Read Rabbi Cardozoโs eulogy for his wife Rabbanit Freyda Rachel Lopes Cardozo zโl
To think Jewishly is to stand at the edge of certainty and still choose to believe, question, and seek. Jewish thought lives in the tension between faith and doubt, law and freedom, eternity and change.
Would you convert?
In Franz Rosenzweig, Jewish Thought and Philosophy, Moses and Parashat Yitro by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Yitro confronts us for the first time with a new phenomenon: to be a Jew by choice. He presents all Jews with a major challenge: how to become a Jew by choice even when one has been born into the fold.
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
ืืขืงืืืช ืืฆืืืื ืืืกืืืืช ืฉื ืชืขืฉืืืช ืืืฉืจ, ืื ืืืืืื ื ืืืืช ื ืฉืืืืช ืืื ืืื, ืืืชืืืืก ืืืขืื ืืืื ืืฆืืจื ืืืื ืืช, ืืคื ืฉืืืืื ืืืืืืืช ืืืจืฉืช, ืืคื ืืืืจ ืืืชืจ ืืืืชืจ ืงืฉื, ืื ืื ืืืืชื ืืคืฉืจื. ืืืืืช ืฉืืืื ืืฆืขืจ ืืขืื ืืืื ืืืื ื ืืงืืืืืช ืืืืืืืช ืฉืืืื ืืฉืจ ืืคืจืงืื, ืื ืืชืขืฉืืื ืืขื ืงืืช ืฉืืฉ ืื ื ืืืื, ืื ืืืืงืื ืืืื ืืื ื ืืืืืื ืืืืฉืืจ. ืืื ืื ืจืืื ืืืฃ ืจืฆืื ืืืฆื ืขื ืืื ืื ืฉืืื, ืฉืืืืืื ืืชืืื ืืืคืื ืืฆืืืื ืืื?
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy, Moses and Parashat Shemot by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
What was Mosheโs secret that enabled him to continue to fight for his goals, in spite of everything, and succeed where so many others would have failed? The answer is simple: he knew how to lose. He knew that his failures were in fact the building blocks for his future successes.
A Warning to Our Rabbis
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy and Parashat Balak by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
How much might Judaism have benefited from people like Jesus, Elisha Ben Avuyah and Spinoza, had they not been rejected and had they contributed to the tradition in which they were raised?
The Birth of Non-Jewish Jewish Communities
In Converting to Judaism and Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Today, Israel has many thousands of immigrants who are of Jewish descent, yet not halachically Jewish. Should we convert them even though we know that they will not live a fully committed Jewish life? Or should we abandon them, basically ignoring and excluding them as we do now? I believe there is a third way, a way of reconciling these difficulties.
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by E.S.
Spiritual experiences may represent our yearning for the โinfiniteโ, but this yearning can only find expression in seeking to improve ourselves to the best of our ability and seeking to relate with love to the people and the world around us, while at the same time coming to an acceptance of our finiteness and separateness, overcoming the grief and outrage we feel at not being everything. Yearning for the infinite is really a way of learning how to be finite.
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by The Cardozo Academy
Religious experience is not necessarily any more valuable than purely spiritual experience. A vital part of the defining genius of the Jewish tradition is that it produced an intricate set of observances which, together, create an experiential space which is hospitable to spiritual experience and, to an extent, stimulates it.
In Halacha, Jewish Thought and Philosophy, Maimonides and The Ishbitzer by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Halacha is the practical upshot of unfinalized beliefs, a practical way of life while remaining in theological suspense. In matters of the spirit and the quest to find God, it is not possible to come to final conclusions. The quest for God must remain open-ended to enable the human spirit to find its way through trial and discovery.
What turns a spiritual experience into a religious one is the training and preparation that creates a religiously shaped receptacle for an experience or at least a religious vector for channeling the experience.
In Education and Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
To live a life of faith is to be prepared to live a committed religious life according to an inner belief of the heart and not because there is absolute empirical certainty. There is a constant need for questioning and rethinking oneโs beliefs. In many ways, religion must be warfareโa fight against the indolence and callousness that stifles inquiry.
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
The breaking of idols and slaughtering of sacred cows is, in itself, a Jewish task that began with Avraham Avinu.ย Consequently, we should not be afraid to do so, or at least to discuss the possible need for change. This could raise some eyebrows in certain religious circles, and we might even become controversial. So, we must keep in mind that great controversies are also great emancipators. They often clarify and enhance essential philosophies behind majestic traditions.
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy and Parashat Bereshit by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Jewish tradition teaches that man was created in Godโs image. Whatever this may mean, it definitely includes the fact that God created man in such a way that man, in desperate need to discover himself, would constantly search for Him. Freud, we believe, gave a most original interpretation of this fact. With his discovery of the father figure he may have uncovered the mechanism through which God created an idea of Himself as the ultimate Father in the human mind.