

He accomplished a great deal, and still I feel he was taken before his time and that we will sorely miss his voice in our communities.

From The New York Times
Gil Marks, Historian of Jewish Food and Culture, Dies at 62

Mr. Marks wrote five books that chronicled kosher menus through the centuries and examined the role of food in the establishment and growth of cultural traditions.

By BRUCE WEBER

Gil Marks, a culinary historian who wrote widely on the relationship between Jewish food and Jewish culture in a manner that was both scholarly and friendly, died on Friday in Jerusalem. He was 62.

The cause was lung cancer, his niece Efrat Altshul Schorr said, adding that Mr. Marks was not a smoker.

Mr. Marks studied for the rabbinate at Yeshiva University in New York, but he burrowed into the history and culture of the Jews more through the recipe book than the Talmud. Still, some would argue that his work was, in its way, Talmudic — full of information and interpretive wisdom on the foods of Jewish tradition and the governing principles of cooking and eating them.

He was the author of five books, an oeuvre that not only provided a recipe-by-recipe chronicle of kosher menus through the centuries but also examined the role of food in the establishment and growth of cultural traditions.

NY Times Advice - Frustrated on Sundays with the Jets and the Giants? Visit the Lubavitcher Rebbe's Grave Instead!

In a semi-serious article the times suggests that you spend your Sundays doing more rewarding things than watching the Jets and Giants football teams lose their games.

And one of those bright ideas is:

Make a Pilgrimage

Visit a grave-turned-shrine of a dead rabbi in Queens. The Ohel is the final resting place of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who was the leader of the Lubavitch sect of ultra-Orthodox Judaism. Schneerson, known as the Rebbe, died in 1994, and in the past two decades his burial site has turned into a place of pilgrimage for Jews, who trek here from around the world to write prayers on scraps of paper and toss them on the Rebbe’s grave — 24 hours a day. The site, little known outside the Jewish community, is in fact a nondenominational place of prayer, where any visitor is allowed to walk right in and toss a paper prayer into the mix. Perhaps there you can pray for our two lousy teams.

Jews trek from around the world to the Queens grave site of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a leader of the Lubavitch sect.   The Ohel is the final resting place of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who was the leader of the Lubavitcher sect of ultra-Orthodox Judaism. SARAH MASLIN NIR, staff reporter, Metro

My Dear Rabbi Column for December 2014: Outrageous Political Rabbi

Dear Rabbi,

I don’t understand why my local rabbi has been saying outrageous public things — preaching and publishing political rants. I want to know what makes a rabbi do this, and I need to know what to do about it.

Ranted at in Bergen County

Dear Ranted,

You ask why a person engages in the kind of public rants that bring humiliation to himself and his family and his extended community.

O.K. That person first may be driven by hereditary factors. He may have a variety of the thrill-seeker gene that makes him crave attention and controversy. At the same time, his innate circuit breaker, the psychological mechanism or filter that normally protects a person against putting himself in danger, or engaging in self-destructive, antisocial behavior, appears to be defective. Such a person would benefit from therapy to help him understand his risky drives and deficiencies and to help him become more vigilant in monitoring his problematic behavior.

The issue of your rabbi’s contentious behavior does prompt me to discuss more general related aspects beyond this rabbi’s problem.

When any rabbi veers off into politics, I think that is a bad thing. He’s not doing his job. A rabbi is by definition a teacher of Torah. Rabbis are not trained in politics, nor are they employed to engage in politics. They become rabbis by passing exams in Torah texts, including the oral Torah, the Mishnah, Midrash, and Talmud.

Teaching Torah (or any subject) is a respected profession that someone enters through preparation, expertise, and apprenticeship. Politics is a different profession, and it is entered by another route of training and experience.

Through the ages, rabbis on many occasions have ventured into politics — as politicians, not as rabbis. A few have succeeded. Some have failed dramatically. One of the greatest Torah scholars of our history, Rabbi Akiva (whom I referred to above), led his students into a disastrous revolt against Rome in the second century CE. He unsuccessfully supported the rebellion of Bar Kochba, and as a tragic result he was tortured to death by the Romans and thousands of his followers were massacred.

Much more recently — in 2012, as you may recall — one of our neighbors in Bergen County, a celebrity rabbi and author, ran for Congress. He was trounced in the election. Though he emerged from that experience personally unscathed, the example confirms the pattern. Rabbis throughout the ages have made poor politicians.

I prefer to think that there’s nothing specific to the teachings of the Torah that make someone a bad politician. But it’s worth speculating further on this matter. Perhaps the idea that God is behind you and that makes your ideas right and worthy is a weakness, not strength, to those who enter the arena of public political discourse and activity. In that venue ideas rise and fall on their merits and their appeal, not on their claims to divine sponsorship.

Also, politics is a set of activities where success involves a good deal of negotiation and power brokering. Rabbis cling to their notion that the divine rights and imperatives of their principles prevent or at least discourage the idea of negotiation. Thinking that “my way is the high and mighty way,” leads a person to act and to declare the non-negotiable stance that “my opponents must take my way or go away on the highway.”

To be sure, rabbis are not easily adept at being political. Yet in spite of that you would think that they ought to respect the accepted modes of public political discourse. The rabbinic literature that they know is rigorous in its formulaic requirements and its rhetorical and logical forms. Free-style ranting is not one of its genres. And going back further to the classical biblical prophets, we find the same. The exhortations of those Israelite preachers use controlled manners and speech with sharp and clear moral and theological messages.

The dangers of mixing politics and religion are even more pronounced and complex when you consider that many varieties of religious terrorists incite their followers to commit atrocities and crimes against humanity based to a frightening extent on religious grounds and on claims of their gods’ approvals.

A few years ago, at a course on religion and terrorism I taught at FDU, I analyzed many instances of terrorism committed by members of religious communities. I took cases drawn from Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu, Aum Shinrikyo (a Japanese cult), Christian, Jewish and Islamic traditions. The dangerous recent historical record that I examined in that course of the mix of religion and terror is extensive, impressive, and terrifying.

My advice to you as you confront your immediate situation is best expressed in one word: beware. A rabbi or any religious leader who goes off like a loose cannon in unpredictable rants advocating racism, violence, or terrorism ought to make you cringe.

Stay far away from him. Nothing that you can do or say will deter him. He is a danger to your community, to stable society, and to civilization. He does not represent any aspect of what is worthwhile in either the clerical professions or in the political realms. And he does not represent in any way what we good ordinary citizens want in a just and righteous world.

The Dear Rabbi column offers timely advice based on timeless Talmudic wisdom. It aspires to be equally respectful and meaningful to all varieties and denominations of Judaism. You can find it here on the first Friday of the month. Send your questions to DearRabbi@jewishmediagroup.com.

Tzvee Zahavy earned his Ph.D. from Brown University and rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University. He is the author of “The Book of Jewish Prayers in English,” “Rashi: The Greatest Exegete,” “God’s Favorite Prayers” and “Dear Rabbi: The Greatest Talmudic Advice” — which includes his past columns from the Jewish Standard and other essays — all available as Kindle Edition books at Amazon.com.

My Dear Rabbi Column for December 2014: Facebook Political Blamer

Dear Rabbi,

After the recent attack in Jerusalem, where terrorists killed four men in a synagogue, I saw posts on my Facebook newsfeed blaming the policies of President Obama for the terrible incident. That disturbs me because I don’t see how someone can connect him to violence in another country.

Baffled by the Blamers

Dear Baffled,

Hmm. I stubbed my toe the other night while I was walking in a dark room and I exclaimed, “Oh Jesus” even though I’m a good Jew and Jesus had nothing to do with my mishap.

Seriously, let’s be clear. First of all Obama is the president of the United States, not the prime minister of Israel. His job is to take care of Americans, not protect Israelis from terrorists. And second, he is in no way responsible for causing attacks anywhere in the world. Those who heap blame on Obama for the ills of our globe do that because they don’t like him to begin with. They think they can besmirch him by arbitrarily piling fault upon him. It is bad rhetoric and nothing more.

Benjamin Netanyahu is the prime minister of Israel and is much more the right person to charge for bad policies that lead to terrorist attacks in his country. But in reality, terrorism is not at all a result of flawed strategies of our leaders or of our governments. It is evil activity planned and carried out by those of our enemies who want to harm us and disrupt our lives. So if you must, blame our enemies, not our leaders.

But if you insist on blaming our own leaders, then you might argue that the ultimate questions about the death of those four innocent people in synagogue remains primarily a theological issue that you ought to direct to the leader of leaders — God. For those of us who believe that God cares about our everyday lives, it is fair to ask how a just God allows terrorists to kill saintly Jews who devoted their lives to Torah and, on top of it, while they were engaged in prayer in the synagogue.

Hence I agree with you that it makes no sense for people on Facebook or anywhere else to blame Obama for terrorist murders in Jerusalem. My advice for you is as follows. On Facebook, if you don’t want to see nonsensical posts, you can unfriend the people who send them, or suppress their posts from your news feed.

In real life, however, I’m sorry to say I have no bright advice for you. We have no way to pull down a menu and turn off or suppress from confronting every day the age-old baffling questions of theodicy, of why God lets such bad things happen to such good people.

There is a story in the Talmud (Menahot 29b) that depicts Moses asking God why he allowed the Romans to torture the great Torah scholar Rabbi Akiva. In that narrative Moses demanded to know from God, “This is the Torah and this is its reward!?” And in that text God gave Moses no effective answer or explanation.

I can advise you not to tolerate those who blame Obama for terrorist evil. But, sorry if this disappoints you, I can’t offer in this column any better response than the Talmud does about the accountability of God.

The Dear Rabbi column offers timely advice based on timeless Talmudic wisdom. It aspires to be equally respectful and meaningful to all varieties and denominations of Judaism. You can find it here on the first Friday of the month. Send your questions to DearRabbi@jewishmediagroup.com.


Tzvee Zahavy earned his Ph.D. from Brown University and rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University. He is the author of “The Book of Jewish Prayers in English,” “Rashi: The Greatest Exegete,” “God’s Favorite Prayers” and “Dear Rabbi: The Greatest Talmudic Advice” — which includes his past columns from the Jewish Standard and other essays — all available as Kindle Edition books at Amazon.com.

We should say kaddish for JFK

Today is the 51st anniversary of the death of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Here is what I published 11/15/13 in the Jewish Standard...

This year, the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination, I want to recant my opinions and actions at JFK's thirtieth yahrzeit. I should have said Kaddish for JFK then, I was wrong. I will do it this year.

Yes, we should say kaddish for JFK.

Here is what I wrote in 1993.

It was bright and sunny in Washington on November 22, 1993, thirty years after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I was attending an annual conference of over 7000 professors of religion and biblical studies in the capital city. What a shame, I thought, that at this conference there was no formal recognition of the anniversary of the death of this leader at this conference. Here were gathered so many experts in religion and ritual, and they made no attempt to memorialize the day.

At a break between sessions of the conference I headed directly for the hotel entrance. A quick negotiation with a taxi driver confirmed that for $15 to $20 and less than an hour's time I could get out to Arlington National Cemetery walk up the path to JFK's grave site, spend a few minutes and return to the learned discourse of the meeting.

In the cab I wondered what I would do when I stood at the memorial in front of the eternal flame. It was JFK's yahrzeit, the anniversary of his death. In Judaism, members of the family recite the Kaddish prayer for a deceased relative each year on the specified day.

But Kennedy was not Jewish and not my relative. I could not see myself reciting a mourner's prayer for this hero. What then? I'd wait until I got to the site and play it by ear.

My Dear Rabbi Talmudic Advice Column for November 2014: Done with Mikvah Dunking?

Dear Rabbi: Your Talmudic advice column

Dear Rabbi,

On the one hand, after reading about a rabbi who repeatedly used the ritual of women immersing as an opportunity to engage in voyeurism, I’m turned off to the whole idea of ritual bathing in a mikvah.

On the other hand, I know I’ll feel guilty about abandoning one of my religious practices, which had meaning for me in the past. What should I do?

Slams Dunking in Teaneck

Dear Slams,

Rituals are a potent part of your relationship to your culture and heritage. And special relationships are fragile. They hinge both on predictable consistency and on intangible magical elements.

The relationships embedded in the most prevalent mikvah-bath ritual are as complex as a double helix. One strand of complexity is that the mikvah bath permits Orthodox women, who refrain from sex with their husbands during menstruation, to resume the intimate sexual portion of their relationships. And for women from long-standing Orthodox family lines, another strand of the complexity of the ritual is how the mikvah connects them in a magical way to the innermost lives of their mothers, who practiced the same formal mikvah procedure.

Dipping in a mikvah also is an integral rite in a conversion to Judaism. And that is where the latest scandal occurred. To many of us, the bad acts of a rabbi were troubling enough to disrupt the magic of the ritual, that tacit allowance we permit ourselves that makes a bath into an enchanted personal transformation. A debauched rabbi violated the privacy of the immersion of numerous women converts. For many who heard it, the sad news of those acts poisoned the sacred well of the mikvah.

I tried to understand the plight of my sisters by thinking in terms of an analogy. As an avid daily lap swimmer for many years, I know how refreshing and invigorating and healthy a workout in the pool can be. And yet I also discovered that at times, the positive values of water can be disrupted. Sometimes because of errors or ineptness, the pool I swim in gets too hot for comfortable lap swimming or the chlorine chemical level gets too high and the water becomes toxic. That for sure spoils the enjoyment of my swimming. And it can affect my health. But I work hard to get that fixed. And I keep coming back to swim. It’s a consistent, even a constant part of my life.

Sure, I know that my inconveniences in lap swimming are not anywhere near equivalent to violations of a woman’s intimate privacy during her performance of a religious ritual. But my suggestion to you, via my loose metaphor, is that you try your best to continue to do those healthy positive things that you do, those activities of your life that in crucial ways define you.

When the motions of your life are disrupted, when you get distracted from the poetry of your religion, I urge you to bounce back, and to strive with vigor to set your faith and practices straight and to restore the magic to your rituals.

Rabbi Dr. Tzvee Zahavy was ordained at Yeshiva University and earned his Ph.D. in religious studies at Brown University. He has published several new Kindle Editions at Amazon.com, including “The Book of Jewish Prayers in English,” “Rashi: The Greatest Exegete,” “God’s Favorite Prayers” and “Dear Rabbi: The Greatest Talmudic Advice” which includes his past columns from the Jewish Standard and other essays.

My Dear Rabbi Talmudic Advice Column for November 2014: Is Skimming the Talmud Kosher?

Dear Rabbi: Your Talmudic advice column

Dear Rabbi,

My friend gets up early every morning to study a daily Talmud page. By doing this he will go through the entire Talmud in seven years. His daily lesson lasts 30 minutes.

I know the value Judaism places on Torah study, but I wonder about the quality of such hurried study. In my experience the contents of the Talmud are complex and nuanced. Of what benefit is it to rapidly recite passages and to speed-read through their meanings?

Skim Free in New Milford

Dear Skim,

You touch on a sensitive issue. Many Jews believe that learning Talmud is the epitome of studying Torah. In turn they consider that practice to be the apex of all the commandments. Torah-study is an enriched ritual because serious learning may lead to inner cognition, to increased knowledge, and even to expertise. The highest goal of Talmud study is to become a lamdan—a learned master of the Talmud.

With that in mind, let me pose a few pointed talmudic questions to extend your inquiry. Can anyone become a lamdan through Daf Yomi study alone? Unlikely. It often takes weeks of intensive study to get through the study of the Tosafot, Rishonim, and Achronim (i.e., the major commentaries) on a single side of a page of the Talmud.

And it is fair to ask, What is the content retention rate of the average page-a-day-Talmud student? Probably low. And so if they do not become lamdanim, what do they get out of the daily study? We can reason that after seven and a half years of plowing through every page of the Talmud, some of them do absorb a great deal, while others actually retain little and remain unenlightened about the bulk of the contents of the Talmud.

Does everyone who accomplishes the goal of going through the whole Talmud feel good about themselves? Probably yes. To use sports metaphors, even those who do not run the whole race can feel a sense of accomplishment just by participating in a marathon. Even those who go to the practice batting cage to hit softballs can imagine they are at bat in a major league game in Yankee Stadium.

Of this we can be certain. The extensive time allotted daily to Talmud study is quite a hefty way for people to say to themselves and their families and communities: these are my precious values and I invest a lot of my time and energy in them.

Yes, frequent attendance at daf yomi or at other adult education opportunities in synagogues and communities are worthy endeavors. Please do keep in mind also that becoming a learned Jew through deeper toil and study is an even more worthy undertaking.

Rabbi Dr. Tzvee Zahavy was ordained at Yeshiva University and earned his Ph.D. in religious studies at Brown University. He has published several new Kindle Editions at Amazon.com, including “The Book of Jewish Prayers in English,” “Rashi: The Greatest Exegete,” “God’s Favorite Prayers” and “Dear Rabbi: The Greatest Talmudic Advice” which includes his past columns from the Jewish Standard and other essays.

My Dear Rabbi Talmudic Advice Column for November 2014: Is Singing Sexual?

Dear Rabbi: Your Talmudic advice column

Dear Rabbi,

Many of my Orthodox male friends will not listen to a woman sing. What is that about?

Humming in Hackensack


Dear Humming,

Bans or prohibitions against certain actions deemed dangerous or socially unacceptable are common in all societies and religions. Every town has a speeding limit. And we know that Jews are not supposed to eat pork.

Your simple direct question penetrates into one troubling taboo directed at women but not at men. In parts of the Orthodox Jewish world, men may sing for women, but women may not sing for men.

Any observer can identify such an injunction as uneven and one-sided.

Not surprising. Within synagogues in nearly all Orthodox Jewish communities, women are segregated from men. They are instructed to sit behind a curtain or divider. In many arenas of Orthodox society women also are told to dress modestly and cover up their arms and legs.

To me it seems that a modesty dress code is another form of the segregation of women from the presence of men.

And you do not have to be a feminist to reckon that the ban on women singing is yet an added extension of segregation, an act of discrimination, one more denial of rights directed solely at women.

Now we know in general that the explanation or rationalization of taboos can be extensive and interesting to hear and even compelling in its substance. In this case, the rabbis propose that the ban on women singing to men is to regulate the degree of sexuality that may be expressed and exposed in public. All good and well. I have no argument about whatever basis people of faith choose to justify their actions or proscriptions.

The trouble with the taboo you ask about is that it applies in one direction and not the other, that women may not sing for men.

If this ban is based on sexuality, then the stricture says to us that figuratively a woman’s singing voice is an extension of her vagina, which of course she cannot display in public. Is it not fair then to ask, Is a man’s singing voice a manifestation of his penis? Is it okay for a man to parade around his sexuality but the same is not allowed for a woman? Or is singing not at all a sexual display? Which one is it?

If you think that such questions about Jewish men and women are ludicrous, try these. Are we ever going to say that the men are allowed to eat pork, but the women are not? That the men are permitted to steal, but the women are forbidden?

You asked what the singing taboo is all about? It’s reasonable to say that it is about segregation based on gender, the denial of equal rights to women, and discrimination against women. You may ask then, Aren’t all of those practices unacceptable in our modern Western societies?

Yes sir. Yes ma’am. They are unacceptable.

Rabbi Dr. Tzvee Zahavy was ordained at Yeshiva University and earned his Ph.D. in religious studies at Brown University. He has published several new Kindle Editions at Amazon.com, including “The Book of Jewish Prayers in English,” “Rashi: The Greatest Exegete,” “God’s Favorite Prayers” and “Dear Rabbi: The Greatest Talmudic Advice” which includes his past columns from the Jewish Standard and other essays.

הרב ריסקין: החרדים הם הרפורמים Rabbi Riskin: the Haredi Jews are the Real Reform Jews

Rabbi Riskin: "The Haredim are the greatest reformers" (translated by Google)

Rabbi of Efrat criticizes opposition to the ultra-Orthodox conversion law: "There is a commandment to love the stranger, the Chief Rabbinate did not know until today to accept the stranger with love and embrace"

Jonathan Urich | 04/11/2014 12:36

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Rabbi of Efrat and founder of institutions, "Ohr Torah Stone", valid today (Tuesday) criticized the conduct of the haredi community in relation Conversion Act and claims that they are the greatest reformers in history.

In an interview to the radio "waves Israel" tzaddik Rabbi Riskin the conversion bill and strongly opposed the ultra-orthodox and the claims against the law: "I do not understand the whole thing. Yes, I think there is a commandment of" love the stranger. "Yes, I think that the Chief Rabbinate have not know what it is to get someone who wants to convert properly love and care. How has the audacity to say my conversions will not be under Jewish law? ".

Resistance conversion law, Rabbi Riskin argues, contrary to the theory and approach of Judaism: "Unfortunately, the Haredim are the greatest reformers, many many things. Including raising the IDF, because there was no Talmud, who says there is no study of Torah protects the interests of people. There is room for dissenting opinions in Judaism. There is no just one way and whoever says it one way and the only way, it does not Judaism, Catholicism and the Pope it. "

Eran Zahavi of Maccabi Tel Aviv Attacked During Match by a Fan

Eran Zahavi of Maccabi Tel Aviv fought off a Fan and the match was canceled. Is he my cousin? I wish we were related but, as far as I know, we are not.

Pitch Invader Attacks Football Player: Video

Daily Mail: Referee sends off Maccabi Tel Aviv star Eran Zahavi after he kicks out at a fan who attacked him as Israeli match is abandoned

·         Maccabi Tel Aviv were drawing with Hapoel Tel Aviv in Tel Aviv derby
·         Eran Zahavi, a Maccabi player formerly of Hapoel, had scored a penalty
·         A fan invaded the pitch to attack Zahavi, player kicks him
·         Repeated pitch invasions cause game to be abandoned
·         Hapoel coach Eyal Berkovic calls for league to be suspended

By Jonny Singer

An Israeli league match had to be called off on Monday night after a fan broke onto the pitch and attacked an opposing player.

With the score at 1-1 in the Tel Aviv derby, between Hapoel Tel Aviv and their rivals Maccabi, the match was abandoned after a Hapoel fan ran onto the pitch and tried to kick visitors' star Eran Zahavi.

Zahavi, an Israel international, is a controversial figure in the heated derby. The 27-year-old began his career at Hapoel before joining Maccabi after a two-year stay at Palermo.

New York Post: Non-Jews enforce Segregation of Women by Attire at the Yeshiva of Flatbush

The NY Post reports that the Yeshiva of Flatbush has hired non-Jews to enforce the segregation of women through attire regulations.

Not surprising. Within synagogues in nearly all Orthodox Jewish communities women are segregated from men. They are instructed to sit behind a curtain or divider. In many arenas of Orthodox society women are told to dress modestly and cover up their arms and legs.

To me it seems clear that a modesty dress code is another form of the segregation of women from the presence of men.

It’s reasonable to say that these rules and the patrols to enforce them are about segregation based on gender, the denial of equal rights to women and discrimination against women.

You may ask then, Aren’t all of those practices unacceptable in our modern Western societies?

Yes sir. Yes ma’am. They are unacceptable. Segregation of any kind is evil. We need to desegregate our Yeshivas.

The picture to the right above shows Alabama Governor George Wallace blocking the desegregation of the University of Alabama in 1963 - 51 years ago.

Morality police patrol for exposed flesh at NYC school 

‘WE CAN’T JUST WALK IN THE HALLS BECAUSE EVERYONE’S LOOKING AT US AND JUDGING US EVERY SECOND FOR OUR CLOTHING. OBVIOUSLY, IT’S DEGRADING.’
- senior Melissa Duchan

By Andrea Hay

Melissa Duchan says the dress code at Yeshiva of Flatbush is way over the top.

The morality police aren’t just patrolling Iran or the Islamic State — they’re standing watch at a school in Brooklyn.

Female students at ­Yeshiva of Flatbush are outraged that two monitors were hired this school year to patrol hallways for exposed collarbones and calves.

The modesty crackdown comes as the school enforces a new, stricter dress code, including longer skirts.

“We’re walking in and we’re being scrutinized every morning,” said 16-year-old senior Melissa Duchan. “We can’t just walk in the halls because everyone’s looking at us and judging us every second for our clothing. Obviously, it’s degrading.”

In 1978 Prof. Wansbrough Reviewed Prof. Zahavy's Remarkable First Book on Eleazar ben Azariah

In 1978 Professor J. Wansbrough reviewed my first book in the distinguished journal, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 41, No. 2 (1978), 368-369. 

Below is the review. Get the book at Amazon.

TZVEE ZAHAVY: The traditions of Eleazar ben Azariah. (Brown Judaic Studies, No. 2.) xv, 365 pp. Missoula, Montana : Scholars Press for Brown University, [1977]. $7.50.

La scuola di Neusner merits special attention and profound gratitude. One has only to consider the contributions to the series ' Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity ' (Brill, Leiden, 1973-) and now the ' Brown Judaic Studies ' (Brown University, 1977- ) to appreciate the resourcefulness and extraordinary industry of a single Rabbinic scholar in the United States. Among the remarkable works generated by Neusner's teaching is Dr. Zahavy's study of Eleazar hen Azariah, a peripheral figura of the Yavnean ambient. The contribution of the study is as much methodological as it is substantive, namely, by the application of form and redaction criticism to post-Biblical literature, an exercise (possibly) inaugurated by F. Maass (Formgeschichte der Mischna, Berlin, 1937) and certainly pursued today with vigour and insight by Jacob Neusner (History of the Mishnaic law of purities, etc.).

The Times Profiles the Beggars of Lakewood NJ in the Sunday Magazine

How strange. Of all that could be written about the Jewish community in Lakewood, the Times has profiled the beggars that prowl constantly through the community schnorring for handouts.

No I do not find this story quaint and charming.

My 2010 Analysis of a Book by Rabbi Barry Freundel, "Why We Pray What We Pray"

Unfortunately the distinguished rabbi Barry Freundel was arrested and charged last week with crimes involving video voyeurism in the mikvah of his synagogue.

Update: Is Freundel working on a new book: "Why we Prey?"

In 2010 I wrote these nice comments and analysis below on a book he published, Why We Pray What We Pray through Urim Publications....

The description from the publisher says:

''Why We Pray What We Pray'' details the various factors that influenced six important Jewish prayers and shaped how and when Jews recite them. This book shows that each prayer (Shema, Nishmat, Birkat HaHodesh, Anim Zemirot, Aleinu and Kaddish) has a complex history of which contemporary worshippers are mostly unaware. When we learn about the factors and forces that shaped these prayers and Jewish liturgy in general, our appreciation of what Jewish worship is all about becomes that much more profound. Why We Pray What We Pray also sets forth important moments in Jewish history with depth and detail.

I am most impressed by the wide scope of the author's learning and by his accessible writing style. That desire to reach the reader comes through clearly in the author's chapter titles and in the presentation of their contents.

Six Israeli swimmers set world record for 236 Mile longest open-water swim

From Israel Hayom...

6 Israelis break world record for longest open-water swim

Israeli relay team swims over 236 miles from Cyprus to Israel to raise awareness about marine pollution • Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz: The fact that the swimmers could tell when they entered Israeli water shows there is work to be done. 

A year and a half of training came to an impressive end Saturday morning when six Israeli swimmers -- coach Ori Sela, Oded Rahav, Udi Erel, Ben Enosh, Doron Amosi, and Luc Chetboun -- broke the Guinness World Record for the longest open-water relay distance swim.

The six swam 380 kilometers (236 miles) from Paphos port in Cyprus to Herzliya Marina in Israel. The event, titled the Cyprus Israel Swim for Clean Seas, was held in cooperation with Zalul, an Israeli NGO devoted to keeping the sea clean, and dedicated to raising awareness about marine pollution. The six are also members of Zalul's Sea Guardians group. 

"We've made history. A total of 124 hours of swimming, 14,000 strokes in the water for each of us," the swimmers said.

The swimmers said that on Monday, they encountered a "horrible" current. "But suddenly at sunset 12 dolphins appeared and it boosted our morale."

The swimmers set off last Sunday afternoon. Erel was the first in the water, followed by each team member in a predetermined order with no alternates. Each man swam for an hour at a time, averaging 2 to 4 kilometers (1.2 to 2.5 miles) by the time he was relieved.

Is Israel's National bird the Hoopoe - Duchifat - Hud Hud Kosher?

No, in fact Israel's National bird, the Hoopoe - Duchifat - Hud Hud, is not kosher. It is "an unclean animal that may not be eaten."

The Times had an editorial in June 2008 that talked about the newly designated Israeli National bird, the Hoopoe - Duchifat (Hebrew) - Hud Hud (Arabic). The writer proposed that this decision on the bird would help Israel achieve peace with its neighbors.

In June 2008 Stephen Colbert quipped caustically that the bird is not a valiant eagle, "May you (Israel) emulate the noble long-billed hoopoe by squirting fecal matter at intruders."

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,Video Archive

Here is the Times op-ed from 2008.

Is the Shabbos Smartphone App kosher?

Yes, the Shabbos App is kosher. At first I thought it was a joke or a spoof. But sources say it is real. It is an app for a smartphone that makes it kosher to use it on Shabbos (the Sabbath).

Alas, the excessive $49.99 price for the app on Google Play is not so kosher.

The Fink or Swim blog has a thoughtful post on this matter.

...To me, it’s real simple. No one would have thought of the Shabbos App or the need for the Shabbos App if people were enjoying the break from technology that Shabbat affords. If we all loved being off our phones for 25 hours, the Shabbos App would be superfluous. No one would want it. No one would care to have it. But that is not the reality. Many people struggle with observing Shabbat every week. The phone is a private and quiet way to escape Shabbat observance. That’s one the many allures of the smartphone. It’s like holding the universe in your hands, and if someone is feeling stifled by Shabbat observance, the world in one’s hands can feel quite liberating.

I think most people who have smartphones would be quite happy to be able to use them 24/7. It’s a bit of a challenge to restrict one’s smartphone usage for 25 hours if one is accustomed to using their device on a constant basis. It’s not addiction as much as it is a habit. Smartphones have become like appendages to our bodies. They accompany us to the kitchen for recipes and culinary inspiration. They come with us to the dinner table and can be used to research a point of discussion at the table or to share a YouTube video that gives everyone a good laugh. They are part of our Torah study routine with the entire Torah available at the tap of a finger. Calling us addicts completely mischaracterizes the challenge. Our devices are like auxiliary brains. They are part of everything we do during the week.

So when Shabbat arrives, it is certainly a challenge. Some people embrace this challenge. They say that Shabbat is meaningful because they love being free from technology. It’s still a challenge, but the personal satisfaction and ecstasy of freedom makes it worth meeting the challenge head on. Others just accept the fact that they might be miserable without their devices and slog through Shabbat like zombies. Then there are the people who don’t think it’s worth giving up their smartphones for Shabbat. The pain of abandoning technology for 25 hours is greater than the payoff of keeping Shabbat. Those people have no incentive to turn off their phones for 25 hours. Why should they?

That is a tragic commentary on our Shabbat experience...

Talmudic analysis: I agree with much of this post and discussion. However, I do not approve of the use of the word tragic for discussing this matter.

It's hard to argue with those who say that Orthodox Shabbat restrictions across the board by any measure are heavily onerous. To preach that they are liberating is dangerous since many people will disagree on the basis of common sense and nothing else.

The sudden appearance of powerful personal technology like the smartphone casts a bright spotlight on the claim that the Shabbat wilderness experience is something that is good for all Jews, every week. It's a tough claim to defend in any day and age, and it now is tougher.

My Dear Rabbi Talmudic Advice Column for October 2014: Calculating Charity

Dear Rabbi: Your Talmudic advice column

Dear Rabbi,

I’m bombarded at this time of year with requests for donations from many worthy local, national and international causes.

I’m not wealthy. So how do I prioritize which ones to support?

Parsimonious in Paramus

Dear Parsimonious,

Yes, that’s a tough question. To find the most philanthropic gratification I advise that you give thoughtfully to accredited organizations as an expression of your values. If you believe foremost in supporting the indigent and those in personal straits, then give to a credible social welfare agency. Depending on exactly where they live, many local people support the Jewish Family Service of Bergen and North Hudson or the Jewish Family Service of Northern Jersey, or Project Ezra.

If you choose to support religious or education initiatives, we are blessed with a multitude of shul and school options in our communities.

If you have resources to direct to the performing arts, then the distinguished local Teaneck Garage Theatre Group will welcome your help.

If you wish to make a basket donation to cover many bases, the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey encompasses varied charities. It is a good alternative if you want one-stop giving.

In the season when we seek compassion for ourselves, it is good to bestow compassion on others by making your generous gifts and pledges now for the coming year.

Rabbi Dr. Tzvee Zahavy was ordained at Yeshiva University and earned his Ph.D. in religious studies at Brown University. He has published several new Kindle Editions at Amazon.com, including “The Book of Jewish Prayers in English,” “Rashi: The Greatest Exegete,” “God’s Favorite Prayers” and “Dear Rabbi: The Greatest Talmudic Advice” which includes his past columns from the Jewish Standard and other essays.

My Dear Rabbi Talmudic Advice Column for October 2014: Female Fearing Frum Flyer

Dear Rabbi: Your Talmudic advice column

Dear Rabbi,

I’m an ultra-Orthodox man who will not sit next to a woman on an airplane. After boarding a flight recently I politely asked that a woman next to me move her seat to accommodate my religious obligations. The woman refused and the flight was delayed. Airline security was called, and I was threatened with being removed from the flight and being blocked from flying in the future by being assigned to the no-fly list.

I need to fly to see my family and to conduct my business. I feel that people are misunderstanding my religious needs and discriminating against me. What should I do?

Misunderstood in Monsey

Dear Misunderstood,

Unfortunately it appears that nobody misunderstands your intention to discriminate against others based on gender. In America and most of the world, segregation or the denial of civil rights based on race or gender or sexual orientation no longer is condoned. That being said, you have three options to choose from.

You can live apart from the world in a self-imposed ghetto with other like-minded people, and continue to practice your gender segregation together. Or you can go out to the public sphere with your current attitudes and continue to clash with the people around you. Or you can modify your beliefs and behaviors and no longer practice segregation, discrimination, and the denial of civil rights based on gender. It’s up to you to decide how to live your life.

Rabbi Dr. Tzvee Zahavy was ordained at Yeshiva University and earned his Ph.D. in religious studies at Brown University. He has published several new Kindle Editions at Amazon.com, including “The Book of Jewish Prayers in English,” “Rashi: The Greatest Exegete,” “God’s Favorite Prayers” and “Dear Rabbi: The Greatest Talmudic Advice” which includes his past columns from the Jewish Standard and other essays.

My Dear Rabbi Talmudic Advice Column for October 2014: Downstairs Davening

Dear Rabbi: Your Talmudic advice column

Dear Rabbi,

I’ve been arguing with my friend, who wants me to join her at Shabbat services at an alternative minyan. She says I will find it more intellectual and more egalitarian and I should come with her. I explained to her that I went to that minyan once and found out that services were held in the basement of a private home.

I’ve learned that ideally public communal prayer should be conducted in the most aesthetic surroundings, preferably an attractive dedicated synagogue building, not a rec room.

I agree with that and I’m not going to go with my friend. But what should I tell her?

Aesthetic in Englewood

Dear Aesthetic,

It’s always best to tell your friend the truth about how you feel. But try not to disparage her choices when you do that.

In an ideal world, a community will provide its people with centralized places of worship that are artistically beautiful, intellectually stimulating, and open and welcoming to all who wish to come. By joining together in such venues, a local population can be more efficient in the use of its resources and strengthen social solidarity.

For most people, those simple, practical goals are enough to motivate them to accept some compromises to their independence and join in with the larger collective.

Your friend and her group want to vary from this path, and there is nothing inherently wrong with that. It may be that they want a subtly variant style of prayer or that they want greater control over lectures and learning that they cannot have within a mainstream group.

We know that even the nicest finished basement cannot be ranked as the ideal architectural context for creating a sense of the numinous for awe-inspiring worship. But your friend and her ilk opt to forego that for their offbeat independence. And they seem to have the resources to sustain their preferences.

Although in theory you are right to conclude that for the context of public prayer, above ground is preferable to underground, permanent is better than ad hoc, and aesthetics do matter, you should recognize what’s going on and not criticize her group’s decisions.

In our complex communities we need to allow that one person’s rec room can be another person’s special spiritual place.

Rabbi Dr. Tzvee Zahavy was ordained at Yeshiva University and earned his Ph.D. in religious studies at Brown University. He has published several new Kindle Editions at Amazon.com, including “The Book of Jewish Prayers in English,” “Rashi: The Greatest Exegete,” “God’s Favorite Prayers” and “Dear Rabbi: The Greatest Talmudic Advice” which includes his past columns from the Jewish Standard and other essays.

Is Muslim Prayer in the End Zone Kosher?

No it's not kosher to pray at any time in an NFL game. But then there's politics.

From the CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs

Husain Abdullah celebrates after scoring a touchdown on Monday night.

NFL says ref botched call on player's Muslim prayer
By Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog Editor 

(CNN) – Husain Abdullah can kneel and pray pretty much anywhere in America he wants. Except, perhaps, for an NFL end zone.

The Kansas City Chiefs' safety and devout Muslim was flagged for "unsportsmanlike conduct" after sliding to his knees in prayer to celebrate a touchdown Monday night. 

On Tuesday, the NFL said the referee botched the call.

"Husain Abdullah should not have been penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct," said Michael Signora, a league spokesman.

Daf Yomi Alert October 6: Babylonian Talmud Yebamoth Yevamot Yebamot Yevamos for Kindle or PDF or HTML for free

Purchase the Kindle edition: Soncino Babylonian Talmud Yebamoth.

Or get the Babylonian Talmud Yebamoth Yevamot Yebamot Yevamos HTML or PDF for free. Yebamoth (Sisters-in-law: 16 chapters, 122 folios, 871 pages) Yevamoth.PDF... Introduction to Yebamoth — Rev. Dr. Israel W. Slotki

Two column reformatted - Yebamoth (Sisters-in-law) 24a Yevomos 2a-19b | 24b Yevomos 20a-40b | 24c Yevomos 41a-63b | 24d Yevomos 64a-86b | 24e Yevomos 87a-106b | 24f Yevomos 107a-122b

The Soncino Babylonian Talmud Yebamoth was translated into english with notes by Israel W. Slotki with a foreword by J. H. Hertz, "MARRIAGE, DIVORCE, AND THE POSITION OF WOMAN, IN JUDAISM" and "INTRODUCTION TO SEDER NASHIM" by the editor Isidore Epstein.

The tractate of Yebamoth has its origin in the following Scriptural passages from which branch out the numerous laws and regulations, the arguments and discussions that cover its hundred and twenty odd folios.

"If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not be married abroad unto one not of his kin; her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her" (Deut. XXV, 5).

Book Serialization Part 4: Perfect Prayer + FREE BOOK!

Book Serialization Part 4:  I presented my recent book in serial format on my blog in 2013 - God's Favorite Prayers... and the kindle book is free Sept. 30 - Oct 4!

Perfect Prayer

F

ast forward now to a particularly intense stage of my spiritual life, in 1978. I was on a leave for six months from my teaching and went to live in Jerusalem with my wife and two young children. I decided on an ambitious program—to try to pray at least one time in every one of the synagogues in Jerusalem, the most sacred city in Judaism. That capital city of Judaism has dozens of varieties of shuls for all kinds of worship styles of the various and sundry communities who live there, side-by-side, mostly with mutual respect and in harmony with one another.

During that phase of my life, I imagined in an especially colorful way that I was engaged in a big international quest for a perfect religious experience. In a particularly fanciful fashion, I saw my professed search as a parallel to the one Bruce Brown catalogued in the great film Endless Summer. This famous 1966 documentary film follows two surfers, Michael Hynson and Robert August, on a quest to find the perfect wave. The film documented the two boys searching the globe for simple perfection in their quasi-mystical sport. The movie site IMDB sums up the story of the film, “Brown follows two young surfers around the world in search of the perfect wave, and ends up finding quite a few, in addition to some colorful local characters.”

Back then, the film spoke to those of us who were young seekers, as it did for many others of that idealistic age. Of course, the core of the sport of surfing is the wave and, no doubt, the lover of surfing wants to embark on the quest for the best possible wave. To find and surf the perfect wave is to experience the performance of the quintessence of the sport. I adored that classic Bruce Brown film, with its humor and charm that thinly cloaked a more serious story of sportsmen seeking a form of ultimate perfection in their beloved pastime.

Lots of New Yorker Jewish Content 9/29/2014

PROFILES
THE MAESTRO OF BARD COLLEGE

by Alice Gregory

Leon Botstein - Jewish!

ANNALS OF LAW
Can Google Forget?

by Jeffrey Toobin

Why Europe's highest court ruled that the right to privacy trumps the Internet.

Remembering everything - Jewish!

BOOKS
The Death Factory

by Joyce Carol Oates

Martin Amis imagines the Holocaust's middle managers in "The Zone of Interest."

Holocaust - Jewish!

-----

And finally... Amazon's transgender TV show - Jewish!

TV: Transparent from Amazon

...Excitingly, it's also the most Jewish show I've seen on TV. The Pfeffermans make Holocaust jokes, then get offended when other people make Holocaust jokes. Ali orders "tofu schmear" at a deli. "I'm so glad to be rid of that wig," Maura remarks, when a friend helps her style her gray hair. "I felt like I was wearing a sheitel"—an Orthodox head covering. As a member of the tribe, Soloway is free to critique a certain generational strain of urbane self-obsession, one that merges self-love with self-loathing. All the characters are sharply drawn, but in the first four episodes the one who feels the most original is Josh, a hip music producer who struggles with his younger girlfriend, his story flipping from funny to sad and back. Both Duplass and Hoffmann are amazing screen presences, charismatic weirdos who throw their bodies into sex scenes as if they were bendy straws. There's something impressively tough, too, about Soloway's refusal to sentimentalize the wild, abrupt selfishness of Sarah's affair, which comes across as equally manic and liberating.

Is Bruce Levenson Jewish?

Yes Bruce Levenson is a Jew. He is the team owner who has decided to sell Atlanta Hawks over a racist e-mail that he wrote in 2012. He admits that he, "wrote an 'inappropriate and offensive' email concerning African American spectators."

Levenson is a highly visible and communally active Jew. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports:

Levenson is a noted philanthropist who has been acknowledged for donating to organizations such as Birthright Israel, the Jewish Federation and the Jewish Youth Philanthropy Institute. Levenson has supported BBYO, the Jewish-American youth movement says on its website, adding that he also served as the Aleph Godol of Brandeis AZA.

Levenson was also among 100 prominent American Jews who sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in April, urging him to “work closely” with Kerry “to devise pragmatic initiatives, consistent with Israel’s security needs, which would represent Israel’s readiness to make painful territorial sacrifices for the sake of peace.”

Levenson accompanied his NBA team on a tour of the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. in April, and took his Holocaust survivor mother-in-law along with him.

My Dear Rabbi Talmudic Advice Column for September: What About Slow Pray?

Dear Rabbi,

I have been attending a 6:30 daily morning minyan at my local synagogue for many years. Right after minyan I rush out to catch a bus and go to work in the city. Many others at the minyan are on tight schedules and must connect with car pools or take their children to school. We always have completed our services at 7 promptly to satisfy our schedules.

Recently a man who is a mourner in shloshim (the first thirty days of mourning after losing a relative) was asked to lead the services, as is our custom. He recites the prayers clearly and accurately but there is a problem. He goes too slowly and sometimes finishes at five or ten minutes after seven. I have had to leave several times before the service is completed so that I could get to my bus.

I want to ask the man to speed up his davening. My friend says that is rude and I should not approach him. What is your advice?

Slow Pray in Bergenfield

Dear Slow Pray,

I play a lot of golf. So please allow me to describe a somewhat parallel question involving slow play that I encountered one recent day in that more profane activity. I was playing on a local course with three friends. The group in front of us was playing way too slowly. After several holes we all became antsy waiting for the foursome ahead of us to hit and move forward.

One of my friends insisted that we talk to them when they are on the next tee, to implore them to play faster. I argued that was poor etiquette, and if we wanted to get the pace quickened we had to speak to the ranger on the course and ask him to reprove the slow players.

We debated the point back and forth in our foursome for a while and eventually we did find the ranger and asked him to intercede. He spoke to the slowpokes, play picked up, and we did not have to confront the offending players.

Of course, slow play is not the same as slow pray. But you need to balance your desire for a steady and predictable speed with the needs of the community of praying people. You probably have a gabbai, a member of your minyan who is in charge. It’s best in a big minyan if you speak to the gabbai about the delay and let him approach the mourner who is leading your services.

If your minyan is small and friendly, you may take a chance on explaining your schedule-needs directly to the slow shaliach tzibbur (leader). It’s likely that he will not be offended and will make efforts to pick up the pace.

I do hope that you find helpful this brief Talmudic analysis and advice for the day-to-day reality of the pace of our contradictory world, where one person’s slow pray may be another person’s perfect day.

Tzvee Zahavy has published several new Kindle Editions at Amazon.com, including “The Book of Jewish Prayers in English,” “Rashi: The Greatest Exegete,” “God’s Favorite Prayers” and “Dear Rabbi: The Greatest Talmudic Advice” which includes his past columns from the Jewish Standard and other essays.

The Book of Jewish New Year Prayers
The Book of Jewish Prayers

Dear Rabbi: The Greatest Talmudic Advice
Kindle Talmud in English

God's Favorite Prayers

My Dear Rabbi Talmudic Advice Column for September: Troubled by Demons

Dear Rabbi,

I’ve been studying the Talmud and have come across some passages that take seriously things like demons, demon possession, and exorcisms. This got me thinking and asking: If the Talmud promotes primitive superstitions that I reject, why should I take seriously anything else that it teaches?

Possessed in Paterson

Dear Possessed,

You are correct to be concerned about this content. The Talmud’s Jews lived in Babylonia 1500 years ago, in a world that was filled with shedim, mazikim, and ruhot — demons and spirits, some evil, some not. The Talmud’s Jews believed that demons lived all around them, in trees, in bodies of water, on housetops, and in latrines. The Talmud cautions its readers that it’s a good thing that demons were invisible since, “If your eye could see them, you could not endure with them around. They surround a person. They are more numerous than people. Each person has a thousand demons on his left side and ten thousand on his right side.” So yes, demons appeared persistently throughout the Talmud and in the midrashim.

That cultural fact reminds us vividly of something that most observant Jews would prefer to forget — that the wisdom of our ancient books comes along with the naive baggage of a less scientific, less philosophical era.

So what are your options? Sure, you can insist on a take-it or leave-it approach to the Talmud. Since part of it is superstition and you reject that, then you may say let’s toss away the whole work.

As a rabbi I am obligated to remind you that we believe the religious and theological wisdom of the Talmud provides a profound and meaningful basis for our spiritual lives. It’s part of the extended Oral Torah that derives its authority from what God gave to Moses at Sinai.

And so does that mean that we rabbis today believe that the demons spoken of in the Talmud were, and are, real entities?

Some fundamentalist rabbis, even today, will say that yes, demons are real, exactly as described in the sacred texts.

More modern rabbis will suggest to you that there are sophisticated ways to handle this issue.

The traditional nuanced believer’s response will be to remind you that for centuries great scholars and sages have distinguished between the halachah (the legal and ritual content) and the aggadah (the folklore and legend) in the Talmud. Serious sages have agreed that we need not accept the aggadah at literal face value. And teachings about demons are part of the aggadah that can be glossed over or taken symbolically.

A common modern and somewhat trite and obvious explanation based in this free approach to the aggadah is the idea that demons are merely metaphors. We can say that we all have our own personal “demons” of one sort or another, demons with which we struggle. In this frame of interpretation we affirm to take hold and keep the aggadah, including what it says about demons, but with a grain of salt and a heap of free associations.

What’s my advice to you then? Talmudically, I see three possible paths. First, if you have already decided to reject your faith and community, you will conclude that you must be utterly consistent and throw the baby out with the bathwater. A second path open to you, if you have decided to continue in your community, is that you accept the traditional answers that distinguish between that which we consider to be authoritative and that which we no longer need to heed.

And a third path for you is that you continue to explore and struggle with the metaphoric use of talmudic ideas like demons. I know one person who spends several hours every month with a professional therapist trying to deal with the personal issues of his life in a modern behavioral way. Yet on occasion he finds it most helpful to concretize an issue that he faces, and to imagine it takes the form of a demon, and then to actively banish it from his life.

Whatever path you choose, I hope this question does not haunt you much longer and that the paths of your life not be beset by demons.

Tzvee Zahavy has published several new Kindle Editions at Amazon.com, including “The Book of Jewish Prayers in English,” “Rashi: The Greatest Exegete,” “God’s Favorite Prayers” and “Dear Rabbi: The Greatest Talmudic Advice” which includes his past columns from the Jewish Standard and other essays.

The Book of Jewish New Year Prayers
The Book of Jewish Prayers

Dear Rabbi: The Greatest Talmudic Advice
Kindle Talmud in English

God's Favorite Prayers