Jeremy Rosen
ARTICLES BY: Jeremy Rosen
Is There Such a Thing as the Perfect Marriage?
The marriage of Isaac and Rebecca appears on the surface to have been a perfect one. Theirs was the only relationship among the patriarchs where...
Shabbat Chayei Sarah: Say What You Mean
This week’s Torah reading has a subtle undercurrent of a theme: Never take what people say at face value! When Sarah died, Abraham wanted to buy...
Shabbat Vayera: Not Lot
Lot does not seem to be a very nice person. His uncle (and brother-in-law) Abraham takes him under his wing, after Lot’s father dies, and...
Parshat Lech Lecha: No One Is Perfect
Abraham is the first, full character study in the Torah. The “ten generations” between Adam and Noah, and then again between Noah and Abraham, are...
Shabbat Noah: The Curse of Canaan
After the great flood, Noah emerged from the ark with his family. He offered a thanksgiving sacrifice to God. And then the first thing he...
Shabbat Bereishit: Disobedience
After the first chapter of Genesis describes the creation of the physical universe, the rest of the book goes on to deal with the often-ambivalent...
Sukkot: A Different Kind of Festival
The ancient festival of Sukkot has numerous elements to it. First is the Sukkah. We value our homes and the security of our little palaces,...
A Day Like No Other
The Torah says of Yom Kippur, “For this day will atone for you, to cleanse you of your sins and you will be purified before...
Shabbat Shuvah: Why God Hides
The Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is always called the Shabbat Shuvah, or the Shabbat of Return. In the Torah reading this week, Moses...
Rosh Hashanah and the Shmitah
Our New Year starts on the evening of September 6 (year 5782 in the Jewish calendar), and ushers in the new Sabbatical year. In Hebrew...
Appeasement
I was brought up to despise the word appeasement. It was the ideology favored by much of the British aristocracy and political leaders before the...
Judaism and Monarchies
I am amazed that so many Americans are enamored with the British Monarchy. When I was the principal of Carmel College in 1973, we hosted...
The Igbo Jews of Nigeria
In 1960, Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom. As with many new African states, the borders of the country did not reflect earlier ethnic,...
If You Don’t Love Your Synagogue, Try Something New
It is only a month until the “Days of Awe,” the Yamim Noraim. Actually, I have no idea where the term "High Holidays" comes from....
