tomirvine The Babylonian Talmud (dated to 300 CE) lists seven laws which God gave to the Children of Noah (B’nei Noach): 1 Acknowledge that there is only one G-d who is Infinite and Supreme above all things. Do not replace that Supreme Being with finite idols, be it yourself, or other beings. This command includes such … Read more
Rabbi Masoud Refael Alfasi of Tunisia Born: Fez, Morocco, (year ?) Died: Tunisia, 1774 Rabbi Masoud Refael Alfasi was living in the town of Fez, in the Kingdom of Morocco. One day, Rabbi Alfasi decided to travel to the Holy Land, and he joined a caravan of traders, travelers, and camels, that was leaving Fez … Read more
Maimonides lists his Eight Levels of Giving, as written in the Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Matanot Aniyim (Laws about Giving to Poor People), Chapter 10:7-14: 1. Giving an interest-free loan to a person in need; forming a partnership with a person in need; giving a grant to a person in need; finding a job for a … Read more
If a Jew has no one to quarrel with, he quarrels with God, and we call it theology; or he quarrels with himself, and we call it psychology. Or he quarrels with the psychoanalyst, and we call it literature. Two Jews and three opinions are better that three Jews with no opinions. Passionate arguments are … Read more
The Chofetz Chayim enumerated thirty-one Torah commandments which may be violated when a person speaks or listens to loshon hora (gossip, slander). The number of infringements will vary in accordance with the circumstances, but on each occasion when loshon hora is spoken many commandments are violated… Refraining from loshon hora is not merely a meritorious … Read more
G-d does not remain in debt, for every good thing a person does, he is recompensed grandly by G-d, with children, health and livelihood, in abundance. – Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn * * * In order to learn, a person does not have to be a sage – every person should learn. A wise person … Read more
The Jew is a “resident” in the world, for the Torah instructs us not escape the physical reality but to inhabit it and elevate it. At the same time, the Jew feels himself a “stranger” in the material world — his true home is the world of spirituality, holiness and G-dliness from which his soul … Read more
The Ten Commandments were given by Jehovah to the Children of Israel, as recorded in the Old Testament, Exodus 20. * * * Exodus 20 [1] And God spake all these words, saying, [2] I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of … Read more
The following was written by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. The most confusing story of the Bible involves G-d’s commandment to Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. What was this G-d, who would later declare that all human, and especially child, sacrifice to be an abomination, thinking? The most insightful commentary I have seen on this story … Read more
Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. Adam then blamed Eve who blamed the serpent. (Genesis 3) Noah became drunk after he left the ark and had planted a vineyard. (Genesis 9) Abraham lied twice about his wife Sarah, each time claiming that Sarah was merely his sister. (Genesis 12 & 20) Lot had an … Read more
