Read Rabbi Cardozo’s eulogy for his wife Rabbanit Freyda Rachel Lopes Cardozo z”l
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.
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
In my Thoughts to Ponder I have tried to touch on issues that were ignored or even denied in the religious Jewish community, often because these challenged conventional religious notions that I felt needed more attention and a different approach.
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
It’s high time that we who consider ourselves religious have an honest look in the mirror and ask ourselves what brought us to this lifestyle. Was it a genuine longing for religion and mitzvah observance, or was it an insurance policy?
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy and Parashat Beshalach by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Joy is not a “peak experience” which climaxes and ends suddenly, but rather a plateau. It is not the ecstatic fire of the moment but the glow of growing from within.
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
The purpose of genuine religious life is to protest against this optical illusion and to teach us to refocus our spiritual spectacles. It is not that religion shows us something new. Rather, it shows us what we have seen all our lives but have never noticed, that there is dazzling goodness in this world. There is order instead of chaos; there is diversity, not just monotonous existence; and above all, there is the infinite grace of the human deed.
In Converting to Judaism and Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Judaism is not only about nationhood and observance, but about living in a spiritual, emotional order which cannot be narrowed down to doctrines, dogmas, or commandments.
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
What is the Talmud all about? The first thing that must be emphasized is that the Talmud displays deliberate chaos. It roams from one topic to another without any real inner logic, other than that one word gives rise to a whole new idea without warning us that it is coming. The outsider may have trouble making heads or tails of it all. And then suddenly one gets the hang of it and realizes that all this chaos flows together into an unbelievable picture, with hundreds of colors harmoniously coming together. That moment of comprehension is a great joy for the intellect and the human soul.
In Halacha and Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Yael Shahar
The Talmud manages to do what few legal systems even attempt: it integrates psychological and moral issues seamlessly with normative legal guidelines. But to appreciate the full extent of this integration, it's important to pay attention to something that is too often left out of today's Gemara classes: the aggadah.
The Upcoming Post Corona Crisis - Part 5
In Halacha, Jewish Thought and Philosophy and Rav Kook by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
In returning the prophetic spirit to Judaism, the world of Aggadah is of crucial importance. Aggadah is the prophetic voice within Judaism, where prophecy not only speaks, but allows the reader to answer. It is the part of Judaism that deals with the sum total of human life. It prevents mechanical observance by freeing our inner spirit. Whereas Halacha is the consummation, Aggadah is its aspiration.
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
COVID-19 has highlighted the weaknesses of our ideologies, both religious and secular, to provide meaning to our lives.
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
With the demise of Rabbi Sacks, world Jewry as never before, has to ask itself how it can produce Rabbis on the level of Rabbi Sacks so that Judaism can continue to be a world player.
In the context of the launch of a new theater company whose mission is to bring entertaining theological content to audiences in and around Jerusalem, Roy Doliner’s Divine Right was chosen as the company’s first production. This play about the Disputation of Barcelona balances historical accuracy and creative dramatic content in a satisfying and intellectually honest portrayal of the events of the Disputation for educated lay audiences. This paper examines the technical, dramaturgical, and theological issues that arose during this production for the playwright, director, actors, and audiences.
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Music touches the otherwise untouchable and intangible within us. It soars toward the infinite. When I listen to music, I feel like my feet are lifted off the ground and my soul is extracted from my body and starts to live a life of its own. There is no way to “prove” this feeling of transcendence, just as love cannot be proven. It belongs to an entirely different realm.