Tag Archives: professor marc

Why Aren’t Most Jews Orthodox?

Dear Orthodox intellectual: Have you publicly addressed the primary reasons why most Jews are not Orthodox? If you haven’t, I’d love to see that. I’m curious if you think the biggest obstacle to non-Orthodox considering Orthodoxy is intellectual (most of … Continue reading

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Was The Hatam Sofer An Extremist?

Here’s some background on the 18-19th Century rabbi the Hatam Sofer. Professor Marc B. Shapiro blogs: The Hatam Sofer is often portrayed as both a religious extremist as well as lacking a critical sense. The first assumption, that he was … Continue reading

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Is The Torah Historically Accurate?

Professor Marc B. Shapiro writes: I summarized R. Eleazar Ashkenazi’s position in his Tzafnat Paneah, pp. 29-30, as follows: He also offers another explanation for the lengthy lifespans [in the Torah], namely, that the Torah recorded what the popular belief … Continue reading

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Can Too Much Torah Study Hurt Your Spiritual Life?

Professor Marc B. Shapiro is out with his first blog post since April. He writes: I have mentioned how R. Kook compares the Torah scholars and the masses, and how the masses have elements of natural morality that are not … Continue reading

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Spiritual Reasons For Tragedies

Professor Marc B. Shapiro has new blog post up: As I am writing this people are once again outraged by something R. Ovadiah Yosef said, in that he attributed the fires in Israel to lack of Sabbath observance. Obviously, this … Continue reading

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