Tag Archives: rabbi jacob

Bad Rabbi

Nick Madigan writes for the Baltimore Sun: For more than half a century, Rabbi Jacob A. Max was a dominant figure in Baltimore’s Jewish community, founder of one of its most important synagogues, an influential leader who officiated at countless … Continue reading

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Rabbi Yaakov Emden Was Almost Seduced By His Cousin

I’m listening to a lecture by Dr. Marc B. Shapiro (for Torah in Motion) on the Nazir, Rabbi David Cohen (1887-1972). Dr. Shapiro talks about the diary of Rabbi Jacob Emden (a great Talmudist of the 18th Century): "We have … Continue reading

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I Am Happy

At my yoga studio last night, this old hippie said to the director about me, "He looks happier than you do!" Today, my left sideview mirror fell off. I picked it up and screwed the bolts back in. I can’t … Continue reading

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The Bomb That Healed Atlanta

ATLANTA (AP) — The bombing of a prominent Atlanta synagogue in 1958 claimed no lives, but the community outrage that it prompted helped galvanize the city’s nervous Jewish community to embrace the civil rights movement. Members of The Temple gathered … Continue reading

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Toronto’s Orthodox Jews Leaving For New Jersey

John Lorinc writes: In a spare living room furnished with a bookshelf of Hebrew texts and special silverware for religious occasions, Rabbi Jacob Hirschman, 71, tallied up the locations of his grown children. The two youngest, he says, still live … Continue reading

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The Oy of Sex; Adultery Can’t Be Kosher. Can It? A Story About God, Conscience . . . and Concubines

You can seek all the outlets you want, but don’t claim God blesses you for it. In Judaism and Christianity and Islam, sex is a genie to be confined to the marital bottle (Dennis Prager’s words). I may sin but … Continue reading

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‘Sacred Secrets: The Sanctity of Sex in Jewish Law’ by Gershon Winkler

Nobody has ever translated Rabbi Jacob Emden‘s memoir into English because it is so raunchy. It’s time somebody breaks this boundary. A reader posts to Amazon.com: This mischevious little book gathers excerpts from all over the Jewish legal codes on … Continue reading

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