In the end--at least in the end of late antiquity--rabbinic Judaism refused the option of becoming a religion, another species of the kind that Christianity offered ... Judaism is not and has not been, since early in the Christian era a "religion" in the sense of an orthodoxy whereby heterodox views, even very strange opinions,* would make one an ( Read more... )

First of all, I will insist that the borders between Christianity and Judaism are as constructed and imposed, as artificial and political as any of the borders of the earth ... Rather than a natural-sounding "parting of the ways," such as we usually hear about with respect to these two "religions," I will suggest an imposed partitioning of what was ( Read more... )

Day 35 ( Read more... )

There are three ways to bring unity between two opposites ( Read more... )

Day 18:

If we were to search for the first spark of loshon hora as it begins to develop in a person's mind, we would find it in the part of the brain that makes judgements. Every day, many times a day, each of us observes other people's actions, and we can choose to judge those actions positively or negatively. For many people, the first response ( Read more... )

Day 3:

To understand the severity of loshon hora and its ramifications, one must first understand the judicial system in Heaven through which the Jewish People are judged. The Chofetz Chaim explains that the Heavenly judicial process is instigated by words which Jews speak on this world. Our negative conversations are the key which opens the door ( Read more... )

When Eric came home last night, he presented me with two books, a commentary on Pirkei Avos and Chofetz Chaim's handbook on loshon hora, forbidden speech. The book is divided into daily portions, but today I indulged in two at once:

The Midrash (Devarim Rabbah 6,14) states, "Hashem says, In this world, because there is loshon hora among you, I ( Read more... )

From the point of view of the Catholic Church, Judaism is a religion that springs from divine revelation. As Cardinal Kasper noted, “God’s grace, which is the grace of Jesus Christ according to our faith, is available to all. Therefore, the Church believes that Judaism, i.e. the faithful response of the Jewish people to God’s irrevocable covenant, ( Read more... )