Discover Top Posts Tagged with #jewish values

my #jewish values tag is random funny text posts that feel jewish af to me

When did we, the Jewish people surrender our role as the moral compass of humanity?

To save one life is equal to saving the entire world. Every human being is created in the Divine image. A Jew is forbidden from committing 3 sins: murder, practicing idolatry, committing incest or adultery. One is permitted to break almost all other commandments to save a life. You may not ignore the blood of your neighbor. Welcome the stranger and treat him/her with respect. For you were…

#collateral damage #Gaza #Jewish values #mass killings #moral high ground #when the victim becomes the perpetrator

Dave Portnoy is teaching the wrong lesson about the Jewish community. We're more than Auschwitz. It's a lesson I learned 50 years ago at my bar mitzvah.

#antisemitism #bar mitzvah #Dave Portnoy #featured #Jewish values

(Repro)Shabbat Shalom ❤️ #MyJewishLearning

Who do you identify with on this January 20, 2025? The teacher, prophet, and peacemaker Martin Luther King, or the vulgar, narcissitic populist being sworn in to get rid of immigrants and lower the price of eggs?

Our Work in the Next Four Years By: Roly Matalon, Senior Rabbi and Rosh Kehillah, Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, NY Next Monday, January 20, as we honor the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Donald Trump will be inaugurated for his second term as president. The impact of both men on our nation is profound, yet their differences in personality, character, values, and vision could…

#B&039;nai Jeshurun #Battling hate #greed vs. humanity #Jewish values #Rabbi Roly Matalon

"You are the man!"

When looking at the current situation in the Middle East, we should consider the story of King David and the Prophet Nathan and other lessons from Hebrew school.

When I was in Hebrew school, I learned about King David, Bathsheba, and the famous rebuke by the Prophet Nathan, “You are the man!” (2 Samuel 12:7) This reminds us it doesn’t matter how good, devout, or successful you are, when you abuse your power, you deserve the consequences for your actions. The story also reminds us it’s our responsibility to speak truth to power as the Prophet Nathan…

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#Gaza #humanity #Israeli-Palestinian conflict #Jewish values

So what’s the modern interpretation of the laws about keeping slaves? I’ve heard that said laws where a lot more kind to slaves then the surrounding nations but, like, it’s still slavery?

Hi anon,

With Pesach coming up, I'm sure that this question is on a lot of people's minds. It's a good question and many rabbanim throughout history have attempted to tackle it. Especially today, with slavery being seen as a moral anathema in most societies (obviously this despite the fact that unfortunately slavery is still a very real human rights crisis all over the world), addressing the parts of the Torah that on the surface seem to condone it becomes a moral imperative.

It's worth noting that the Jewish world overall condemns slavery. In my research for this question, I came across zero modern sources arguing that slavery is totally fine. I'm sure that if you dug deep enough there's some fringe wacko somewhere arguing this, but every group has its batshit fringe.

Here are some sources across the political and religious observance spectrum that explain it better than I could:

Chabad (this article is written by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, a wonderful rabbi whose words I have learned deeply over the years. He is one of my favorite rabbis despite not seeing eye to eye with a lot of the Chabad movement)

Conservative (to be clear: this is my movement; it's not actually politically conservative in most shuls, just poorly named. We desperately need to bully them into calling themselves Masorti Olami like the rest of the world. It's [essentially] a liberal traditional egalitarian movement.)

Conservative pt. 2 (different rabbi's take)

Reform (note that this is from the Haberman Institute, which was founded by a Reform rabbi. Link is to a YouTube recording of a recent lecture on the topic.)

Chareidi (this rabbi is an official rabbi of the Western Wall in Israel, so in a word, very frum)

Modern Orthodox

I want to highlight this last one, because it is written by the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Chovevei, which is a progressive Modern Orthodox rabbinical school. They work very hard to read Torah through an authentically Orthodox lens while also maintaining deeply humanist values. As someone who walks a similar (if not identical) balancing act, this particular drash (sermon) spoke very deeply to me, and so I'm reposting it in its entirety**

[Edit: tumblr.hell seems real intent on not letting me do this in my original answer, so I will repost it in the reblogs. Please reblog that version if you're going to. Thanks!]

Something you will probably notice as you work your way through these sources, you'll note that there are substantially more traditional leaning responses. This is because of a major divide in how the different movements view Torah, especially as it pertains to changing ethics over time and modernity. I'm oversimplifying for space, but the differences are as follows:

The liberal movements (Reform, Renewal, Reconstructionist, etc.) view halacha as non-binding and the Torah as a human document that is, nevertheless, a sacred document. I've seen it described as the spiritual diary of our people throughout history. Others view it as divinely inspired, but still essentially and indelibly human.

The Orthodox and other traditional movements view halacha as binding and Torah as the direct word of G-d given to the Jewish people through Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses) on Mt. Sinai. (Or, at a minimum, as a divinely inspired text written and compiled by people that still represents the word of G-d. This latter view is mostly limited to the Conservative and Modern Orthodox movements.)

Because of these differences, the liberal movements are able to address most of these problematic passages by situating them in their proper historical context. It is only the Orthodox and traditional movements that must fully reckon with the texts as they are, and seek to understand how they speak to us in a contemporary context.

As for me? I'm part of a narrow band of traditional egalitarian progressive Jews that really ride that line between viewing halacha as binding and the Torah as divinely given, despite recognizing the human component of its authorship - more a partnership in its creation than either fully human invention or divine fiat. That said, I am personally less interested in who wrote it literally speaking and much more interested in the question of: How can we read Torah using the divinely given process of traditional Torah scholarship while applying deeply humanist values?

Yeshivat Chovevei does a really excellent job of approaching Torah scholarship this way, as does Hadar. Therefore, I'm not surprised that this article captures something I have struggled to articulate: an authentically orthodox argument for change.

#jumblr #Judaism #Torah #Jewish ethics #Jewish values #Jewish views on slavery