What is spiritual success?

Becoming Jewish from the stronghold of Christianity requires a continual examination of thought and a questioning of beliefs. I don’t see this as bad, but I need to be careful about what beliefs I allow into the picture. In that context, I see the need to retract some of my statements about Judaism and even [...]

Becoming Jewish, Part 5 (Sacrifices)

When I was a boy, growing up in the Southern Bible Belt, it was common to come across Jack Chick tracts. He’s about as legalistic as they come with condemnation, hellfire and a gratis of little devils coming after anyone who has a good time, and even acts of kindness are chalked off as excuses [...]

Becoming Jewish, Part 4 (On Holiday)

The store owner smiled as she spoke, “You need to get a Seder plate now, you understand why?” “No,” I replied. “You have four children. … It’s like Christmas when you bring out the decorations.” That made sense. Our holidays, if not defined by symbols, are marked by them. My wife trusted my ability to [...]

Becoming Jewish, Part 3 (The Commandments)

I find the justification of modern-day Christian leaders to sequester the fourth of the ten commandments invalid and obscene. If leaders taught obedience to the rules outlined in Acts 21:25 or the seven laws of Noah, which it strongly overlaps, then it would make sense to not follow the Sabbath. Most of the pastors who [...]

Becoming Jewish, Part 2 (The Ritual Of Righteous Living)

My anthropologist professor informed the class that every amassing ritual has a fail-break to stop it. Her example was the point in the wedding ceremony where the congregation is asked that if anyone knows of a reason why the couple shouldn’t wed to “Speak now or forever hold your peace.” Other times rituals fail because [...]

Becoming Jewish, Part 1 (Half Born)

The doctor hadn’t arrived and the contractions were getting more frequent. “Don’t push!” the nurse cried out, then flushed white and ran out of the room in a panic.
It was her first day in the maternity ward and knew only what she was trained for. Contractions were two minutes apart, lasting more than a minute [...]

Let’s Meditate on Chamad

In a recent brief facebook encounter with Rabbi Daniel Lapin, he addressed the issue of IQ.
Rabbi: Fortunately, ancient Jewish wisdom rates Wisdom as far more important than IQ, as our IQ is fixed but our wisdom can be increased. No word for “intelligence” in Torah. Wisdom is “chochmah”. Increase wisdom? Sure, see tomorrow’s Thought Tool.
I [...]

Think About It

Among the myriad of monuments and museums in Washington D.C. there is the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Its message is begging to be understood but in a twist of irony the museum itself is a practice against civil liberties for the very same government-centralized and abusive-capitalizing concepts that were outlined in Mein Kampf itself.

Although [...]