Scripture Reading for May 16, 2015
Torah: Leviticus 26:3 – 27:34, “Bechukotai: (My statutes … ) Haftorah: Jeremiah 16:19 – 17:14 New Testament: Acts 1:9 – 11 Gospel: Matthew 21:33 – 46, “Shemu” (Listen … )
RABBI JACOB EMDEN’S VIEWS ON CHRISTIANITY
By: RABBI JACOB EMDENS, Harvey Falk Chapter 1 of “Jesus The Pharisee a New Look a The Jewishness of Jesus”— Rabbi Emden(1697–1776) was one of the leading Torah authorities of the past several centuries. Historians of the rabbinate have often compared. him to Maimonides, both having written on all branches of Jewish knowledge, and both having…
Denying Jews the Right to Define Judaism is Anti-Semitism
By: EVELYN GORDON, Commentary Magazine— In honor of this week’s 5th Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism, I’d like to propose a new definition of the term: Anti-Semitism is when Jews, alone of all the world’s religions, are denied the right to decide for themselves what their religion’s core tenets actually are. Nobody would dream of…
How Orthodox Money Is Reshaping Republican Politics
By:NATHAN GUTTMAN, Forward— Democratic and Republican presidential candidates have long appreciated the importance of tapping into the pool of Jewish donors, who are among the most generous political contributors in the nation. But until recently, Orthodox Jews have been an elusive target. Like their Democratic counterparts, Republican candidates chose to go after more secular —…
Rubio: Palestinian statehood not currently possible
By: JTA, Times of Israel— US Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a candidate for the Republican nomination for president, said he would not pursue a two-state solution for the Israel-Palestinian conflict right now. “I don’t think the conditions exist for that today,” Rubio said Wednesday during a question-and-answer session hosted by PBS’s Charlie Rose at…
Survey Shows Quarter of US Jews Leaving Their Faith
By: ARI SOFFER, Israel National News— A new survey released Tuesday reveals some interesting data about American Jews. The Pew Research Religious Landscape Survey revealed both positive and negative findings concerning the future of United States Jewry, including the fact that – in spite of relatively low birthrates and growing intermarriage – the community’s relative…
Ex-CIA head sees ‘strategic’ threat for Israel in boycott campaign
By: ELHANAN MILLER, Times of Israel— NEW YORK — Israel is facing a “strategic threat” in the form of the international boycott, divestment and sanction campaign, former CIA chief David Petraeus said on Monday. Petraeus said that Israel was currently experiencing “the best of times and the most worrisome of times.” He was speaking during…
The Vatican Cannot Protect Christians by Recognizing Palestine
By: ABRAHAM MILLER, Observer— When it comes to Israel, the Vatican sometimes cannot seem to get it right. And the announcement on Wednesday that it had concluded a treaty to recognize Palestinian statehood is yet another indication that the Vatican might want to follow Jesus’ admonition to give unto God what is his, and leave…
PA Parliament: Jews Have No Right to Even ‘One Inch’ of Israel
The Palestinian parliament is continuing to reject any Jewish right to the “land of Palestine”, meaning the entire land of Israel, including the sovereign territory of the State of Israel. At a special meeting in Gaza on Thursday held on the occasion of Nakba Day, the Palestinian parliament stated that the entire “land of Palestine”…