Fizzical Fruit is out in stores now! Fizzical FruitTM has finally simplified soda: sparkling water, lightly flavored with a refreshing splash of real physical fruit. When we say Blood Orange, you get only Blood Orange, not filler juices (like apple or pear) and no added sweeteners. You can now enjoy a bubbly drink without the extra [...]

Revelation Those who demean modern Orthodoxy as post-Orthodox, a swipe implying that it is un-orthodox, make a series of claims: The Hebrew scripture must be accepted as literal history We may only take the liberties that are found in early authorities. Ibn Ezra is wrong and is perhaps heretical for claiming that there are post-Mosaic additions to the Torah. In [...]

Question: what should be the Jewish community’s response to a mentally challenged, middle aged, very poor woman, who is baptized as a Presbyterian, attends church and attends synagogue services and attends the rabbis classes. At first estranged from Judaism and tried to connect but was rebuffed when applying to the intellectually and psychologically selective Hebrew [...]

Rav Herschel Schachter states: “A matter of halacha which has been accepted for centuries can not be overturned, unless one can demonstrate that there simply was an error involved from the very outset.” – On the Matter of Masorah, RHS. Given: Rambam paskened 2 matzos at the seder as per simple read of the Talmud. Gaonim have a tradition [...]

A visitor recently shared this story… In an early version of the “seed program” circa 1963 talmiddim asked R. Hutner’s advice re: whom to focus upon and who was a waste of time. R. Hutner suggested asking them about the origins of WWI. If they expressed curiosity about the assassin Princip’s motives, they were the desirable students. [...]

I. The Jewish laws of gender propriety are simple, intuitive and explicit in Israel’s holy books. The rules are explicit in the Bible and Talmud. There is no “fooling around” because this “foolishness” is morally wrong. Intergender contact with a non-spouse, if morally innocent, is innocent and not sinful. David was warmed with Avishag the [...]

There are many rabbis who are happy in the rabbinate, and there are rabbis who are not. In the non-Orthodox streams, the rabbi is the “virtuoso”/professional who is the master of Jewish life. He [or she] is paid the wage to be the sage. Since most non-Orthodox affiliates affiliate in order to affirm a sense of [...]

In an internet conversation/interchange with a rabbinic colleague, there emerged five doctrines that I maintain that are rejected by most Orthodox rabbis. By studying and reviewing these five doctrines, it emerges that liberal/modern Orthodoxy is the Judaism of the sacred book, while what is taken, or mistaken to be the Judaism of “ Tradition,” [...]

We all share a real and sincere concern regarding the real schism that sears the social fabric of contemporary Orthodoxy. We all must ask ourselves if we are observant Reconstructionist Jews, for whom God is in theory the power that makes for salvation and in fact is the reified ethos of our community but not [...]

Joseph and Benjamin were brothers, both sons of the beloved, deceased mother, Rachel. Joseph looked out for his brother, Benjamin, and as viceroy of Egypt, and as the second in command to the king, Joseph looked out for his brothers, the son’s of Israel and for all Egypt, as well. Mordecai is a descendant of Benjamin, [...]

I. Case: Joseph Reyes and his wife, Rebecca, are divorcing and they have one child, Ela. Joseph agreed to convert to Judaism in marriage but, during the bitter divorce, had the daughter baptized in a Roman Catholic Church, and then sending the event information to his estranged, soon to be ex-wife. Apparently, the couple agreed to [...]