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# The Cardozo Academy

## Sitemaps
[XML Sitemap](https://cardozoacademy.org/sitemap_index.xml): Includes all crawlable and indexable pages.

## Posts
- [The Philosophy and Purpose of Thoughts to Ponder](https://cardozoacademy.org/the-philosophy-and-purpose-of-thoughts-to-ponder/): 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.
- [WHO STOLE MY RELIGION?  THE HARD STRUGGLE FOR JUDAISM’S VALUES IN A COMPLACENT AND SELF-CENTERED WORLD](https://cardozoacademy.org/who-stole-my-religion-the-hard-struggle-for-judaisms-values-in-a-complacent-and-self-centered-world/): The public is invited to attend the
Jerusalem Lecture Series on Jewish Philosophy 5775/2014-5
PROFESSOR RICHARD SCHWARTZ
- [מקום שספקנים עומדים – מקור ראשון](https://cardozoacademy.org/%d7%91%d7%9e%d7%a7%d7%95%d7%9d-%d7%a9%d7%a1%d7%a4%d7%a7%d7%a0%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%a2%d7%95%d7%9e%d7%93%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%9e%d7%a7%d7%95%d7%a8-%d7%a8%d7%90%d7%a9%d7%95%d7%9f/): 29 באוגוסט 2014
- [JERUSALEM POST ARTICLE  – August 15, 2014](https://cardozoacademy.org/jerusalem-post-article-august-15-2014/): Jerusalem Post Article
August 15, 2014 Friday 19 Av, 5774
- [Listen here to the lecture of Professor Howard Wettstein: Can a Chozer B’Teshuva also be a Chozer B’She’ela?](https://cardozoacademy.org/listen-here-to-the-lecture-of-professor-howard-wettstein-can-a-chozer-bteshuva-also-be-a-chozer-bsheela/): Listen to Professor Howard Wettstein’s talk on: Can a Chozer B’Teshuva also be a Chozer B’She’ela? Can Doubt Have a Role in Religious Life?
Click here to listen to Professor Howard Wettstein’s talk on: Can a Chozer B’Teshuva also be a Chozer B’She’ela? Can Doubt Have a Role in Religious Life Can Doubt Have a Role in Religious Life? ? which was deliveredon Wednesday June 25, 2014 at Yad Harav Nissim, Jerusalem.
 
- [Listen to the Lecture of Rabbi Herzl Hefter: Saving  God from True Believers](https://cardozoacademy.org/listen-to-the-lecture-of-rabbi-herzl-hefter-saving-god-from-true-believers/): Listen to Rabbi Herzl Hefter’s talk on: Saving  God from True Believers
- [Can a Chozer B’Teshuva also be a Chozer B’She’ela?](https://cardozoacademy.org/can-a-chozer-bteshuva-also-be-a-chozer-bsheela/): The public is invited to attend the
Jerusalem Lecture Series on Jewish Philosophy 5774/2013-4
PROFESSOR HOWARD WETTSTEIN Will be speaking on:
Can a Chozer B’Teshuva also be a Chozer B’She’ela?
Can Doubt Have a Role in Religious Life?
- [Rabbi Nataf’s New Book](https://cardozoacademy.org/rabbi-natafs-new-book/): The Cardozo Academy is pleased to have aided and to now announce the publication of former Educational Director, Rabbi Francis Nataf's third volume in his Redeeming Relevance series, Redeeming Relevance in the Book of Numbers, which can currently be ordered from the publisher.
- [Saving God from True Believers](https://cardozoacademy.org/saving-god-from-true-believers/): The public is invited to attend the Jerusalem Lecture Series on Jewish Philosophy 5774/2013-4
RABBI HERZL HEFTER
will be speaking on
SAVING GOD FROM TRUE BELIEVERS
- [Watch the VIDEO of Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo:  Rescuing Judaism](https://cardozoacademy.org/video-rescuing-judaism/): Dear Friends,
- [The public is invited to attend the Musical Evening with Rav Kook z.l.](https://cardozoacademy.org/the-public-is-invited-to-attend-the-musical-evening-with-rav-kook-z-l/): The David Cardozo Academy in collaboration with Beit HaRav Kook invites you to a special evening of learning and music based on the writings and poetry of
- [Rescuing  Judaism](https://cardozoacademy.org/rescuing-judaism/): Rescuing Judaism
Dangerous and Unacceptable Rabbinical Decisions, Immoral Religious Acts, the Need for Ethical Halacha and the Controversial Limmud Conference
- [Freeing murderers: Letter to the editor of the Jerusalem Post.](https://cardozoacademy.org/freeing-murderers-letter-to-the-editor-of-the-jerusalem-post/): Sir, – Nobody can complain that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is freeing murderers.
- [Listen to Professor William Kolbrener’s talk on: Is Teshuva Possible?  In the Shadow of Trauma in Modern Israel](https://cardozoacademy.org/listen-to-professor-william-kolbreners-talk-on-is-teshuva-possible-in-the-shadow-of-trauma-in-modern-israel/): Listen to Professor William Kolbrener’s talk on: Is Teshuva Possible?  In the Shadow of  Trauma in Modern Israel.
- [Is Teshuva Possible?   In the Shadow of Trauma in Modern Israel](https://cardozoacademy.org/is-teshuva-possible-in-the-shadow-of-trauma-in-modern-israel/): The public is invited to attend the lecture of Professor William Kolbrener
- [Choral Spanish/Portuguese Selichot](https://cardozoacademy.org/choral-spanishportuguese-selichot/): Join us for a Choral Arvit
Incorporating Special Selichot
In the Spanish and Portuguese Tradition
- [Lecture Tour South Africa](https://cardozoacademy.org/lecture-tour-south-africa/): Rabbi and Mrs. Lopes Cardozo will visit South Africa.
- [Listen to Rabbi Marc Angel’s Talk on: Conversions, Autopsies and Women, How Hashkafa Impacts on Halakha:  Rav Kook versus Rav Uziel](https://cardozoacademy.org/listen-to-rabbi-marc-angels-talk-on-conversions-autopsies-and-women-how-hashkafa-impacts-on-halakha-rav-kook-versus-rav-uziel/): Click here to listen to Rabbi Marc Angel’s talk on: Conversions, Autopsies and Women, How Hashkafa Impacts on Halakha:  Rav Kook versus Rav Uziel. Which was delivered on Wednesday July 10, 2013 in Jerusalem.
- [Listen to Dr. Samuel Lebens’ talk on: Religious Belief or Make Belief: Which one makes you Frum?](https://cardozoacademy.org/listen-to-dr-samuel-lebens-talk-on-religious-belief-or-make-belief-which-one-makes-you-frum/): Listen to Dr. Samuel Lebens’ talk on: Religious Belief or Make Belief: Which one makes you Frum?
- [Conversions, Autopsies and Women  How Hashkafa Impacts on Halakha:  Rav Kook versus Rav Uziel](https://cardozoacademy.org/conversions-autopsies-and-women-how-hashkafa-impacts-on-halakha-rav-kook-versus-rav-uziel/): Rabbi Dr. Marc D. Angel
Founder and Director of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals
Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Shearith Israel, New York City
will be speaking on Conversions, Autopsies and Wome, How Hashkafa Impacts on Halakha: Rav Kook versus Rav Uziel
- [Australia – Lecture tour Rabbi Lopes Cardozo](https://cardozoacademy.org/australia-lecture-tour-rabbi-lopes-cardozo/): Rabbi Lopes Cardozo together with his wife will be on a lecture tour for Limmud OZ in Australia.
- [Religious Belief or Make Belief: Which one makes you Frum?](https://cardozoacademy.org/religious-belief-or-make-belief-which-one-makes-you-frum/): The public is invited to attend the lecture of Dr. Samuel Lebens, who will be speaking on: Religious Belief or Make Belief: Which one makes you Frum?
- [להתפלא ביחד על העולם / עידו פכטר](https://cardozoacademy.org/%d7%9c%d7%94%d7%aa%d7%a4%d7%9c%d7%90-%d7%91%d7%99%d7%97%d7%93-%d7%a2%d7%9c-%d7%94%d7%a2%d7%95%d7%9c%d7%9d-%d7%a2%d7%99%d7%93%d7%95-%d7%a4%d7%9b%d7%98%d7%a8/): הרב קרדוזו עשה דרך ארוכה מימי סקרנות ילדית בהולנד, דרך גיור ולימוד בישיבות חרדיות מובילות ועד לחזונו היום: בשורת היהדות לעולם. ראיון חג
- [היהדות כמרד](https://cardozoacademy.org/%d7%94%d7%99%d7%94%d7%93%d7%95%d7%aa-%d7%9b%d7%9e%d7%a8%d7%93/): מנהיגות היא אחת מהמשימות הקשות ביותר שעל האדם לקחת על עצמו. היא דורשת שילוב נדיר של חכמה, אומץ, ידע וניסיון. למעט מאד אנשים יש את כל האיכויות הללו ופחות מכך הם אלו שיודעים כיצד לשלב ביניהן בדרך מאוזנת.
- [Video of the “Existential” Rabbinical Ordination to Rabbi Ariel Goldberg by Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo](https://cardozoacademy.org/video-of-the-existential-rabbinical-ordination-to-rabbi-ariel-goldberg-by-rabbi-dr-nathan-lopes-cardozo/): Click here for the video of the “Existential” Rabbinical Ordination to Rabbi Ariel Goldberg, by Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo on December 12, 2012 in Jerusalem.
- [Lonely Man of Faith – or of Despair?  Philosophical, Literary and Spiritual Perspectives on Singlehood](https://cardozoacademy.org/lonely-man-of-faith-or-of-despair-philosophical-literary-and-spiritual-perspectives-on-singlehood/): The public is invited to attend the Jerusalem Lecture Series on Jewish Philosophy 5773/2012-3
Yael Unterman
Will speak on the topic of Lonely Man of Faith - or of Despair? Philosophical, Literary and Spiritual Perspectives on Singlehood
- [The Two (Jewish) State Solution – Fresh Thinking  about Religion and State in Israel](https://cardozoacademy.org/the-two-jewish-state-solution-fresh-thinking-about-religion-and-state-in-israel/): The public is invited to attend a lecture by Rabbi Francis Nataf
- [Listen to Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo’s talk on: The Mysterious Revelation at Sinai – What did God Actually Communicate?](https://cardozoacademy.org/listen-to-rabbi-nathan-lopes-cardozos-talk-on-the-mysterious-revelation-at-sinai-what-did-god-actually-communicate/): Click here  to listen to Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo’s talk: “The Mysterious Revelation at Sinai - What did God Actually Communicate? Rabbi Mendel of Rymanov, Maimonides, Spinoza and Mendelssohn” on October 24, 2012 in Jerusalem, the opening  talk    on Jewish Philosophy  of the David Cardozo Academy's 5773/2012-3 Jerusalem Lecture Series.
- [Just released new book of the David Cardozo Academy](https://cardozoacademy.org/just-released-new-book-of-the-david-cardozo-academy/): Just released new book of the David Cardozo Academy
- [Chag Sameach from the David Cardozo Academy!](https://cardozoacademy.org/chag-sameach-from-the-david-cardozo-academy/): Please enjoy our latest Cardozian newsletter.
- [Man, God and the Torah – The Death and Life of the Word](https://cardozoacademy.org/man-god-and-the-torah-the-death-and-life-of-the-word/): Rabbi Aha said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: When at Mt. Sinai the Israelites heard the word “I” (the first word of “I am the Lord your God” in the “Ten Words”), their souls left them...It may perhaps be argued that this Midrash, like no other text, summarizes the essence of Judaism and its dialectic nature...
- [The Sensitivity of Torah and the Power of Language: Parashath Mishpatim](https://cardozoacademy.org/the-sensitivity-of-torah-and-the-power-of-language/): When carefully studying the commandments in the Torah, it is most important to note the sensitivity shown by the text so as not to offend any of its readers.
- [אני מוריד את הכיפה](https://cardozoacademy.org/%d7%90%d7%a0%d7%99-%d7%9e%d7%95%d7%a8%d7%99%d7%93-%d7%90%d7%aa-%d7%94%d7%9b%d7%99%d7%a4%d7%94/): אל תיכנסו להלם, אך אני חייב להיות כנה. אני חושב להסיר את הכיפה. לא, אל דאגה. אין לי כוונה להפוך לסקולארי, או אפילו פחות דתי.
- [Israel’s Security and the Need for Strangerhood](https://cardozoacademy.org/israels-security-and-the-need-for-stranger-hood/): As usual, residents of the State of Israel are once again threatened by political unrest in the Middle East, which is escalating day by day...Within Israel as well, strife and discord rock the country...One wonders why the Jews, like no other people, throughout thousands of years of their history, were never able to develop into a stable, secure nation...
- [Conversation with Professor Yehuda Gellman on Fundamental Commitments](https://cardozoacademy.org/conversation-with-professor-yehuda-gellman-on-fundamental-commitments/): To what is one’s most fundamental commitment: to a tradition or to God? To what extent can these two be separated from one another and to what extent can the distinction serve as a guide in a religious crisis?
- [The Revolutionary Future of the Torah and Mitzvoth](https://cardozoacademy.org/the-revolutionary-future-of-the-torah-and-mitzvoth/): In one of its most fascinating narratives, the Talmud (Shabbath 88a) draws attention to the problem of religious coercion. The passage reports how God threatened the Jews standing at Mount Sinai and delivered an ultimatum. Lifting the mountain and holding it over their heads, He pronounced: “If you accept the Torah, fine; if not, there will be your burial place.” This was nothing less than religious coercion by God Himself. Tosafoth (ad loc.), in their commentary on the Talmud, sensed a fundamental difficulty with this narrative. Did the Jews not already accept the Torah? Did they not promise they would observe the Torah even before knowing what it actually entailed?  This is reflected in their famous words: “We shall do and we shall hear” (Shemoth 24:7), a clear indication that they were prepared to make the ultimate leap of faith and were fully committed to live by the commandments no matter what was demanded of them. So why was there a need for God to coerce them? They had already willingly accepted it!
- [On Milk and Meat](https://cardozoacademy.org/on-milk-and-meat/): There is one law in the Jewish tradition that no doubt has puzzled many of its scholars: that which prohibits the Jew from mixing milk with meat. Its source is found in the Torah (Shemoth 23:19, 34:26; Devarim 14:21), but no clue is provided as to its meaning.
- [“The Dawkins Delusion: A Response to Richard Dawkins’ Book, The God Delusion”](https://cardozoacademy.org/the-dawkins-delusion-a-response-to-richard-dawkins-book-the-god-delusion/): The public is invited to attend the 5772 / 2012 Jerusalem Lecture Series "Judaism, Heresy and Secular Philosophy" Professor Yehuda Gellman will speak on the topic of The Dawkins Delusion: A Response to Richard Dawkins' Book, The God Delusion
- [I am Taking Off My Kippah](https://cardozoacademy.org/i-am-taking-off-my-kippah/): Reprinted at the request of many who attended Limmud Conference, Warwick, UK, December 2011; Original printing in Israel’s Hebrew weekly Makor Rishon newspaper, December 2009 Don’t be shocked. But I need to be honest. I am contemplating taking off my kippah. No, do not worry. I have no intention of becoming irreligious, or even less religious. Far from it. In fact, I want to become more religious and have come to the conclusion that my kippah prevents me from doing so.
- [The Inscrutable God](https://cardozoacademy.org/the-inscrutable-god/): There is nobody like our God!
- [“Milton, Paradise Lost, and Me:  Is Our Paradise Lost? Desire, Skepticism and Belief”](https://cardozoacademy.org/milton-paradise-lost-and-me-is-our-paradise-lost-desire-skepticism-and-belief/): The public is invited to attend the
- [Emerging Cracks at the Heart of Judaism](https://cardozoacademy.org/emerging-cracks-this-essay-inspired-by-avraham-joshua-heschel/): We often ask whether the Jews constitute a race; a people; a religion; a cultural entity; a historic group; or a linguistic unit. But we do not ask what we are spiritually; who we are morally; what we owe the world and what our mission is.
- [Part Two of Rabbi Dr. Cardozo’s “Bold Ideas” Essay in the Jerusalem Post](https://cardozoacademy.org/part-two-of-rabbi-dr-cardozos-bold-ideas-essay-in-the-jerusalem-post/): Part Two of Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo's article, Judaism: The Art of Bold Ideas, which appeared in print today in the Jerusalem Post.  Read it now on the JPost's website here.
- [Jerusalem Post Prints Rabbi Dr. Cardozo’s “Bold Ideas” Essay](https://cardozoacademy.org/jerusalem-post-prints-rabbi-dr-cardozos-bold-ideas-essay/): Part one of Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo's article, Judaism: The Art of Bold Ideas, printed recently in the Jerusalem Post, can be read on the JPost's website here.  The Jerusalem Post will print part two this weekend.
- [A Phenomenon Called Israel](https://cardozoacademy.org/a-phenomenon-called-israel/): Throughout the centuries, historians, philosophers and anthropologists have struggled with the notion called Israel more than with nearly any other topic. While attempting to place Israel within the confines of conventional history, they experienced constant academic and philosophical frustration. Any definitions they suggested eventually broke down due to serious inconsistencies. Was Israel a nation, a religion or an altogether mysterious entity which would forever remain unexplainable? By some it was seen less as a nation and more as a religion; others believed the reverse to be true. And there were those who claimed that it could not fit into either of these categories.
- [“The Crisis of Jewish Identity and Franz Rosenzweig”](https://cardozoacademy.org/the-crisis-of-jewish-identity-and-franz-rosenzweig/): The public is invited to attend the
- [No Mashiach Without a Song](https://cardozoacademy.org/no-mashiach-without-a-song/): Whether the angels play only Bach praising God, I am not quite sure;
- [Marriage, Li and the Need for Martyrdom](https://cardozoacademy.org/marriage-li-and-the-need-for-martyrdom/): The great Chassidic leader Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, complaining about the Jews’ detachment from Judaism, once said that when a bridegroom stands under the chupa (bridal canopy) he can say hundreds of times to his future bride “You are betrothed,” but these words are meaningless until he adds one more Hebrew word, Li (to me). Only then is there a marriage.
- [“Spinoza, the Kotzker Rebbe, and I”](https://cardozoacademy.org/october-26-2011-opening-jerusalem-lecture-by-rabbi-dr-nathan-lopes-cardozo/): The public is invited to attend the
- [Israel’s Weekly Makor Rishon Newspaper Prints Rabbi Cardozo’s ‘Bold Ideas’ Rosh Hashana Essay](https://cardozoacademy.org/israels-weekly-makor-rishon-newspaper-prints-rabbi-cardozos-bold-ideas-rosh-hashana-essay/): To read it in Hebrew, please click here.
- [Jealousy on Erev Yom Kippur  –  To Dream Harder](https://cardozoacademy.org/jealousy-on-erev-yom-kippur-to-dream-harder/): In former times, no hours were more extraordinary in our forefathers’ lives than those just before the onset of the awesome day, Yom Kippur. These comprised moments of such  intense religious upheaval in the human soul, that it was as if the world had become a different planet, one in which all normal human needs and worries fell away. The solemnity of these awe-inspiring hours was hard to survive (1). Testimonies of these moments have reached us through the writings of our forefathers and by oral transmission (2).
- [Shana Tova!](https://cardozoacademy.org/shana-tova/): Warmest wishes for a healthy and happy New Year from the David Cardozo Academy.
- [The Truth about Truth](https://cardozoacademy.org/the-truth-about-truth/): By Yael Unterman
- [The King](https://cardozoacademy.org/the-king/): A Parable (1)
- [Who Is a Gavra Rabba, a Great Man?](https://cardozoacademy.org/who-is-a-gavra-rabba-a-great-man-2/): The Talmud (Makkot 22b) discusses the identity of a Gavra Rabba, an exceptionally great man or Talmudic sage. It quotes a most remarkable observation made by the well-known sage, Rava, who states, “How foolish are some people who stand up in respect for a Sefer Torah but fail to stand up in respect for an exceptionally great person, a Torah sage.” When asked what is so exceptionally great about these men, Rava ignores their astonishingly vast knowledge of Torah, and even their outstanding ethical and religious qualities. Instead, he accentuates their power and courage to change the obvious and literal meaning of a commandment as mentioned in the Torah. This, to say the least, is most remarkable!
- [Tolerance and Personal Conscience](https://cardozoacademy.org/tolerance-and-personal-conscience-2/): In our days, the word tolerance has become highly popular, as are pluralism and democracy. These terms are so often used that one would hope most people have a proper understanding of their meanings. This is, however, far from true. In fact, it seems that the more these words appear in our papers, books and conversations, the less they are comprehended.  They are often used in ways that oppose the very values they stand for.
- [Shavuot and Combustibility](https://cardozoacademy.org/shavuot-and-combustibility/): One of the most challenging aspects of religious life is how to relate to the concept of revelation.� The uncompromising claim by Judaism, that the Torah is not a book written by man but is the result of the most famous revelation of God�s will to man, requires a formidable amount of faith in the face of so much skepticism and secularity.
- [Reflections on a War 3](https://cardozoacademy.org/reflections-on-a-war-3/): Once upon a time, in a large, gloomy palace, high on a mountain, where the night wind howled outside its massive walls, there lived a king - a real one. His beard was long like a silver waterfall, and his voice boomed like thunder. More than that a king does not need. His name was Teuton, though some called him Germania. Wherever he traveled, his citizens would grovel before him in the dust, and if they failed to do so, they were knocked into it anyway. You see, O reader, how mighty our king was.
- [The Beth Midrash of Avraham Avinu](https://cardozoacademy.org/the-beth-midrash-of-avraham-avinu/): In the last several years many upheavals have taken place in Israel that no one could ever have imagined. These upheavals also have far-reaching consequences for Diaspora Jewry and could entirely change the situation of the Jewish people throughout the world. It is unclear where Israel and the Middle East are heading, and it will take some time before a more peaceful era will really emerge.  Still, we must look beyond this. We must prepare Israel and its citizens for the time when it will become crucial to make decisions about their identity and their connection to Judaism. While that connection at this point in time is, to say the least, ambivalent, it will one day become a matter of such importance that the refusal to address it will no longer be an option. Not only will it be decisive as far as the spiritual condition of Israel is concerned, but it will actually determine whether the State of Israel will continue to exist.  Much of the upheaval taking place at this hour is due to Israel's lack of a Jewish spiritual direction and imagination. It will soon become evident that the physical survival of the State of Israel will one day become so dependent on Judaism that it will be necessary to bring the great teachings of this tradition to the Jewish people in a completely different light.

## Pages
- [In the Media](https://cardozoacademy.org/in-the-media/): Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo's ideas on Jewish thought, halachic renewal, and religious authenticity have been featured in leading publications around the world. This page gathers interviews, profiles, and essays in which his work has been discussed, reviewed, or cited — a record of the conversation his writing continues to inspire.
- [Thoughts to Ponder Index](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder-index/): A complete index of Rabbi Cardozo’s Thoughts to Ponder essays, gathered in one place for easy discovery, listed by TTP number, and quickly searchable.
- [Podcasts & Audio](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/): A collection of podcasts and audio recordings by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo and guest lecturers, bringing his teachings and reflections to life through the spoken word.
- [Quotes by Rabbi Cardozo](https://cardozoacademy.org/quotes/): A collection of Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo’s most resonant reflections, where Torah, faith, and human authenticity meet in a few carefully chosen words.
- [Writers’ Guild](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/): The Cardozo Academy Think Tank opens its doors to voices that probe, question, and illuminate. These essays reflect rigorous thought, spirited debate, and deep engagement with Torah and lived experience. Readers will find essays that challenge preconceptions, explore timeless themes, and make meaning out of the complexity of faith and culture.
- [My Judaism](https://cardozoacademy.org/my-judaism/)
- [Faith & Defiance](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/): In Faith & Defiance, Rabbi Cardozo opens a window into his soul to illuminate the twists and turns of his spiritual path. These essays blend existential reflection with candid self-inquiry, taking the reader through moments of defiance, conversion, re-conversion, and unending search for meaning in a life lived at the intersection of tradition and transformation.
- [Newsletter Archive](https://cardozoacademy.org/newsletters/): Read about our latest projects, new books coming out this year, and news from the Cardozo Academy Think Tank.
- [Jewish Holidays](https://cardozoacademy.org/jewish-holidays/)
- [Books](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/): The Books page brings together published works by Rabbi Cardozo and authors from the Cardozo Academy, offering readers a curated library of thought-provoking Jewish scholarship and spiritual reflection. From philosophical explorations of Torah and Jewish law to essays on identity, faith, and culture, these books reflect the Academy’s commitment to rigorous thinking, authentic tradition, and intellectual courage. To purchase books, click on the book cover image.
- [Weekly Torah Portions](https://cardozoacademy.org/weekly-torah-portions/)
- [Videos](https://cardozoacademy.org/videos/): Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo is known for his thought-provoking and often unconventional writings on Judaism. His work blends deep knowledge of traditional Jewish texts with philosophical inquiry, addressing contemporary challenges in Jewish thought, law and identity.
- [Donate](https://cardozoacademy.org/donate/)
- [Home](https://cardozoacademy.org/): The Cardozo Academy seeks to restore the relevance of Judaism as a force of authentic, non-dogmatic religiosity, capturing a lifetime of exploration, contemplation, and dialogue by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo.
- [Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo](https://cardozoacademy.org/rabbi-cardozo/): A sought-after lecturer on the international stage for both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences, Rabbi Cardozo is the author of 14 books and numerous articles in both English and Hebrew. Rabbi Cardozo heads a Think Tank focused on finding new Halachic and philosophical approaches to the issues facing the Jewish people. Hailing from the Netherlands, Rabbi Cardozo is known for his original and often fearlessly controversial insights into Judaism.
- [The Cardozo Academy Manifesto](https://cardozoacademy.org/manifesto/): It is time to start thinking big about Judaism and Halacha (Jewish law). Great opportunities await us, and too much is at stake to let them just pass by. We have fallen in love with—and become overwhelmed by—an endless supply of all-encompassing but passive information about Judaism in general and Halacha in particular, which does not get processed but only recycled. For too long, Judaism and Halacha have been imprisoned in compartmentalized and awkward boxes. It is time to liberate them.
- [Philosophical Responsa](https://cardozoacademy.org/philosophical-responsa/): Some questions are not meant to provide easy answers, but instead to awaken us to deeper questions. Here we encourage readers to wrestle with issues of faith, doubt, and the moral demands of being a Jew in today’s world.
- [Thoughts to Ponder](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/): Thoughts to Ponder is a weekly invitation to think dangerously and question passionately. Drawing on the Torah portion, classical Jewish sources, philosophy, and the crises of contemporary life, Rabbi Cardozo challenges religious complacency and spiritual comfort. These essays are written for readers who seek a Judaism that disturbs, questions, and ultimately deepens the human encounter with God and responsibility.
- [Contact Us](https://cardozoacademy.org/contact/): Get in touch for more information about the academy and Rabbi Nathan Cardozo.
- [Think Tank Sessions](https://cardozoacademy.org/think-tank/): The Cardozo Academy’s Jerusalem Think Tank, a forum of Jewish thinkers, educators and leaders, explores a wide range of Jewish topics. Think Tank Fellows present issues from their own lives – matters they struggle with every day – with the hope that exploring uncharted realms of Judaism in these challenging sessions will further invigorate authentic religious living.
- [About The Cardozo Academy](https://cardozoacademy.org/about/): The David Cardozo Academy seeks to restore the relevance of Judaism as a force of authentic, non-dogmatic religiosity.

## Thoughts to Ponder Essays
- [Shoftim](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/shoftim/): Why would the Torah allow Israel to appoint a king at all—and then place so many restrictions on his power? A Jewish king could not rule like the monarchs around him. He was bound by Torah, limited in wealth and military power, and forbidden to demand obedience when obedience itself became immoral. Behind these laws lies a remarkably modern question: when the authority of the state conflicts with the demands of conscience, who has the final word? The Torah’s answer may be far more radical than we imagine.
- [Memory Is the Problem](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/memory-is-the-problem/): Memory helps us make sense of life—but it can also make the miraculous seem ordinary. The manna in the desert challenges our faith in permanence, predictability, and the supposed security of the natural world.
- [My First Eighty Years](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/why-i-am-trying-to-be-religious/): What does it mean to spend a lifetime trying to become religious?
On his 80th birthday, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo writes not about accomplishments or memories, but about wonder, failure, gratitude, and the lifelong struggle to remain astonished by existence. This deeply personal letter to his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren is both a reflection on eight decades of life and an invitation to rediscover the extraordinary hidden within the ordinary.
- [The Curse of Restlessness](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-curse-of-restlessness/): Why does the Torah devote so much attention to the Cities of Refuge? Rav Cardozo argues that these laws are more than an ancient legal institution. They expose a condition that continues to haunt modern humanity: our inability to find rest. In a world obsessed with movement, achievement, and endless searching, could our deepest exile be spiritual rather than physical?
- [The Daughters of the Tzelofchad and the Danger of Codification](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-daughters-of-the-tzelofchad-and-the-danger-of-codification/): The daughters of Tzelofchad did far more than win an inheritance dispute. In challenging Moshe, they exposed something profound about the nature of Torah itself. Is even Divine law meant to remain unfinished until human beings complete it? This week's essay explores why Judaism's greatest strength may lie not in the Written Torah, but in the courage to continue interpreting it down through the ages.
- [How to Win the FIFA World Cup](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/how-to-win-the-fifa-world-cup/): How do you win the FIFA World Cup? Not by training harder. Not by running faster. And certainly not by improving your defense. According to Rabbi Cardozo, victory depends on understanding the emotional life of the ball, analyzing the chlorophyll content of foreign grass, consulting botanists and meteorologists, and perhaps reciting a few Psalms for good measure. A playful meditation on soccer, Jewish ingenuity, and our remarkable ability to turn every solution into a fascinating problem.
- [The Tragedy of the Grasshopper](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-tragedy-of-the-grasshopper/): The spies sent to scout out the Land of Israel saw giants. But their greatest mistake was not what they saw, but how they saw themselves. Many of us spend our lives allowing others to define who we are. We learn how to navigate the world, how to acquire knowledge, and how to succeed, but rarely how to ask life's most important questions. What happens when we stop asking "why"? And what does it take to leave behind the safety of the desert and enter a world that demands courage, responsibility, and wonder?
Parashat Shelach invites us to confront the grasshopper within.
- [The Curse of Misguided Peace](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-curse-of-misguided-peace/): Why was Moshe denied entry into the Promised Land after forty years of sacrifice? Perhaps not as a punishment—but as a final gift. In this week’s essay, Rabbi Cardozo explores a deeply unsettling possibility: that peace itself can become dangerous when misunderstood.
- [The Wilderness as Destiny](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-wilderness-as-destiny/): Why did revelation take place in a desert? Why do miracles fail to fundamentally transform us? And why does Judaism continue to demand spiritual greatness while fully aware of human weakness?
In a striking meditation on Parashat Bamidbar, Rabbi Cardozo argues that Judaism is not the story of spiritual perfection, but of continual striving, setbacks, risk, and renewal.
- [Mental and Physical Health and the Divine Curses](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/mental-and-physical-health-and-the-divine-curses/): The terrifying curses of Parashat Bechukotai have long troubled readers. Are they truly punishments—or warnings? In an age of anxiety, environmental crisis, and technological overload, the breakdown of spiritual discipline could lead to psychological and even physical consequences.
- [The Call to Holiness](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-call-to-holiness/): Is holiness something we possess—or something we must struggle to become? True holiness emerges only when we live up to our mission—without arrogance, without withdrawal, and even in times of war. But can a nation remain holy while forced to fight for its very existence?
- [The Unbearable Call to Be Holy](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-unbearable-call-to-be-holy/): Holiness is not a retreat from life but a confrontation with it. Spirituality is not to be found in lofty ideas or rare moments. Instead, holiness demands something far more difficult: to infuse every action—no matter how trivial—with Divine awareness. A call to awaken from spiritual indifference, this essay insists that nothing in life is neutral, and nothing is ever truly ordinary.
- [The Fear of Religion](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-fear-of-religion/): Ritual purity and impurity are often dismissed as relics of an ancient world—but what if they speak directly to our modern condition?
- [An Open Letter from the “Rasha” to His Father](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/an-open-letter-from-the-rasha-to-his-father/): At the Seder table, the “wicked son” asks a question—and is shut down. But what if his question is the most honest one of all? This moving “letter” from the so-called rasha challenges us to rethink the Seder—and to ask whether we are truly passing on a living Judaism, or merely its outer form.
- [Tolerance and the Obsession with Spinoza](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/tolerance-and-the-obsession-with-spinoza/): Does lifting the ban on Spinoza honor intellectual freedom—or quietly endorse his misunderstandings of Judaism? As we wrestle wrestles with this question, we reveal a deeper tension: reason itself may not be as neutral—or as reliable—as we assume.
- [Is Halacha Always Indispensable?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/is-halacha-always-indispensable/): After the sin of the Golden Calf, something fundamental changed in Judaism. According to several classical commentators, the Mishkan and the expansion of mitzvot may represent a Divine concession to human weakness. Could it be that the elaborate structure of Jewish law emerged as a Divine response to human spiritual fragility? But what happens when religion becomes routine? It’s quite possible that Halachah, while indispensable for most, might also carry unexpected risks.
- [Shabbat and the Holiness of Life](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/shabbat-and-the-holiness-of-life/): Which is holier: the Temple, Shabbat, or a human life? The Torah’s answer is startling. By forcing us to suspend even the holiest acts for the sake of life, it reveals a radical truth: the ultimate sanctuary is the human being.
- [On Silence, Sacrifices, and the Golden Calf](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/on-silence-sacrifices-and-the-golden-calf/): The use of symbolic representation in a religious context is fraught with hazard. Because of their great emotive power in the world of human imagination, symbols can easily lead to a spiritual misunderstanding.
- [The Honor of Being Hated](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-honor-of-being-hated/): Purim confronts us with an uncomfortable truth: perhaps the Jewish mission was never meant to win universal approval. Mordechai’s refusal to bow was not stubbornness—it was identity. In a world that prefers conformity, Jewish distinctiveness can feel dangerous. But what if the real honor is not in being loved by everyone, but in being hated for the right reasons?
- [The Ark and Quantum Theory](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-ark-and-quantum-theory/): What if the most powerful voice in the universe comes from nowhere? In Parashat Terumah, God speaks not from the golden cherubim atop the Ark — but from the space between them. Modern physics now tells us that reality itself may emerge through observation. Could the Torah have anticipated something even more radical — that ultimate truth resides not in what we see, but in the mysterious “in between”?
- [Where Was God in the Egyptian Holocaust?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/where-was-god-in-the-egyptian-holocaust/): The Torah remembers Egyptian slavery not as a wound to be mourned, but as a moral summons. Why does Jewish memory refuse to linger on victimhood—and instead demand responsibility toward the stranger?
- [Sir Isaiah Berlin and True Freedom](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/sir-isaiah-berlin-and-true-freedom/): In adhering to our mission and its sacred foundations, we achieve moral liberty, not just physical freedom. Physical freedom can be lost when others take it away, but moral freedom can never be stolen.
- [A Challenge to All of Us](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/a-challenge-to-all-of-us/): Yitro gave up power, honor, and certainty in his search for truth. But would we choose Judaism if we were not born into it? Yitro challenges both the religious and the secular to ask whether their Jewishness is inherited habit — or a courageous, ongoing choice.
- [The Amsterdam Canals and the Riddle of the Red Cow](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-amsterdam-canals-and-the-riddle-of-the-red-cow/): The Red Heifer purifies others while defiling those who prepare it. This may reflect a deeper moral truth — that those who sustain society often absorb its impurity.
- [Counting the Uncountable](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/counting-the-uncountable/): To reduce Judaism to specific axioms is both dangerous and impossible. For every definition there are contradictions and exceptions.
- [From Nothingness to Somethingness](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/from-nothingness-to-somethingness/): What does it mean to walk on dry land while standing in the midst of the sea? The crossing of the Sea of Reeds can be seen as a miracle of nature, but it can also represent a moment of terrifying becoming. The Torah's description speaks of paradox, the idea that existence itself emerges from nothingness—and that Israel was born precisely in that fragile space between what is no longer and what is not yet.
- [The Art of Redemption](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-art-of-redemption/): Redemption means more than just escaping physical slavery — it is about how we raise our children. Is it ethical to bind a child to a covenant they never chose? Or is denying a higher purpose the greatest injustice of all? True freedom is found not in limitless choice, but in meaningful obligation — and education itself may be the highest form of redemption.
- [God Does Not Exist, so Let’s Serve Him!](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/god-does-not-exist-so-lets-serve-him/): In this week's parashah God announces himself to Moshe: “I appeared to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaacov as El Shadai, not through my Ineffable Name….” “El Shadai” means: The God of Enough. That name was good enough for Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaacov, who did not experience God in all of His contradictions. But now with the beginning of the Exodus, something has changed. For God to be meaningful to us, He must appear in the world in ways through which we can identify with Him. But God in His essence is something totally different about which we mortals have no clue.
- [The Cities of Refuge and the Needs of the Hour](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-cities-of-refuge-and-the-needs-of-the-hour/): The Cities of Refuge are not only for the involuntary man-slayer. They are also for society. They prevent cycles of revenge. They restrain rage and introduce time into tragedy — time to cool, to grieve, to reflect.
- [Cruelty and Numbers](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/cruelty-and-numbers/): The Torah and the Midrash describe the Israelites enslavement in Egypt in harrowing detail. Yet many modern scholars insist that it must be exaggerated. It is said to be historically implausible, unsupported by archaeology, psychologically impossible. No society, they argue, could sustain such systematic barbarity. But we have learned, in our own time, how dangerously naïve such arguments are. Both the enslavement in Egypt and the Holocaust are “unbelievable” in exactly the same way: not because they did not happen, but because we desperately wish they had not.
- [Pinchas — Murder or Righteousness?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/pinchas-murder-or-righteousness/): There are situations when law itself fails. It cannot legislate for moments of total breakdown. And so someone must act — but this “law” cannot be written into any code.
- [Joseph and the Quirks of History](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/joseph-and-the-quirks-of-history/): The story of Joseph is a tale of astonishing coincidences, hidden patterns, and misunderstood events. What appears random and accidental slowly reveals itself as a deep current shaping Jewish history. Meaning emerges only in retrospect — and God’s presence in history is often invisible while we are living it.
- [Generational Awareness](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/generational-awareness/): The Torah relates how Yosef questioned his brothers “Have you a father, or a brother?” Jewish survival depends on the conscious link between earlier and later generations. Rabbi Solovietchik calls this the “mesora community,” a community in which traditions and customs are passed down from generation to generation, not as ancient customs and quaint relics of the past but as living experiences in which we take enormous pride. Thus, Yosef’s question to his brothers had an answer, “Yes, we have a father!”
- [Freedom of Will and Determinism](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/freedom-of-will-and-determinism/): “Hakol biyadey shamaim chutz meyirat shamaim — everything is from Heaven except the fear of Heaven ” This is a profound tenet of Jewish belief. It is not that there are certain times when determinism operates, and other times when humans have free will. Rather, both principles function simultaneously: on one level, human beings seem to have the ability to choose; however, on a different level, all is predetermined.
- [Amalek – A Warning Against Injustice](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/amalek-a-warning-against-injustice/): The Torah demands of the Jews: “You shall erase the memory of Amalek from beneath the heavens. You shall not forget.” This commandment seems to be a paradox: How can we erase the memory of Amalek if we are not allowed to forget what he did? However, it is very possible that the Torah is laying upon us the obligation to uproot from within ourselves the ways in which our ancestors dealt with the ancestors of Amalek. “Do not forget” that this behavior was unjustified and consequently caused ongoing pain to this people, and consequently to the People of Israel.
- [In Defense of Haredim](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/in-defense-of-haredim/): The haredi world must again become a model of moral purity, holiness, and distinction. Every trace of corruption or dishonesty must be eliminated. Conformity, while comforting, can also dull the soul. The community must cultivate independent thinkers and halachic authorities of stature, as it once did, especially in an age when the secular world fails to provide tools for moral and spiritual endurance.
- [Korach, Spinoza, and Other Heretics](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/korach-spinoza-and-other-heretics/): Both Korach and Spinoza were great minds, and both overreached. Ambition, grievance, or subconscious longing coloured how they understood and read their tradition.
- [Of Spies and Toddlers](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/of-spies-and-toddlers/): For nearly forty years, the Israelites lived in a world of complete Divine protection. Now, on the threshold of entering the land, the people send spies to assess what awaits them.
- [The Tragedy of the Man Who Surpassed Himself](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-tragedy-of-the-man-who-surpassed-himself/): Moshe’s greatness is unprecedented. But this greatness cost him dearly and ultimately turned him into a tragic figure. Much goes wrong in his life because he was too great.
- [From Beethoven to Esav](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/from-beethoven-to-esav/): According to the Divine plan, Yaacov and Esav started life as twins in the same womb. Although their paths later diverge, they each have a part to play in the drama of history. Esav sold his birthright to Yaacov, but he cannot reconcile himself to this sale. It was a mekach ta’ut—a faulty sale. After all, one cannot sell one’s very being! Esav begs his father Yitzchak: Bless me too. I am still part of your nation. Even if a Jew abandons his mission, rejecting everything Jewish and turning against his own people, he remains a Jew.
- [Is Death Really the End](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/is-death-really-the-end/): One who lives with the possibility that there may be an afterlife will think carefully about what to do with his or her life on earth. After all, if there is an aspect of life that is eternal, this life on earth may have an entirely different meaning than we think.
- [The Contradictory God](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-contradictory-god/): Avraham is the prototype of every Jew. And his greatest trial is what is experienced by all Jews: the impossibility of identifying God in terms of consistency and goodness.
- [The Courage to Begin Anew](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-courage-to-begin-anew/): Faith does not begin in continuity, but in disruption. Avraham teaches that God is found through risk, doubt, and radical individuality—not through imitation. To walk with God is to walk into the unknown. God’s call to Avraham shatters the comforts of the familiar and demands a faith born in freedom, doubt, and discovery. Only the one who dares to leave home—spiritually and intellectually—can encounter the Divine and bring blessing to humanity.
- [The Pity of it All](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-pity-of-it-all/): Chronicling the history of mankind from the beginning as reflected in the Torah, one can only pity God. From the moment He created the world, nearly everything goes wrong! But for all the despondency in Sefer Bereshit’s first chapters, there is still hope. God at last found a Redeemer in Avraham Avinu, and through him, God saved the world from itself.
- [Beginning Again](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/beginning-again/): God is the ultimate paradox. Every truth about Him has its counterpart which contradicts it. Every philosophy about Him carries within it its own contradiction.
- [Moshe’s Finest Hour](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/moshes-finest-hour/): Moshe Rabbenu’s greatest deed wasn’t splitting the Sea or ascending Sinai. It was shattering the God-engraved Tablets when Israel danced around the Calf. And yet, for this act, Moshe is praised by our sages. Moshe’s audacity saved Torah from becoming stone: a law without music, ritual without spirit. What he broke, he preserved—so that covenant could live.
- [Learning the Art of Dying by Learning the Art of Living](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/learning-the-art-of-dying-by-learning-the-art-of-living/): Moshes’ final ascent in Ha’azinu is not a defeat but a masterclass in how to die—by first learning how to live. Ha’azinu invites us to hear life as a composition: rehearsed through daily practice and resolved in a final, dignified cadence. To live and die with grace is not resignation but art: shaping a soul that can leave a world more awake than we found it.
- [When Torah Becomes a Song](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/when-torah-becomes-a-song/): In Vayelech, God tells Moshe not only to teach Torah—but to write a song. Why a song at the edge of exile and failure? Because melody reaches where prose cannot. From the Levitical choir to the sing-song of the beit midrash, song resists staleness, awakens teshuvah, and turns text into encounter—until we no longer just read Torah; we become its music.
- [A Protest Against Indifference](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/a-protest-against-indifference/): Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are a protest against the most dangerous of all human character traits: the curse of indifference—they are a protest against taking life for granted.
- [Nearer Than We Fear](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/nearer-than-we-fear/): We often accept maps that omit the landmarks that matter most, because accurate maps would oblige us to change. Nitzavim counters: the commandment is not distant but close. This essay argues that mediocrity grows where fear governs, and that faith means becoming a ‘text‑person’—a living Sefer Torah—who acts on the truth already inscribed in the heart.
- [Does God Really Exist?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/does-god-really-exist/): Ki Tavo’s strangest verb—he’emarta—hints at a mutual avowal: Israel “says” God into the world by living the commandments, and God “says” Israel into being as a holy people. This essay moves beyond proofs of “existence” to ask how God becomes audible in history, from Maimonides to a Hasidic teaching about the silent Aleph of “Anochi.”
- [Buying One’s Wife?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/buying-ones-wife/): The Talmud seems to compare marriage to the purchase of land. But is this comparison really what it seems? In fact, we can flip the script: the Talmud’s comparison isn’t reducing a woman to property; it elevates the Land of Israel to a covenantal spouse. A ring becomes a down payment on lifelong responsibility; the land, a living partner that must be continually ‘courted.’ What if marriage teaches us how to love a land—and a land teaches us how to be a partner?
- [Israel: Torah Law or Secular Law?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/israel-torah-law-or-secular-law/): What kind of state is Israel meant to be — a halachic theocracy, or a secular democracy with Jewish values? Long before the founding of the State, Rabbis Yitzchak Herzog and Chaim Ozer Grodzinski debated this very question. Surprisingly, it was the ultra-Orthodox Grodzinski who favored allowing secular law, while the Zionist Herzog objected. This essay explores a forgotten halachic precedent, the role of the King in Torah law, and why the clash between divine justice and human law still shapes Israel today.
- [The Risk of Faith and the Courage to Choose](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-risk-of-faith-and-the-courage-to-choose/): When the Torah tells us to choose between a blessing and a curse, it means: Choose after the struggle. The blessing can only be recognized by those who have grappled with its alternative. What one calls a blessing, another may call a curse. What one sees as life, another may call death.
- [Memory, Timelessness, and Sacred History](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/memory-timelessness-and-sacred-history/): Parashat Ekev commands us to “remember” — but in Torah, memory is never nostalgia. It is the radical act of making covenantal history a living, breathing reality in every generation.
- [There is Something About Israel that Makes People Furious](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/there-is-something-about-israel-that-makes-people-furious/): For what great nation is there that has God so near to them… Only take heed and guard your soul diligently, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen…
- [From Anger to Awe](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/from-anger-to-awe/): He began as a reluctant, angry man with no eloquence and no clear path. Yet Moshe became the greatest spiritual leader in history—not by nature, but by sheer force of will. What does his transformation teach us about humility, greatness, and the power of inner struggle?
- [The Enigma of the Cities of Refuge and the Death of the High Priest](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-enigma-of-the-cities-of-refuge-and-the-death-of-the-high-priest/): The commandment to designate six cities of refuge (arei miklat) for one who commits unintentional homicide remains one of the Torah’s great enigmas. On the surface, it appears to straddle justice, mercy, and vengeance in a confusing blend. But upon deeper analysis, it speaks to profound spiritual and psychological truths.
- [Between Apathy and Zealotry](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/between-apathy-and-zealotry/): Is tolerance always a virtue? Parashat Pinchas challenges our modern assumptions, revealing that the line between moral courage and dangerous zealotry is often thin—and blurred. What can we learn from those who refuse to remain indifferent?
- [When God Is Hidden and Present at Once](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/when-god-is-hidden-and-present-at-once/): While the Israelites wandered in silence, convinced that God had abandoned them, their enemies were unknowingly blessing them under Divine compulsion. What does this hidden drama reveal about faith, paradox, and God’s presence in the darkest chapters of history?
- [Beyond Reason](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/beyond-reason/): Ritual is of utmost importance because it is capable of touching the deepest corners of our hearts—parts of us that are beyond the reach of other influences. It bypasses cognitive resistance and imprints meaning on the soul.
- [When Jealousy Masquerades as Theology](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/when-jealousy-masquerades-as-theology/): When Korach challenges Moshe’s authority, the ground beneath him literally gives way. But what if his questions had been sincere? In this probing essay, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo explores the rebellion of Korach not just as a power struggle—but as a profound confrontation over the nature of holiness, the role of interpretation, and the soul of the Oral Torah.
- [War and the Challenge of Conscience](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/war-and-the-challenge-of-conscience/): In Parashat Shelach, the spies feared giants. But perhaps what they truly feared was the moral burden of destiny. In this deeply personal and timely reflection, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo explores the tragedy of justified war, the conscience of a chosen people, and what it means to be holy in a world that demands violence.
- [The Book Between the Books Thoughts on Parashat Beha’alotecha](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-book-between-the-books-thoughts-on-parashat-behaalotecha/): Why do the Jewish people exist outside of history? What does it mean for a book of the Torah to contain a ‘book within a book’? In Parashat Beha’alotecha, we explore a deeper view of identity, memory, and Divine presence—through the Ark, the wilderness, and two verses that upend everything we know about linear time.
- [The Trial That Should Not Have Been](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-trial-that-should-not-have-been-reflections-on-the-sotah-ritual-in-parashat-naso/): One of the most disturbing and mystifying rituals in the Torah is case of the Sotah—the woman suspected by her husband of adultery. What is this strange ritual all about?
- [Order in the Wilderness: Hierarchy, Resistance, and the Fragile Dream of Nationhood](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/order-in-the-wilderness-hierarchy-resistance-and-the-fragile-dream-of-nationhood/): In Parashat Bamidbar, the Israelites stand on the brink of transformation. From a loose confederation of tribes defined by kinship, they are now being reshaped by Moshe into a disciplined and hierarchically organized nation. The census, or pikud, is more than just a count—it is the foundation for creating a centralized government, establishing an army, assigning roles, and imposing a nascent form of taxation and bureaucracy. But did the Israelites truly accept this imposed order?
- [Rabbi Cardozo, guest presenter on The Philosophical Jew](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/21960/): In this thought-provoking interview on the Philosophical Jew podcast, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo, delves into the dynamic nature of Halakha and the importance of spiritual authenticity in modern Judaism. Drawing from his work Jewish Law as Rebellion, Rabbi Cardozo challenges us to view Torah not as a static legal code but as a living, breathing call to moral and spiritual revolution.
- [Tragedy and Hope](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/tragedy-and-hope/): Zionism will not hold if it is not deeply rooted in Judaism. But this Judaism must radiate grandeur. In exile, Judaism was strangled and reduced chiefly to the private domain. It could not prove its enormous potential as an all-compassing ethos that included all dimensions of human existence. It is the task of great teachers, Jewish thinkers and Halachic authorities to show the way back to this ethos.
- [Yom HaShoah and the Future of the Jewish People](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/yom-hashoah-and-the-future-of-the-jewish-people/): While important in its own right, fighting antisemitism is not an answer to assimilation. We need to bring an uplifting and transformative Judaism to our young people and turn being Jewish into an experience of moral and religious grandeur. We must show that Judaism ennobles the commonplace, endowing all worldly matters with hieratic beauty and transcending holiness.
- [My Judaism – An Introduction (Part One)](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/my-judaism-an-introduction-part-one/): The biggest questions about life are unanswerable. Not one philosopher has ever given a satisfactory answer to these questions; neither has science or any other form of human knowledge. Logic and science tell us about the “what” and the “how” but not about the “why”. They fall flat when it comes to the “ultimate” questions. But if this is the case, why ask questions which are unanswerable?
- [Chanukah, the Jews, and the Nature of Anti-Semitism](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/chanukah-the-jews-and-the-nature-of-anti-semitism/): It must have been an extraordinary experience when the Kohanim in the days of the Chashmonaim suddenly realized that a tiny amount of oil which should have lasted for only one day would last for eight days. A solemn terror must have overtaken them. This is the foundation of genuine religiosity; the dawning of awareness that all things cannot be explained by the ordinary. It is radical amazement, which shatters the commonplace and makes us realize that our wisdom is sometimes inferior to dust. And so it is with the Jews. Like the Chanukah lights, they keep on reminding the world that there is exceptionality, which transcends history and ordinary human accomplishments.
- [Judaism without God](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/judaism-without-god/): With the terrible pogrom which took place in my hometown, Amsterdam, and the ongoing Anti-Semitism in Europe, the United States, and indeed worldwide, it is time to give proper attention to one of the great mistakes of modern Jewish history. This is the myth that if Jews would only “normalize” themselves, anti-Semitism would come to an end. This constantly repeated mantra has proven to be entirely wrong and in fact, dangerous.
- [Ido Pachter’s Introduction to Jewish Law as Rebellion – Conclusion](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/ido-pachters-introduction-to-jewish-law-as-rebellion-conclusion/): The essence of halakha is to go against the flow of routine. It trains us to find depth and meaning in every action. Through its guidance, all aspects of life gain new perspective, a sense of awe and elevation.
- [The Shofar, my Grandchildren, and the Sound of the Great Lion](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-shofar-my-grandchildren-and-the-sound-of-the-great-lion/): We are God’s stake in human history and we could not make a greater mistake than to believe that we could ever be a nation like other nations. This is our great challenge. Will we remain complacent, letting the shofar sit in the cupboard, never daring to go beyond ourselves? Or will we have the nerve to blow the shofar and produce something which surpasses ourselves?
- [Ido Pachter’s Introduction to Jewish Law as Rebellion – Part 4](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/ido-pachters-introduction-to-jewish-law-as-rebellion-part-4/): When I decided to study at the ultra-orthodox Gateshead Yeshiva, I learned that Judaism consists of a world view of tremendous depth, which is expressed in deeds and rituals that penetrate the deepest dimensions of the human being. I discovered Judaism in a different way than my fellow Yeshiva students did. They had grown up within Judaism, and thus were not able to see it from the outside as I did. They were so used to the splendor of Judaism that they were blinded by it and so no longer could they perceive it. At a later stage of my life, I myself fell victim to this same problem. I realized that I had lost my earlier fascination and had to start all over again. In this essay, Rabbi Pachter explains how I tried to do this.
- [Ido Pachter’s Introduction to Jewish Law as Rebellion – Part 3](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/ido-pachters-introduction-to-jewish-law-as-rebellion-part-3/): This week we continue with Rabbi Dr. Ido Pachter's Introduction to the Hebrew translation of Jewish Law as Rebellion. In this week's excerpt, Rabbi Pachter discusses how Rabbi Cardozo's experiences as an outsider contributed to his unusual views on halacha and faith.
- [Ido Pachter’s Introduction to Jewish Law as Rebellion – Part 2](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/ido-pachters-introduction-to-jewish-law-as-rebellion-part-2/): Rabbi Ido Pachter explains how Rabbi Cardozo's upbringing--in particular one memorable encounter with a fervent atheist in synagogue--influenced his unique take on faith and Jewish tradition.
- [Ido Pachter’s Introduction to Jewish Law as Rebellion – Part 1](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/ido-pachters-introduction-to-jewish-law-as-rebellion-part-1/): Rabbi Dr. Ido Pachter has provided an intriguing introduction to his Hebrew translation of my book: Jewish Law as Rebellion, A Plea for Religious Authenticity and Halachic Courage (Urim Publication, 2018). The book was published by Yediot Acharonot in May of this year under the title: ההלכה כמרד: קריה לדתיות מקורית והלכה נועזת I have translated Rav Pachter’s introduction into English, Part 1 of which is included here.
- [A Summary to Nathan Lopes Cardozo’s new Hebrew book: Halacha Ka-Mered](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/a-summary-to-nathan-lopes-cardozos-new-hebrew-book-halacha-ka-mered/): Rabbi Pachter’s new introduction to the Hebrew edition of Jewish Law as Rebellion is very helpful in facilitating a better understanding of the book and of my philosophy. I have translated it into English from the original Hebrew and will be posting it in the coming weeks. To increase the clarity of some of the ideas, I am posting here a kind of “introduction” to Rabbi Pachter’s introduction for those who are not familiar with my perspective on Judaism and Halacha.
- [Parashat Chukat – The Red Heifer and the Meaning of Life](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/parashat-chukat-the-red-heifer-and-the-meaning-of-life/): This week’s parashah opens with the perplexing law of the Red Heifer, whose ashes purify one who has come into contact with the dead. This strange ritual requires that “a red cow without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which no yoke has been laid” be slaughtered, then burned and its ashes mixed with water. This water would be held in reserve to be sprinkled over an individual who had come into contact with a corpse and was consequently ritually “impure”. Even stranger is the fact that the priest who prepares this purifying water, by his involvement with the preparation process, become impure! This law is held up as the exemplar of a “Chok”—a commandment for which no obvious rationale can be found. Such a law is very different from the “Mishpatim”—those commandments whose moral or intellectual underpinnings are clear and reasonable. What are we to make of this “irrational law” of the Red Heifer?
- [Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai and the Portable Homeland](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/rabbi-yochanan-and-the-portable-fatherland/): After this war is won, the next great challenge facing the State of Israel will be the possibility that its soldiers will one day refuse to serve and defend this country. How long will we be able to rely on the Israeli army if its combatants do not realize what it is they are fighting for? It is important that they know that they are defending an idea and a holy mission which far surpasses the defense of a piece of land!
- [The Blessing which can turn into a Curse](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/shemita-the-blessing-which-can-turn-into-a-curse/): The Torah tells us that we shouldn't worry about leaving the land untilled in the Shmita year, because He will bless the sixth year with a crop sufficient for three years. The question is: why has this blessing of abundance in the sixth year not been renewed?
- [The Wisdom of the Wicked Son](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-wisdom-of-the-wicked-son/): As Pesach approaches, there is something very important that we must understand. It is that the wicked son in the Haggada is in fact the wisest and most honest of the four sons. Why? Because he is the one who is asking the most important question of all!
- [The Miraculous Nature of Normality](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-miraculous-nature-of-normality/): The most challenging question in all of life is what do you do, and what do you believe when you are not sure. It is this question that moves the scientist, the philosopher, and most of all the religious personality. We must destroy the security of all conventional knowledge and undo the normalcy of all that is ordinary. To be religious is to realize that no final conclusions have ever been reached, nor will ever be reached.
- [Spinoza, the Alter Rebbe, and the Eternal Fire](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/spinoza-the-alter-rebbe-and-the-eternal-fire/): The Talmud states that all the sacrifices were consumed by a heavenly fire, not by the fire lit by the Cohanim. This seems to imply that there was absolutely no need to keep the human fire on the altar burning so as to consume the sacrifices. So why were the Cohanim commanded to keep the fire on the altar lit? It seems that an answer may be found in contrasting the teachings of two very different thinkers--Spinoza, who famously did not believe in miracles, and the Alter Rebbe, who believed the existence itself is a miracle.
- [The Tragic Loss of a Divine Law](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-tragic-loss-of-a-divine-law/): What exactly is Divine Law? And do human beings have any say in what the Law is to be?
- [Prayer, Sexuality, and the Pleasure Principle](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/prayer-sexuality-and-the-pleasure-principle/): Why are males and females physically attracted to each other? What is there in their physical appearance that makes them so excited that they want to be intimate, to the point where they consider this a great joy? The Sages of Israel understood the enormous power of sex and its immense challenges. Unlike other religions, such as classical Christianity, they never saw sexuality in a negative way. This is because sexual attraction is a reflection of Divine love.
- [Unity, not Uniformity](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/unity-not-uniformity-changing-the-discourse-in-israel/): In these difficult days, we have a moral obligation to create an environment for respectful discourse. We should all do what we can to provide our families, our friends, and our children with the tools to control how we speak about and to one another. The noble teachings of the Jewish Tradition could greatly help with this.
- [The Strolling Light of Shabbat](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-strolling-light-of-shabbat-the-art-of-creative-abstinence/): When the light of the setting sun announces the entrance of Shabbat, a miracle happens: the light assumes the quality of light in a Rembrandt painting. The light slows down. It strolls! There is no way to see the strolling of the light unless one actually opens the door to let it in. One cannot talk about mystery. One must be grasped by it. And that is only possible when insight and creative inaction become one.
- [Putting God on Trial: The problem of Divine Collateral Damage](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/putting-god-on-trial-the-problem-of-divine-collateral-damage/): The Jewish Tradition never told people not to question divine justice. Such questions are not only legitimate, they are holy because they rise from a deep realization that God is righteous and at the same time honest enough to admit that He is at fault.
- [The Conditional Promise of Peace](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-conditional-promise-of-peace-the-realism-of-a-biblical-verse/): The sudden rediscovery of Jewish identity in Israel since the start of the war has led me to understand a verse in the Torah that I never really understood before. In this verse, God promises peace in our borders under certain conditions. Due to all that we have experienced in the last weeks—the trauma of the attacks and then the incredible new awakening to what it means to be a Jew—perhaps we need to reconsider this verse.
- [The War and the Sunflower](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-war-and-the-sunflower-we-are-all-cartesians/): The holy task of Halakhic living requires us to see with more than our senses, and to comprehend what is beyond reason. It requires both inner consciousness and the transformation of the deed, by which we express our deepest understanding of the splendor of the world.
- [The Miracle of this War](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-miracle-of-this-war/): After the terrible internal fights that nearly tore apart the Israeli nation, this war has brought our people together as never before. It is as if a Divine voice rang out and said: "Enough! This far and no farther! There will be no civil war in Israel. I will not allow it."
- [We Must Decide Lest We Forget Who We Are!](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/israel-at-war-we-must-decide-lest-we-forget-who-we-are/): The disastrous situation in which Israel finds itself at this hour asks for serious self-reflection on a level unfamiliar to many of us.
- [The Paradox of Sukkot](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-paradox-of-sukkot/): Nothing is more crucial for the religious personality than the question as to whether there is a God we can trust and rely on. Often, even one who believes that God exists may still wonder whether he can have faith in Him.
- [The Future of a Marriage – The Good News File](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-future-of-a-marriage-the-good-news-file/): Experiencing low points in life is par for the course. Contending with these and the accompanying negative emotions and moods can be challenging and difficult. The correct perspective of what we have, our reality, and the true power we hold to alter and improve the direction of our lives is a sure tool in facing life.
- [Optimism and the Problem of the Black Dot](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/optimism-and-the-problem-of-the-black-dot/): The good and the beauty of this world reminds us of that which is greater than we can ever attain or fully understand.
- [Tisha B’Av and Victimhood](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/tisha-bav-and-victimhood/): Tisha B’Av is frequently perceived as a day of victimization, the date both Temples were destroyed and the Jewish People was transformed into a nation of eternal victims. If this was true, there would be no purpose to Tisha B’Av.
- [The Future of a Marriage – The Blessing of Marital Dialogue](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-future-of-a-marriage-the-blessing-of-marital-dialogue/): The Future of a Marriage - Part 2: The Blessing of Marital Dialogue
- [The Future of a Marriage – The Art of Speaking](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-future-of-a-marriage-the-art-of-speaking/): My dear grandchildren, Chatan (groom) and Kalla (bride), Yaacov Shlomo and Chava,
- [The Meaning of Life, Depression and The Red Heifer](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-meaning-of-life-depression-and-the-red-heifer/): Depression is one of the worst conditions a human being may suffer.
- [The Holiness of Words](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-holiness-of-words/): Man alone was endowed with the gift of words and the ability to connect thereby with his Creator. Language can comprise grandeur, while it can also be emptied of its value and essence. How we choose to live our lives affects how we express ourselves and the language we use. The debasing of language today stems from and represents unfortunate moral and ethical decay.
- [Hallelujah: Do You Live The Divine Song?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/hallelujah-do-you-live-the-divine-song/): Shavuot 5783/2023 Hallelujah: Do You Live The Divine Song? (Inspired by Leonard Cohen) Now I have heard of a secret chord That Moshe learned and it pleased the Lord, And he brought it down in human words, But its essence stayed up in the Heavenly Court. Above it is fire, Below it are letters, The seventh, the tenth, And six-hundred-thirteenth matters. All holy ways and means that baffled Moshe, That brought him to great deeds. Composing a song while walking along. When they crossed the sea, Which should have transformed all of me, But lo, I did not see. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. His faith was strong and did not need proof, But his people stayed aloof. He struck the stone And the Lord said: “You will be alone.” He broke his throne, but the Law was to stay. While Moshe was sent to the Heavenly lay, But lo, I stayed uninspired and unfired. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Well, maybe there’s a God above, As for me—I need no proof. For the constant mystery of all of life baffles my mind. There is no difference between a flower And Sinai, at the holy hour. They are all made of the same sound: Divine and Thine. A way to live I desire In the desert of this land. A life of mitzvot and spirit, music and lyric. This is what my ancestors experienced on the mound, What they heard and learned to count. I heard the fire and saw the voice. But oh, I continue to be without choice. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. And I understood That it determines my foot wherever I go. When I am high or low, Through the ups and the downs The inner struggle will stay. There is no escape from Thee, So, I require the Law and the spirit To keep me my merit. But I ask my friend: “Have you heard the Divine Song? And if not, where are you going and will you live the Holy Tongue?” Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
- [Contemplating Childbirth and Divine Revelation](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/contemplating-childbirth-and-divine-revelation/): When a child is born, the first question that should come to mind is: When he or she grows up, what should we tell them about the importance of their birth and the purpose of their life? After all, what right do we have to bring a child into the world without informing him of this important fact? Is there anything more heartless than giving birth to children and not letting them know why they were given life?
- [Yom HaAtzma’ut: The Blessing and the Danger – Lest We forget](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/yom-haatzmaut-the-blessing-and-the-danger-lest-we-forget/): There is no logic to the State of Israel and it is no foundation for commonplace, Nor is it habit, or routine. Israel is a marvel and unique - we must never forget its Jewish and religious basis.
- [Israel and the Blessing of Insecurity](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/israel-plagued-its-destiny-and-the-call-of-our-prophets/): Israel is summoned to remind the world of God’s existence, not only concerning religion but also as a historical reality. There is no security for Israel unless it is secure in its own destiny.
- [Megillat Esther: Attaining the Level of Non-Acquaintance](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/megillat-esther-attaining-the-level-of-non-acquaintance/): Attaining the Level of Non-Acquaintance—Pseudo-Dionysius, the Areopagite
- [Panic: The Visible and Invisible](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/panic-the-visible-and-invisible/): Genuine religiosity is demanding - it requires a sensitivity to the physical human condition as well as the hidden, divine dimension. Living in a manner that combines the visible and the invisible, and more so, harmonizing the two as equal components of our lives, is a tremendous challenge. It is too easy to make a selection - as many individuals and even religions do - between the visible and invisible, preferring one over the other. However, living the one with an imbalance regarding the other is not what Judaism teaches.
- [The Struggle to Teach Real Torah](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/god-me-and-the-struggle-to-teach-real-torah/): Despite my many years of experience (and successes), I have felt that something crucial has been missing - which I identified recently: Am I merely conveying knowledge, or do I stand before my students as someone who is entirely imbued with the significance, import and sanctity of the words I utter? God requires of His prophets and those who speak His words to be true and just, and to live His words with every fiber of their beings!
- [The Art of Smiling](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-art-of-smiling/): A kippah - and every other aspect of dress required by the Halakhah - pose a tremendous challenge! I am constantly aware of how I am to strive to achieve and implement the values that my kippah requires of me - both when I stand before God, and also in the way I face the world. Facing my fellow, my conduct, and even the countenance I assume are spheres that my kippah relates to!
- [Fearing My Kippah](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/fearing-my-kippah/): I have a serious dilemma. As I am getting older (I am currently 76, thank God), I am becoming more and more afraid of my kippah.
- [Birth and Death – The Ultimate Paradox](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/birth-and-death-the-ultimate-paradox/): Speak to the Israelite people thus: When a woman at childbirth bears a male, she shall be impure seven days; she shall be impure as at the time of her condition of menstrual separation.
- [Chanukah: The Art of Balancing](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/chanukah-the-art-of-balancing/): The menorah of Chanukah, sometimes called the chanukiah, has its roots in the menorah of the Temple. While there are many halakhot (laws) regarding the appearance and structure of the biblical menorah, Rashi, the great French commentator, points to a most remarkable halachic feature. Regarding the instruction to arrange the lamps so that they will be lit “towards the menorah” (Bamidbar 8:2), Rashi explains this to mean that all the lamps should point towards the middle light.
- [Kashrut is Not Just About Food](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/it-is-time-to-stop-eating-kosher/): The Jewish dietary laws are concerned with something beyond mere health. They concern holiness - which requires us to advance, progress and improve ourselves.
- [The Art of Reading the Torah Correctly](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-art-of-reading-the-torah-correctly/): As mentioned in our last essay (here) the Torah is not a text to be read as a book—rather, it is to be seen as a divine “notebook” containing succinct summaries of a greater lecture or series of lectures. Moshe first heard the lecture in its “sum total” when God delivered a series of lectures to Moshe; our tradition has this process of God teaching Moshe orally on Mount Sinai for 40 days. After this, Moshe wrote his “notes” at the “dictation” of God, the Written Torah, whatever “dictation” may mean. This observation and conceptualization of the nature of the Written Torah comes from Rabbi S.R. Hirsch. The concept of a “divine lecture” that is the foundation of the Oral Torah is much more complex and demands further study that lies beyond the scope of this essay.
- [An Answer to an Unasked Question is Irrelevant](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/an-answer-to-an-unasked-question-is-irrelevant/): The text of the Torah can be quite misleading when read in a vacuum. The casual reader may encounter what he deems to be errors, stylistic inconsistencies, grammar and linguistic anomalies, and more. However, prior knowledge - and primarily a basic understanding of what the Torah text truly is and what the goals of its divine author are - are the keys to properly understanding any and every word of the sacred text.
- [The Art of Making Winter into a Sukkah](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-art-of-making-winter-into-a-sukkah/): Winter - bleak, dreary and cold - often has a negative effect on our moods and even outlooks. The message of Sukkot, The Festival of Tabernacles, must be continued into this period of darkness and, indeed, into our lives. The Sukkah is a structure that is quite plain and feeble by definition and requirement, and yet it interior and significance are tremendously beautiful and solid. Our lives can be greatly enriched and understood and even assigned deep purpose when we understand the Sukkah.
- [Sukkot, the Desert and the Eternity of the Torah](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/sukkot-the-desert-and-the-eternity-of-the-torah/): Traveling through a desert is journeying through a lonely place, completely forsaken. There is neither food nor water, nor any other form of sustaining substance. There is only the unbearable sun and its heat. There is no grass and there are no trees. The only signs of life are deadly snakes and scorpions. In a desert, death stares you in the face; it is a dangerous and treacherous place.
- [Rosh Hashana & Yom Kippur](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/rosh-hashana-yom-kippur-a-eulogy-for-a-christian-who-helped-my-religiosity/): I was asked to eulogize an acquaintance from my childhood and youth in Holland—the mother of friends of mine. As I prepared the eulogy, I realized how much she and her family, and other devout Christians I knew, had influenced me. Despite the clear and definite differences between our religious outlooks, their sincerity and intent inspire me.
- [The Spiritual Uniqueness of the Israeli Army](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-spiritual-uniqueness-of-the-israeli-army/): Words on my Grandsons Enlisting in the Israeli Defense Forces. The joy and honor of joining Israel's army relate to 4,000 years of Jewish history, morals, and ethics, and the universal good.
- [Struggles – Illumination of My Personal Challenges](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/struggles-illumination-of-my-personal-challenges/): A private response to the many who asked for illumination concerning my personal religious struggles
- [Abraham and Problem of Evil](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/abraham-and-the-us-president-and-their-irritation-with-god/): A God Who is good, yet the existence of evil, is an age-old dilemma. Authentic faith leads to questions and even indignation at perceived injustices. It is the true believer who reacts to realities that seem unjust and that result in suffering - remaining complacent is unacceptable! Simultaneously, one must remember the very little he can fathom about our world.
- [The Brilliance of Judaism When You Do Not Believe](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-brilliance-of-judaism-when-you-do-not-believe/): When I met my Dutch atheistic friend, who I discussed previously (The Blessing of the Religious Atheist in Haarlem), in the city of Haarlem several times after I had met him in the synagogue, he became very outspoken. It was clear that his observations were expressed with great sincerity and with an ongoing respect for (Orthodox) Judaism.
- [The Blessing of the Religious Atheist in Haarlem](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-blessing-of-the-religious-atheist-in-haarlem/): At the age of 15 when I first experienced observant Judaism, I encountered the anomaly of the observant non-believer. After approaching this person to discuss his views, his perspective enlightened me and accompanies me to this day. Non-belief does not dictate complete severance from everything that is Jewish and religious - in fact the non-believer has much to gain from Judaism, even as a non-believer!
- [Theism and Atheism: the Twofold of Real Faith Which is One](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/theism-and-atheism-the-twofold-of-real-faith-which-is-one/): Approaching the question of the "existence" of God is almost impossible. Western thought and science has successfully analyzed and understood a myriad of aspects of our universe. However, applying these disciplines and proof by empirical evidence when attempting to "prove" anything about the divine proves futile. Were God to be a "thing," this would not be the case; God is not a "thing."
- [Shavuot and the Encounter with Mystery](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/shavuot-and-the-encounter-with-mystery/): Religious experiences can be few and far between. It is essential to translate religious experiences into a significant and lasting realities. All religions are born out of the intense feelings, often panic-filled astonishment, that follow such an experience. Jewish Law is a successful "recipe" for maintaining and incorporating religious experiences into our lives.
- [God for Atheists (2) – Belief in God and the Human Brain](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/god-for-atheists-2-belief-in-god-and-the-human-brain/): Belief in the divine and religiosity most certainly have biological bases, however this does not mean that the biology of the human mind cause belief. The root of religiosity lies outside science and biology, while biology enables us to "tune in" and experience faith.
- [Karpas and the Many-colored Garment](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/pessah-the-mystery-of-karpas/): The seder on Pesach night opens with a mysterious practice - dipping a vegetable, "karpas," in salt water and then eating it. This is done immediately following Kiddush, and just as the recital of the Haggada begins. Why was this practice instituted and what does it teach us about the Exodus? Understanding karpas holds the key to understanding Judaism's approach to Pesach and the universal significance of the Exodus.
- [God for Atheists](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/god-for-atheists/): Atheists and agnostics often feel a certain void in their lives, a certain lack of meaning or awareness of something higher, or a different dimension. This is awareness is part of the human condition and is something that offers an opening into the search for meaning. On beginning the investigation of the "God" concept, one must accept that God cannot be fully grasped: doubt is not merely a "hazard" but an integral and fundamental part of basic belief!
- [Purim, or How to Win a Chess Game](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/purim-or-how-to-win-a-chess-game/): Purim is a festival of tremendous grandeur, splendor... and stupidity! The story of Purim as told in Megillat Esther reveals the arbitrary acts that at once were dangerous and fraught with large risk, and yet concluded as a move of courage and wisdom. Using this unusual strategy can be quite successful in chess...
- [The Eternity of Purim](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-eternity-of-purim/): The Purim story, as depicted in Megillat Esther, is miracle-less. Certainly as the events were unfolding the hand of God is absent, and it is only the keen reader who will identify the divine intervention as the drama that threatened the very existence of the Jewish People unraveled. God's covert involvement in the world is extremely difficult to ascertain, and yet it surrounds us every moment of every day, and like the Festival of Purim, will be celebrated for all eternity.
- [Adar Sheni and God Awareness](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/adar-sheni-and-god-awareness/): The Jewish Calendar is an intricate, complex and complicated system that requires the input of the greatest sages, astronomers and mathematicians in order to have a calendar based on the lunar year yet coincide with the solar calendar and seasons. Seemingly, it would be far simpler to follow either the lunar or solar calendar. The secret of the Jewish calendar is the creation of a constant awareness of God's presence.
- [Do Not Wait Until COVID-19 is Over](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/do-not-wait-until-covid-19-is-over/): COVID-19 has hit all of us - the entire world - quite hard, and is a certain cause for dismay. We are all waiting for the pandemic and everything it has brought with it to end so that we can return to our routines, get on with our lives and be happy once again. However, happiness is not necessarily what or where we perceive it to be. In fact, we can already choose to be happy from today - and on every day and in every situation we find ourselves!
- [How to Conduct a Dialogue, Discussion or Debate](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/how-to-conduct-a-dialogue-discussion-or-debate/): Dialogue and debate are essential parts of the sea of ideas that can enrich each and everyone of us. Unfortunately, serious debate on highly significant topics all too often moves from the topic at hand to unruly behavior (whether in an informal discussion between two parties, or in a public, formal setting). Guidelines for maintaining dignity are essential - both so that we are able to conduct the debate properly and so that we maintain our and our opponent's dignity. If we are truly dedicated to the true and free exchange of ideas, then even when we vehemently disagree with our opponent we will remain civil and learn something about his arguments and even ours.
- [Shemita: How not to be a Chimpanzee](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/shemita-do-not-become-a-chimpanzee/): What defines us? Is it what we do, or rather, who we are? If a human being is nothing more than the tasks he performs on a daily basis, then a mere chimpanzee can take his place and possible perform these tasks as well and even better. However, if we understand that the tasks themselves do not define us, but rather can act as a means to an end, as the means that allows us to realize our dreams, then only we can perform the tasks successfully over time. The Sabbatical year, Shemita, that we mark during the current year teaches us this important lesson; all that is left for us to do is to open ourselves to the Torah's teachings in this sphere.
- [Is it Possible to Be Religious?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/chanukah-to-pretend-to-be-religious/): One of the great problems any religious person should struggle with is whether it is actually possible to be religious. In fact, what is the essence of genuine religiosity? The concept at the root of all religions is the awareness that it is extremely difficult to live up to the awe of the moment. The famous dispute regarding the order of lighting the Chanukah lights illuminates a practical approach to this issue.
- [An Open Letter to Rabbi Serfaty, The Portuguese-Spanish Synagogue, Amsterdam](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/an-open-letter-to-rabbi-serfaty-the-portuguese-spanish-synagogue-amsterdam/): As an orthodox Rabbi who studied in the ultra-Orthodox Gateshead Yeshiva in England for many years and who has read all of Spinoza’s works, I am of the opinion that Spinoza sometimes deliberately misrepresents Judaism. I am also aware that Spinoza wrote remarkable, noble observations about human beings, nature and society which have helped all of us. I strongly object to deeming anyone who studies, researches and teaches Spinoza a “persona non grata.”
- [What Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach Said to the Women of the Wall](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/what-rabbi-shlomo-carlebach-said-to-the-women-of-the-wall/): Our Torah is wide enough and deep enough to cater for everyone. The Torah can speak to each and every person; however, sometimes one aspect will speak to a specific individual while not another. In this impromptu dialogue, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach expresses a number of very significant, critical thoughts about Judaism, God, the Torah, and our own relations with our fellow.
- [The Wisdom of the Bus Driver: Love Your Fellow As Yourself!](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-wisdom-of-the-bus-driver-love-your-fellow-as-yourself/): Loving one's fellow as oneself is a central tenet and practical commandment of our religion. And yet, as simple as it sounds, its application is extremely difficult. Even those well-versed in the intricacies of the significance and laws governing this precept have difficulty incorporating it into their inner selves and actions. On occasion, it takes the insight and words of a bus driver to properly inculcate this love for one's fellow.
- [The Rabbi’s Gift and the Mashiach](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-rabbis-gift-and-the-mashiach/): When my oldest granddaughter became Bat Mitzva I wrote a book for her with advice and stories. Here is one such story.
- [Children’s Toys and Trivializing Torah](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/childrens-toys-and-trivializing-torah/): Human beings are uniquely blessed with the faculty of imagination, and they possess nearly unlimited potential for constructive fantasy. Imagination is essential for advancement and progress throughout the world, which is also the case for Torah study. And yet, the sophistication invested in the production of toys for our children limits their processes of pretense, and thus the possibility for innovation and new insights in Torah learning.
- [The Mystery of the Missing Verse and the Problem of Evil](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-mystery-of-the-missing-verse-and-the-problem-of-evil/): There is a pasuk (verse), missing from the Torah, a verse that is the most important of all—without which the Torah is not complete! This missing verse should have been written before the first verse in the Torah: “In the beginning God created heaven and earth.” This verse should have told us why God “decided” to create heaven and earth, the millions of stars, black holes, animals, vegetation, and above all, human beings. The absence of this verse is deliberate—for there is no way to write it; it could only have been “written” in God’s personal “language” that is beyond the capability of humankind to understand. The implications of this missing verse have profound meaning for human existence.
- [A Short Introduction to God](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/a-short-introduction-to-god/): While in pantheistic and other non-monotheistic philosophies, the Divine has no moral input, nothing could be further from the Jewish concept of God. For Judaism, God is the source par excellence of all moral criteria. And yet, on occasion He Himself seems to violate these very moral criteria — such as in the case when He causes a devastating flood in the days of Noah. God is a conscious Being Who created the world with a purpose. And this world is real and by no means a mirage. The human being’s deeds are of great value, far from an illusion; they are the very goal of creation. Judaism objects to the pantheistic view of the human being since it depersonalizes him, ultimately leading to his demoralization.
- [Parashat Bereshit: The First Divine Commandment is to Enjoy the World](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/parashat-bereshit-the-first-divine-commandment-is-to-enjoy-the-world/): It is often thought that God’s first commandment to Adam was the prohibition regarding the Tree of Knowledge. This would mean that man’s first encounter with the will of God was a negative experience: a restriction. However, this isn't actually true: This was not the first commandment! Careful analysis of the text shows that the first commandment to Adam and Chava was to eat from all the other trees and enjoy them.
- [Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/rosh-hashana-yom-kippur-the-curse-of-indifference/): Our greatest challenge is that, living under miraculous conditions through no merit of our own, we fall prey to the curse of indifference--indifference to the miserable and impossible situation of our fellow humans who are threatened by suffering and death.
- [Humor, Rosh HaShana, and the Impossible Shofar](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/rosh-hashana-fairy-tales-and-humor/): It is Divine humor that tells us to live with absurdity, and supreme holy witticism that asks us to live with laughter. We are asked to enjoy the journey and realize that there is no arrival.
- [Tractatus Dialogico Philosophico De Faceta – A Modern Humorous Dialogue](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/tractatus-dialogico-philosophico-de-faceta-a-modern-humorous-dialogue/): A humorous look at the problem of human communication. Enjoy!
- [The Map Problem and the Fly](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-map-problem-and-the-fly/): Some have said that only what can be proven is of value. True, if we limit ourselves to that which can be proven, we run less risk of error, and yet, by limiting ourselves so, we also run the risk of missing out on that which is most important. After all, the things that bring us the greatest meaning are those very things that cannot be proven.
- [The Temple Sacrifices and the Meaning of Life](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-temple-sacrifices-and-the-meaning-of-life/): Regardless of the many traditional approach to offering sacrifices in our day, there is no question that the Temple and its rituals once played an enormous role in Judaism, and that offering sacrifices was at the very center of its holy service. So, what was it that made sacrifices such an essential part of Judaism in bygone times? Was it merely primitivism? Or was it something that we are no longer connected to today and are missing out on? What holiness could there have been in the offering of sacrifices? And were we to discover this holiness, would that mean we should reintroduce the sacrificial rites in our own contemporary times?
- [Belief in the Hereafter](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/belief-in-the-hereafter/): Is belief in an afterlife a fundamental tenet of Jewish faith? I personally believe that a human being’s life does not come to an end with death, but I do not believe that this is a fundamental tenet of our faith. In fact, I believe that to consider this as such harms the integrity of Judaism.
- [God as an Idol: The tragedy of being religious](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/god-as-an-idol-the-tragedy-of-being-religious/): 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?
- [The War between Israel and Hamas](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-war-between-israel-and-hamas/): When a nation looses its sense of mission it turns against those who remind them of it. All too often, it is the Jewish nation that earns their hatred with their moral demands and teachings. As a result, these countries call for the destruction of this annoying nation. Its voice, reflecting the One Above, has to be silenced so that the uncertainty of these countries’ conscience and the reality of their guilt can be obliterated.
- [Achieving Joy: Be a Simpleton](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/achieving-joy-be-a-simpleton/): 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.
- [Afterthoughts on the Pandemic: the Black Spot or the White Page?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/afterthoughts-on-the-pandemic-the-black-spot-or-the-white-page/): 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.
- [Moshe’s Failure to Educate God](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/moshes-failure-to-educate-god/): Who is the Eternal, that I should listen to His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Eternal and moreover I will not let Israel go.
- [Conversion is not about Halachah but about Jewishness](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/conversion-is-not-about-halachah-but-about-jewishness/): 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.
- [Halachic Jews and Soul Jews](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/halachic-jews-and-soul-jews/): There are probably billions of people who are full-fledged “soul Jews” but don’t know it, and very likely never will. Perhaps it is these Jews whom God had in mind when He blessed Avraham and told him that he would be the father of all nations and that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the seashore.
- [When Foreign Notions Enter Through the Back Door](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/when-foreign-notions-enter-through-the-back-door/): Due to the long exile of the Jewish people, many Christian ideas have infiltrated Judaism through the back door. One such idea is the notion that saving the soul is more important than saving the body, and that the body is an obstacle to the soul. This idea is completely against the central tents of Judaism, and yet it has been adopted by certain parts of the Chareidi community.
- [The Challenge of Purim and the Coming of the Mashiach](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-challenge-of-purim-and-the-coming-of-the-mashiach/): Redemption does not happen overnight; it develops over a long period of intermediate hester panim, until the last stage in the drama of history is fulfilled. The story of Purim reminds us that such periods when God "hides" from us are temporary. It gives us a framework in which to understand our lives and remain optimistic, even in the midst of darkness.
- [On Silence, the Mishkan, and the Golden Calf](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/parashat-terumah-on-the-tabernacle-silence-and-prayer/): Some of our greatest commentators have wrestled with the connection between the command to build the Mishkan (the Tent of Meeting or Tabernacle) and the sin of the Golden Calf. It can be argued that the Mishkan was a concession to human weakness, and the same is true of the institution of spoken prayer!
- [A Plea to the Secular and Chareidi Communities](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/a-plea-to-the-secular-and-chareidi-communities/): Most of the people in both the secular and the Chareidi communities are deeply committed to their fellow Jews and to the welfare of the State of Israel. And so I ask both communities, why can’t you get on with each other?
- [The Upcoming Post Corona Crisis Part 7 – not what we want, but what we should want.](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/what-we-should-want/): When Jews and non-Jews rediscover that to really live is an art which few people have conquered, but which is essential to our happiness, only then will the world be able to slowly heal itself.
- [The Upcoming Post Corona Crisis – Part 6: Talmudic Rainbows](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-upcoming-post-corona-crisis-part-6-talmudic-rainbows/): 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.
- [Aggadah and the Tragedy of “Secularism” in Religious Jewish Education](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-upcoming-post-corona-crisis-part-5/): 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.
- [The Upcoming Post Corona Crisis – Part 4](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-upcoming-post-corona-crisis-part-4/): The prophets had a universal message, far beyond the Jewish people. Their calls to aid the poor, widows and orphans, and the promise of the coming of the Messianic age were meant for the whole world. The State of Israel is itself the greatest proof that prophecy is slowly coming alive again. Judaism has been handed an opportunity to restore its full capacity, including its redemptive message, to heal the world and end the amputation of the best part of itself.
- [Yosef’s Remarkable Revenge](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/parashat-vayigash-yosefs-remarkable-revenge/): In this week's parashah, Yosef set's up the ultimate test for his brothers. Will they let their little brother down and not sell him to the enemy or will they fight for him? The answer will show whether they have truly repented of their betrayal of him.
- [The Upcoming Post Corona Crisis – Part 3](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-upcoming-post-corona-crisis-part-3/): Halacha was meant to rely heavily rely on the prophetic voice to give it its spirit and motivation. Because of the absence of prophecy, this spiritual component is missing or overlooked in our day-to-day experience. It is the absence of this prophetic dimension that underlies the spiritual malaise in which we currently find ourselves.
- [History, Divine Emanations, and Human Responses](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/chanukah-history-is-written-by-choice-not-by-truth/): Judaism suggests that at certain times God sends emanations to this world in order to awaken human beings to act. We see this in the story of Chanukah. God created a notion of revolt within the minds of the Maccabees, whose greatness was manifest in their correct reaction to this heavenly directive.
- [The Unforgettable “Sinterklaas”: A tongue-in-cheek look at a remarkable tradition](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-unforgettable-sinterklaas-a-tongue-in-cheek-look-at-a-remarkable-tradition/): This week, the festival of Sinterklaas will take place in my birthplace of Holland. This festival made an indelible impression on my childhood, and there is much we can learn from the dilemmas it raised (and still raise) for Jewish educators.
- [The Upcoming Post-Corona Crisis – Part 2](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/upcoming-post-corona-crisis-part-2/): COVID-19 has highlighted the weaknesses of our ideologies, both religious and secular, to provide meaning to our lives.
- [The Upcoming Post-Corona Crisis – Part 1](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/upcoming-post-corona-crisis/): Is the failure of many parts of the Chareidi community to observe the coronavirus regulations a symptom of a deeper underlying problem? Is a spiritual malaise lurking behind their behavior? I believe we must approach this pandemic from a global perspective – far beyond the Jewish community itself.
- [In Memory of Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z.l. – A man of faith & defiance](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/faith-defiance-in-memory-of-lord-rabbi-jonathan-sacks-z-l/): 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.
- [The Paradox of Shabbat](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-paradox-of-shabbat/): On six days work should be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Eternal . . . You shall kindle no fire throughout your settlements on the Sabbath day.
- [The Command That Came Too Late](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-command-that-came-too-late/): The command to build the Mishkan (Tabernacle) was a huge mistake. Not because it was not a brilliant idea, but because it came too late!
- [The Absurdity of Yom Kippur](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-absurdity-of-yom-kippur-the-confrontation-with-our-undeserved-life/): Yom Kippur leads us to realize life itself is a gift and that gifts confer obligations. The more we receive, the more we become obligated to respond adequately.
- [Rosh Hashana: Daring to Blow New Life into Judaism](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/rosh-hashana-daring-to-blow-new-life-into-judaism/): The blowing of the shofar proves that we can surpass ourselves. On our own, using only our vocal cords, we are unable to produce this sound—a terrifying, awesome, penetrating resonance. This is a sound that can cause us to break down, pick ourselves up again, and transform ourselves into new individuals.
- [The Art of Recognizing Miracles](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-survival-of-israel-and-the-art-of-recognizing-miracles/): The fact that Jews survived centuries of exile, outlived all their enemies, and made it back to the Land of Israel is unprecedented and a vexing conundrum for historians and sociologists.
- [Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven: How to be a Genuine Halachic Expert](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/bach-mozart-and-beethoven-how-to-be-a-genuine-halachic-expert/): To be an arbiter of Jewish law is to be the conductor of an orchestra. It is not coercion but persuasion that makes it possible for the other to hear the beauty of the music and to accept a halachic decision, just as one would willingly listen to the interpretation of a conductor—because one is deeply inspired.
- [Who can be Mashiach? He who knows how to sing!](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/who-can-be-mashiach-he-who-knows-how-to-sing/): Music raises the spoken word to a level that touches on prophecy. It gives it a taste of that which is beyond, and transforms it into something untouchable. Just as there is no way to demonstrate the beauty of music to a person who is completely deaf, so is there no way to explain the difference between a spoken word and one which is sung, unless one sings. It lifts a person out of the mundane and gives him a feeling of the imponderable, which is the entrance to joy. It sets the soul in operation and brings us near to the Infinite.
- [Some Bold Ideas](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/some-bold-ideas-how-to-observe-shabbat-take-the-tram-and-go-to-a-restaurant/): It is clear a greater number of secular Israelis would like to become more observant. However, for various practical reasons, or due to social pressures, they are unable to make this switch. One of the great challenges, if not the greatest, is Shabbat, the only official day of rest in Israeli society, when people enjoy visiting people, or meeting friends at a restaurant. But none of this is possible without the use of cars or taxis and with no open restaurants. Here are some suggestions to overcome these obstacles
- [Torah: The Confrontation with Ourselves](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/torah-the-confrontation-with-ourselves/): The people of Israel, according to Jewish tradition, are not the authors of the Torah. Rather, the Torah is the author of the people. As a covenant between God and humankind, the Torah is what brought the people into being. Moreover, despite the fact that the people have often violated the commanding voice of this text, it created the specific and unique identity of the Jewish nation.
- [Faith, Death, and Certainty](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/faith-death-and-certainty/): Faith is deeper than knowledge. While scientific data is absorbed only in the brain, faith permeates all parts of the human personality.
- [The Message of The Corona Virus](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-message-of-the-corona-virus/): The new reality in the age of COVID-19 forces us to break with the monotony that most of us are used to. Almost all of us jump into routine every morning – whether it’s a job, or the need to sleep, eat, or entertain ourselves. And now, the corona virus suddenly forces us to rethink everything, making us wonder what this life of ours is really all about.
- [When Something is Nothing](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/when-something-is-nothing/): When God’s glory is fully present in the Mishkan, there is no place for the human being, not even for somebody as great and godly as Moshe. What then, is the place of the human within the Divine?
- [The Perfect Torah Versus the evolving Torah](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-ideal-torah-versus-the-evolving-torah/): Announcing a new initiative by the Cardozo Academy Think Tank: a series of guest essays by Yehudah DovBer Zirkind, based on Rabbi Cardozo's discussion of the Mei Hashiloah, Torah and Halacha.
- [מכתב פתוח לרב חיים קנייבסקי שליט”א](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/michtav-el-harav-kanievsky/): מאז תחילת מגפת הקורונה, אני נמצא במצב בלתי אפשרי. כל מה שאני מאמין בו – ושהעולם החרדי, כפי שאני מכיר אותו, מאמין בו – מחולל בדרכים שלא יכולתי לדמיין.
- [Rembrandt and the Quest for Integrity](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/75-years-after-the-holocaust-rembrandt-and-the-quest-for-integrity/): Rembrandt reminds us that if we want to really live we must show flawless integrity and demonstrate great authenticity. It is all about making a genuine contribution to the world, with no regard for gain, and even being prepared to pay the price of one’s rank and position in the conventional community. A person must make sure that he can look himself in the mirror at the end of his life and say, I lived my life; it did not just pass me by.
- [The Unorthodox Education of Moshe Rabbenu](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-unorthodox-education-of-moshe-rabbenu/): Judaism was born out of opposition, rebellion and protest. It overthrew and outlived mighty empires and gave the world a radically new understanding of itself. Judaism has nothing to fear. It has prevailed over all those who criticized it but has also learned much about itself by listening to opposing voices. Through these voices, it has been able to sharpen its own claims and if necessary change its mind when the inadequacy of these claims has become clear. Only in this way will it continue to play a central role in the future of mankind.
- [The Talmudic Olympic Games](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-talmudic-olympic-games/): Last week, something remarkable happened. Thousands of Jews from all over the world came together to study the last page of an old book with the ineffable anticipation of starting to study it all over again from page one and not to lose a minute.
- [The Religious Value of Doubt](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-religious-value-of-doubt/): Faith means striving for faith. It is never an arrival. It can only burst forth at singular moments. It does not arise out of logical deduction, but out of uncertainty, which is its natural breeding ground. To have faith is to live with unresolved doubts, prepared to rise above ourselves and our wisdom. Looking into the Jewish tradition with its many debates, one clearly understands that those who deny themselves the comfort of certainty are much more authentic than those who are sure.
- [Avraham and Individuality](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/avraham-and-individuality-old-age-and-facelifts/): For the authentically religious personality, religion can be experienced and lived only in a state of originality. Any imitation of fellow worshipers is serving oneself and not God. In essence, religion is an attempt to search for God, the ultimate Original.
- [Chaye Sarah: Leader or Captain](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/chaye-sarah-leader-or-captain/): Leadership often demands moving forward at all costs. But what about those left behind? In Avraham we find a different model—one who leads from the front, yet never abandons those at the rear. A profound reflection on what it truly means to guide others.
- [The Curse of Fluency](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-curse-of-fluency/): Praying to God can be risky! All of us frequently succumb to the danger of prayer by rote, which can easily lead to other serious problems. The worshipers may be so arrogantly satisfied with themselves that they completely forget before Whom they stand while praying.
- [The Dangerous “Day After” Yom Kippur](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-dangerous-day-after-yom-kippur/): The day after Yom Kippur, the synagogue service really should be a completely different experience from what people are used to. Yom Kippur should still be in the bones of all synagogue participants. Its spirit should still be felt with every prayer. It should be completely impossible for synagogue services to return to their old ways, in which prayers are  said as if “nothing happened.”
- [Is Torah from Heaven](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/is-torah-from-heaven/): Why do we believe that revelation may be possible? If revaluation is by definition not amenable to scientific investigation, what other faculty is available to us to contemplate the prospect of revelation? Believe it or not, this depends on our openness and capacity to wonder, to be perplexed and stand in amazement, which happens when we have no other way of dealing with something extraordinary.
- [The Purpose of Judaism is to Disturb](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/parashat-reeh-the-purpose-of-judaism-is-to-disturb/): Judaism is a protest against taking life for granted. There are no insignificant phenomena or deeds in this world, and it is through Halacha's demands and interference in our daily life that we are made aware of God as our steadfast Companion.
- [When Times Change, Jewish Education Changes](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/when-times-change-jewish-education-changes/): Jewish education has only one goal, and that is to inspire students to reach for Heaven—to transform them into outstanding human beings, who demonstrate concern for their fellowmen.
- [Sweetening the Divine Word](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/parashat-vaetchanan-sweetening-the-divine-word/): There is little meaning in living by Halacha if one does not hear its grace. It is not a life of Halachic observance that we need, but a life of experiencing Halacha as a daily living music recital. Observance alone does not propel man to a level of existence where he realizes that there is more to life than the mind can grasp.
- [Rabbinic Despair and Simple Courage](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/rabbinic-despair-and-simple-courage/): When the world collapsed, the sages despaired. But the people did not. In the shadow of destruction, ordinary Jews chose to marry, build, and believe. This essay tells the story of a quiet, stubborn faith—the kind that refuses to surrender, even when all logic says it should.
- [A Command to Cancel the Commandments](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/a-command-to-cancel-the-commandments/): Judaism’s recognition of God is not the triumphant outcome of philosophical deduction. It results from the performance of mitzvoth. Through the observance of the commandments we perceive the Commander.
- [Shabbat: To Postpone is to Profane](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/shabbat-to-postpone-is-to-profane/): To set one’s schedule around fixed times—for prayers, for meals, for learning, etc.—does not only inject order into one’s life, but also meaning; and as such one gains an opportunity to sanctify those moments. The chaos of a week without order, of days without set times, is yet another manifestation of the secularization of society and the profanation of the sacred.
- [The Courage to Say “Li”](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/marriage-the-courage-to-say-li/): Just as there is a need to continuously grow in a marriage, so it is with Judaism. One needs to work on one’s commitment. Both the spouse and Judaism need to become the ultimate priority in our lives.
- [The Divine Insanity of Halachic Chess](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-divine-insanity-of-halachic-chess/): Halacha is the greatest chess game on earth. It is the Jewish game par excellence. For people who want to live a life of great meaning and depth, nothing is more demanding and torturous while simultaneously uplifting and mind-broadening. They love the rules because they are the way to freedom. Certainly chess is just a game, while Halacha, if properly understood and lived, deals with real life, deep religiosity, moral dilemmas, emotions, and intuitions far more significant in a person’s life than a chess game.
- [“Limmud” – An Open Letter to the Chief Rabbi of South Africa](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/limmud-an-open-letter-to-the-chief-rabbi-of-south-africa/): I love to go to Limmud, to listen and to teach. Limmud is a place where I am challenged; where I hear new things (including some utter nonsense); where I can fall in love with my fellow Jews, laugh and cry with them, and share my commitment to and struggles with Judaism.
- [On Being Called a Rabbi & Third-Epoch Halacha – Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo by Rav Ari Ze’ev Schwartz](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-embarrassment-and-honor-of-being-called-a-rabbi-ten-questions-for-rabbi-cardozo-by-rav-ari-zeev-schwartz/): In the next 50 years, we will see radical changes in the condition and nature of the Jewish people, as well as in Orthodox Judaism and Halacha. While during the last 2,000 years Halacha was “exile-orientated” and “defensive,” we are slowly growing out of this. The sources that until now were the basis for Halacha will have to be replaced by new Orthodox / Israeli “prophetic” Halacha. The first signs of this are already taking place.
- [The High Priest, the Pope and I – Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo by Rav Ari Ze’ev Schwartz](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-high-priest-the-pope-and-i-ten-questions-for-rabbi-cardozo-by-rav-ari-zeev-schwartz/): However blasphemous this may sound, the Kohein Gadol was to be the original pope. Basically, the papacy is a Jewish function, tasked not with the mission of spreading the gospel, but rather promulgating monotheism, morality and the Torah, as far as it is applicable to the non-Jewish world.
- [My Struggle with Persuasion and the Truth Concerning other Religions – Question 10 (part 1)](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/my-struggle-with-persuasion-and-the-truth-concerning-other-religions-question-10-part-1/): It is because of my awareness that any religious belief can be justified that I have become so critical of mainstream Orthodox Judaism and skeptical about the way I promulgate my own Judaism, in the way I see it. Do I believe in it only because it’s something I have grown into and feel at home and comfortable with, or is there something more that makes my Judaism’s claim to truth stand out from all the others?
- [Is the Torah Divine?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/is-the-torah-divine-thoughts-for-shavuot/): A flame grows or diminishes depending on the combustibility of the material it comes in contact with. So it is with human openness to the divine. Their receptivity to the divinity of Torah is proportionate to the condition of their soul.
- [Law and Liberation](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/law-and-liberation/): Judaism demands everything—every moment, every action, every detail. And yet, those who live by it celebrate this burden with joy. Why? Because what looks like a system of laws may actually be something far more radical: a covenant of compliments.
- [לכבוד מדונה](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/%d7%9c%d7%9b%d7%91%d7%95%d7%93-%d7%9e%d7%93%d7%95%d7%a0%d7%94/): זהו היום בו אנו מתבקשים להניח בצד את המסחר הגס והמטלטל ואת זעם התאוות ; את התחושה שאנו בעליו היחידים של העולם הזה. זהו היום בו אנו מוחים כנגד כל ההוד וההדר החיצוניים, המזויפים. מטרתו של היום הוא להפוך את העולם לאי של שלווה בים סוער של ארציות, ליום אחד בשבוע.
- [Majestic Mountains, Rembrandt, and Music Baths](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/on-music-baths-and-art-as-protest/): Natural beauty, art, and music exist to disturb our complacency. Their purpose is to awaken in us a sense of wonder. And while beauty, art, and music facilitate that wonder, the role of religion is to provide us with the means to respond to it.
- [Yom Ha’atzmaut – The Eternal Marriage](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/yom-haatzmaut-the-eternal-marriage/): No marriage has lasted so long, been so deep in its commitment and so overwhelming in its love as the one between the Jews and their homeland.
- [My Chareidi and Modern Orthodox Struggles (Part 2)](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/my-chareidi-and-modern-orthodox-struggles-part-2/): I believe the world is constantly changing because this is the will of God. God doesn’t want a static world. From the very beginning, we see an evolving world that is constantly on the move and trying to improve itself (with ups and downs). New conditions express God’s will, and it follows that God wants Halacha to “change” accordingly.  
- [My Chareidi and Modern Orthodox Struggles](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/my-chareidi-and-modern-orthodox-struggles/): It’s important to realize that nobody can inherit religion, not even from oneself. It has to be an ongoing discovery. I converted when I was 16, but over the years I’ve come to realize that to convert only once is almost meaningless.
- [Radical Otherness and the Israeli Elections](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-israeli-elections-radical-otherness/): Israel’s very existence is the manifestation of divine intervention in history to which it must attest. 
- [Book Review: The Passover Haggadah of Rabbi Dr. Eliezer Berkovits](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/book-review-the-passover-haggadah-of-rabbi-dr-eliezer-berkovits/): It is a great joy to study Faith and Freedom: Passover Haggadah, With Commentary from the Writings of Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits. In this Haggadah, not only do we find very interesting insights by Rabbi Berkovits on themes that relate to Pesach, but we also get somewhat of an introduction to his philosophy and unique halachic approach in general.
- [Purim – Serious Reflections on the Proper Use of Alcohol](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/serious-reflections-on-the-proper-use-of-alcohol/): Some appropriately irreverent thoughts to...well, no, not to ponder on the occasion of Purim.
- [The Hardship and Privilege of Honest Teaching: The Baal Teshuva Movement Impasse](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-hardship-and-privilege-of-honest-teaching-the-baal-teshuva-movement-impasse/): I strongly believe that new ideas, ideologies and movements are God-given and have great religious meaning. This means that we are religiously obligated to incorporate them into Judaism—sometimes by just accepting them and other times by reworking them.
- [Critics, Laughter and Writing Serious Stuff: Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo – Question 7 (Part 2)](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/critics-laughter-and-writing-serious-stuff-ten-questions-for-rabbi-cardozo-question-7-part-2/): It is important to remember that great controversies are also great emancipators. They give us new and fresh insights. We are in dire need of them. We should not only allow them but encourage our students to advance them!
- [My Controversy with the Mainstream Orthodox Community – Part 1](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/my-controversy-with-the-mainstream-orthodox-community-part-1/): I am often attacked for my views, and I understand that. To question our views, with the implication that we may need to change our ways, is not always pleasant. But if we want to make sure that Judaism has a future, we have no option but to take that road.
- [My Fascination with the Chaotic World of the Talmud: Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/my-fascination-with-the-chaotic-world-of-the-talmud-ten-questions-for-rabbi-cardozo/): The Talmud is the ongoing discussion of what God wants from us while, for the most part, not giving us a final answer and leaving us in limbo. Why is this? Because it is only through discussion and disagreement that a tradition can stay alive and be relevant. Once it is finalized, it will die. This is the reason that I object so strongly to the codification of Jewish law.
- [The Kotzker, Spinoza and I – Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo by Rav Ari Ze’ev Schwartz](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-kotzker-rebbe-and-i-ten-questions-for-rabbi-cardozo-by-rav-ari-zeev-schwartz/): I've always wondered what would have happened if Spinoza had met the Kotzker. Both were obsessed with truth, but each approached it from a different point of view. In Spinoza's pantheism, there is a strong Kabbalistic element but, simultaneously, a denial of a personal (biblical) God. However much some Spinoza scholars want to claim that all of his philosophy was based on pure reason, it is very clear that there are elements in his philosophy that reveal aspects of mysticism. Both were searching for God and knew no compromise.
- [The Sanctity of Shabbat and the Needs of the State of Israel](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-sanctity-of-shabbat-and-the-needs-of-the-state-of-israel/): However much money Israel may make from hosting Eurovision, it is absolutely wrong and shameful that Israel’s leadership will allow violation of Shabbat on this occasion. It is self-evident that this has nothing to do with pikuach nefesh. Israel should cancel the Eurovision Song Contest if its organizers are not prepared to find a solution so that Israel can keep its head high and show the world what it means to stand for one’s principles.
- [My Search for, and Momentary Loss of, God: Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo by Rav Ari Ze’ev Schwartz](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/my-search-for-and-momentary-loss-of-god-ten-questions-for-rabbi-cardozo-by-rav-ari-zeev-schwartz/): What is holiness? It has something to do with the constant awareness that God is to be discovered in all that one does, speaks, thinks, and feels. But that’s nearly unattainable. How does one live up to this?
- [Why I Ask and Doubt but Have Strong Faith: Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo by Rav Ari Ze’ev Schwartz](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/why-i-ask-doubt-and-still-have-faith-ten-questions-for-rabbi-cardozo-by-rav-ari-zeev-schwartz/): Faith is like music. It is true because of its beauty, not because of its intellectual certainty. It stems from impossible paradoxes, as well as a great deal of imagination that surpasses rationality and scientific or historical facts.
- [Why I (Refuse to) Pray: Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo by Rav Ari Ze’ev Schwartz](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/why-i-refuse-to-pray-ten-questions-for-rabbi-cardozo-by-rav-ari-zeev-schwartz/): For me, praying is the admission that we need His help and that we are not God! I have to make myself aware that I need to praise Him because I am not His equal; not because He needs me for anything. But sometimes, as after a tragedy, I want to turn my prayer into a protest against God.
- [Why I am Controversial: Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo – Question 1](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/ten-questions-for-rabbi-cardozo-part-1/): I was recently asked by Rav Ari Ze’ev Schwartz of the Society of Independent Spirituality: Can you say a little about the educational and spiritual goals of your weekly articles? What do you want your readers to experience when they read these articles? How do you yourself experience these goals and articles? Here is my response.
- [The Great Paradox](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-great-paradox-the-non-existent-god-and-the-need-to-serve-him/): Is God really perfect as we always maintain? God Himself tells Moshe Eheyeh asher eheyeh—I will be what I will be. Not “I am what I am” as the Septuagint mistranslates. But how can that be? It means that He is not yet what He should be and that He never will be. Apparently He is incomplete, because He seems capable of changing and moving toward perfection, but He will never be able to actually reach perfection. God is trapped in a contradiction. So, is God a verb? Always “godding”? Always imprisoned in a becoming mode? What then is God? An unending trial to be God?
- [Torah beyond Halakhah – Interview with Rabbi Cardozo – Part Two](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/torah-beyond-halakhah-interview-with-rabbi-cardozo-part-two/): In last week’s Thoughts to Ponder (no 623), we published the first half of an interview with Rabbi Cardozo. At the end of his observations, Rabbi Cardozo discussed the codification and dogmatization of Jewish Law and religious beliefs as they took place in the diaspora and showed that these developments did not do justice to—and in fact opposed authentic Judaism. Here is the continuation of his arguments.
- [Torah Beyond Halakhah – An Interview with Rabbi Cardozo](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/torah-beyond-halakhah-interview-with-rabbi-cardozo/): The Beauty of the Jewish tradition is that it is not always precise and consistent, because ife is not clear-cut or coherent. We need flexibility to work out the different opinions so that Jewish Law and beliefs stay fresh and thriving. The moment we codify or dogmatize it all, we destroy it.
- [The Need to Think Big about Judaism](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/judaism-thinking-big-2/): Judaism is not suffering from a lack of knowledge—but from a lack of courage. In an age overflowing with information, we have forgotten how to think, to question, to dare. We need to break the chains of conformity and rediscover a Judaism that lives, struggles, and breathes through bold, unsettling ideas.
- [The Tragedy of the Tzaddik](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/parashat-miketz-the-pain-of-being-a-tzaddik/): To be righteous, with the full awareness that nobody will ever know the real story, and to have one’s deeds condemned, is one of the most painful human experiences and is a great tragedy. Only the knowledge that the One Above knows the real story, and the conviction that it is more important that others benefit from one’s deeds than to be assured of the recognition of one’s real intentions, gives the ultimate feeling of spiritual satisfaction for which the tzaddik strives.
- [The Dangers of Religion](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/parashat-vayatze-be-fearful-of-religion/): Rather than ignore the body, Halacha draws a person’s attention to its complexities. It informs human beings not to fall victim to grandiose dreams.
- [Even God admits mistakes](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/parashat-toldot-admitting-a-mistake-even-god-does/): When even God can make a "mistake", and admit it, we can rest assured that it is nothing less than honorable to act similarly.
- [Faith, Death and Frontal Encounter](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/faith-death-and-frontal-encounter/): While scientific data is absorbed only in the brain, faith permeates all parts of the human personality. Nothing is untouched, all spiritual limbs quiver, and everything is transformed.
- [God and Natural Disasters](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/god-and-natural-disasters/): Must we believe that the whole universe was created only to test man’s moral and religious conduct? Is it not be more logical to conclude that God’s reasons for creating the universe are much greater and more significant than the problem of human behavior?
- [Simchat Torah: The Unapproachable Text](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/simchat-torah-the-unapproachable-text/): On Simchat Torah we begin reading the Torah all over again. Even the greatest Torah scholars once again come to the conclusion that they need to reread it, since they failed bitterly the previous year. After all, we only start reading the first words and already we get stuck, unable to understand the actual meaning; and we can never really get beyond that place. While in the non-Jewish world the whole point is to finish a book, in Judaism we are all just perpetual beginners.
- [Simchat Torah – Technology and the Outdated Torah Scroll](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/simchat-torah-technology-and-the-outdated-torah-scroll/): Ours is a future-orientated religion. We are not afraid of the latest technologies. And yet, the very text that defines us does not allow for any changes in its content nor changes to manner of its writting.
- [Rosh HaShanah: What Really Counts](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/rosh-hashanah-what-really-counts/): Every ordinary act should be turned into a kind of  mitzvah, a spiritual challenge, making it a dignified encounter with God. On Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur we are reminded that our deeds must redeem God’s presence and rescue Him from oblivion. In doing the finite we must be able to perceive the infinite. 
- [Surround Yourself with Cleanliness](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/parashat-shoftim-surround-yourself-with-cleanliness/): Jewish law contains a far-reaching codex for personal and environmental cleanliness that would seem novel and forward-thinking to many twenty-first century environmentalists. Unfortunately, these laws do not seem to be of great concern within many orthodox communities today. By implementing the Torah’s laws in this realm, orthodox communities will make a tremendous kiddush Hashem, which is in fact the purpose of being a Jew.
- [Achieving Unity While Remaining Divided](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/achieving-unity-while-remaining-divided/): Paradoxically, the only way to create unity among different denominations is for all to recognize that they are fundamentally divided. We need to stop asking for compromise on the very beliefs that are matters of personal conscience and therefore categorical.
- [The Revelation is Taking Place Today!](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/parashat-vaetchanan-the-revelation-is-taking-place-today/): When a person learns Torah as a religious experience and hears its revelation, the gap of several thousand years—from the Revelation until now—no longer exists. Accordingly, Torah is given today
- [The Fragrance of Things to Come](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/tisha-bav-who-needs-the-temple/): The Temple whose destruction we mourn on the 9th of Av has no inherent value. It is only a means to something that no physical object can contain. On Tish’a B’Av, we do not mourn the loss of the Temple but rather the loss of its message, which we no longer seem to grasp.
- [The Controversy Surrounding My Louis Jacobs Memorial Lecture](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-controversy-surrounding-my-louis-jacobs-memorial-lecture/): Louis Jacobs is not at all as radical as some would like to believe. In fact, some ultra-Orthodox thinkers were even more radical than Rabbi Jacobs but remained completely committed to Orthodox Halacha and the belief in Torah from Heaven.
- [Scandalous Halachic Decisions: Ethiopians and Wine](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/scandalous-halachic-decisions-ethiopians-and-wine/): The ruling by the Eida HaHareidit that Ethiopian Jews are not fully Jewish is scandalous and deeply embarrassing. It disgraces Judaism and is as anti-Jewish as can be. This and many other rabbinical decisions are not part of the Judaism I converted to. I abhor them and want no part of them.
- [The Curse of Religious Coercion](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/parashat-chukat-religious-coercion/): Why did Moshe’s single act of striking the rock carry such devastating consequences? This is a profound lesson about leadership, education, and faith: coercion may produce results—but never conviction. In a striking reinterpretation of Mei Meriva, he explores why the Torah insists that true religious life must be inspired, not enforced.
- [מכתב פתוח לרבנים הראשיים לישראל](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/%d7%9e%d7%9b%d7%aa%d7%91-%d7%a4%d7%aa%d7%95%d7%97-%d7%9c%d7%a8%d7%91%d7%a0%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%94%d7%a8%d7%90%d7%a9%d7%99%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%9c%d7%99%d7%a9%d7%a8%d7%90%d7%9c/): עלינו להזכיר לעצמנו שמאז שמדינת ישראל הוקמה, עתידנו נתון בידינו. מעולם לא היה לנו חופש שכזה לעשות מה שאנו רוצים, כאשר זה נוגע לגורלנו. אף אחד לא יכול לעצור אותנו מלעשות את מה שצריך לעשות. אין לדבר הזה תקדים במהלך אלפיים השנים האחרונות של ההיסטוריה היהודית. כל מה שצריך הוא אומץ.
- [Korach and the Curse of Envy](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/korach-and-the-curse-of-envy/): Among world leaders, governments, the academic world, and even the Jewish world, we see symptoms of Korach's conduct. And while it also happens among the average population, it is with the “mighty ones” that the consequences are much more serious."
- [Making Conversion Easier](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/conversion-an-open-letter-to-israels-chief-rabbis/): The first convert and Jew, Avraham, was only asked to observe a few of the commandments. In the same way, we should allow potential converts this option to slowly work their way up to Sinai.
- [Theocracy, Democracy, and Halacha](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/israel-theocracy-democracy-and-halacha/): The clash between religion and democracy is often seen as unavoidable. But what if Judaism was never meant to choose? Here we propse a radically different model—one in which divine law and human authority coexist, like the flames of the menorah, each illuminating the center.
- [Why a Second Day of Yom Tov?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/why-a-second-day-of-yom-tov-the-incomparable-greatness-of-the-land-of-israel/): Since the days of Hillel HaNasi, an official and fixed Jewish calendar (independent of eye witnesses) is in operation and, consequently, there is no longer any doubt about which day is the correct day of Yom Tov. Why then, did the Sages did not annul the second day Yom Tov?
- [Believing the Unbelievable](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/atheism-belief-in-the-unbelievable/): I am jealous of atheists because they are able to believe the unbelievable. And I, in my simplicity, cannot reach that state of belief.
- [To Have or to Be, That Is the Question](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/parshat-bechukotai-to-have-or-to-be-that-is-the-question/): To be satisfied is one of the greatest blessings that can ever be bestowed upon human beings. The Torah teaches us that when the People of Israel live in accordance with the requirements of the Torah, what will matter is not what a person “has” but what a person “is.”
- [Being Jewish vs. Being Israeli](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/yom-hashoah-jewish-life-or-just-israeli-life/): Rabbi Yochanan taught us that Jews can survive without Israel, as long as there is Torah, the portable homeland of the Jewish people. But Jews will not survive solely because of the existence of Israel—however powerful it may be—if Israel does not incorporate a large percentage of Jewish traditional resources.
- [Plato’s Haggada in the “Dialogues”](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/plato-haggada/): When we read the text on the Seder night, we should be aware that it only provides the opening words. The real Haggada has no text. It is not to be read, but is rather to be heard. And, just as with the Torah, we have not even begun to understand its full meaning. We are simply perpetual beginners.
- [ברית מילה: מדוע לסכן את שלום ילדיכם?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/%d7%91%d7%a8%d7%99%d7%aa-%d7%9e%d7%99%d7%9c%d7%94-%d7%9e%d7%93%d7%95%d7%a2-%d7%9c%d7%a1%d7%9b%d7%9f-%d7%90%d7%aa-%d7%a9%d7%9c%d7%95%d7%9d-%d7%99%d7%9c%d7%93%d7%99%d7%9b%d7%9d/): היכולת המופלאה של העם היהודי לגבור על כל אויביו – מהמצרים ועד היוונים, הרומאים והפרסים... ועד לנאצים – בהחלט עשויה להיות תוצאה של אותה התערבות גופנית קטנה. המעשה אורך כמה שניות, אבל הוא יוצר נצח.
- [Franz Rosenzweig and the Berliner Shtiebl](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/finding-ones-neshomeh/): To attend synagogue is an art. People must come with a sincere urge to discover their Jewishness, to reconnect with their inner being and with the Jewish people. To enter the synagogue is to hope for a metamorphosis in one’s soul and a transformation of one’s personality.
- [בודד, אבל לא לבד](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/%d7%91%d7%95%d7%93%d7%93-%d7%90%d7%91%d7%9c-%d7%9c%d7%90-%d7%9c%d7%91%d7%93/): הרקע הלא-טיפוסי שלי השפיע על החשיבה שלי בדרכים לא שגרתיות ועד היום הזה הוא גורם לי לצרות עם כמה מעמיתיי רבנים, כמו גם עם יהודים דתיים וחילוניים כאחד.
- [The Enduring Preciousness  of the Secular Jew](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/enduring-preciousness-secular-jew-2/): There is little doubt that secular Jews, consciously or unconsciously, keep a large number of commandments. Many of them may not be in the form of rituals, but there is massive evidence pointing to secular Jews’ commitment to keeping interpersonal mitzvot. Beneath the divisiveness of traditional commitment lie underpinnings of religion such as compassion, humility, awe, and even faith.
- [The Challenge of Yitro](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-challenge-of-yitro/): 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.
- [האם אנחנו באמת אוכלים כשר?  על הסוואה, צביעות, והסתתרות מאחורי הלכות כשרות](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/%d7%94%d7%90%d7%9d-%d7%90%d7%a0%d7%97%d7%a0%d7%95-%d7%91%d7%90%d7%9e%d7%aa-%d7%90%d7%95%d7%9b%d7%9c%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%9b%d7%a9%d7%a8-%d7%a2%d7%9c-%d7%94%d7%a1%d7%95%d7%95%d7%90%d7%94-%d7%a6%d7%91/): בעקובת הצמיחה המסיבית של תעשיית הבשר, בה מיליוני חיות נשחטות מדי יום, להתייחס לבעלי חיים בצורה הומנית, כפי שההלכה היהודית דורשת, הפך לדבר יותר ויותר קשה, אם לא לבלתי אפשרי. הלכות שחיטה וצער בעלי חיים כוונו לקהילות יהודיות שאכלו בשר לפרקים, לא לתעשייה הענקית שיש לנו היום, בה החוקים הללו אינם יכולים להישמר. האם לא ראוי ואף רצוי במצב עניינים שכזה, שיהודים דתיים יהפכו לצמחוניים?
- [Jewish Self-Delusion](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/parashat-beshalah-jewish-self-delusion/): How can we understand the self-delusion of the Jews who complained against Moshe for taking them out of Egypt? Obviously, the Israelites were well aware that their life in Egypt was not one of tranquility while sitting by pots of meat! I would suggest that they did not intend to deny the past, but that they wanted to deny the future. Not that it did not happen, but that it would not happen again!
- [דרושה הלכה גואלת – על חובתה של ההלכה להתעלות מעל עצמה](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/%d7%93%d7%a8%d7%95%d7%a9%d7%94-%d7%94%d7%9c%d7%9b%d7%94-%d7%92%d7%95%d7%90%d7%9c%d7%aa-%d7%a2%d7%9c-%d7%97%d7%95%d7%91%d7%aa%d7%94-%d7%a9%d7%9c-%d7%94%d7%94%d7%9c%d7%9b%d7%94-%d7%9c%d7%94%d7%aa/): ההלכה היהודית חייבת לנוע ולגדול, תוך שהיא לוקחת בחשבון התפתחויות עולמיות שונות ומובילה אותן. וכל זאת יכול לקרות רק אם היא זורמת ומאפשרת מידה גדולה של גמישות, מה שקודיפיקציה לא יכולה להציע. ודאי שיש צורך במידה מסוימת של קונפורמיזם, בדיוק כפי שפועל חוק אזרחי.
- [ההלכה והפגם שבדוֹגמה היהודית](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/%d7%94%d7%94%d7%9c%d7%9b%d7%94-%d7%95%d7%94%d7%a4%d7%92%d7%9d-%d7%a9%d7%91%d7%93%d7%95%d6%b9%d7%92%d7%9e%d7%94-%d7%94%d7%99%d7%94%d7%95%d7%93%d7%99%d7%aa/): היהדות חווה רנסנס בימים אלה, ואין לנו אלא לשמוח על כך. אנו מתברכים במספר גדול של תכניות לימוד "חילוניות" מעניינות ויוצאות דופן, בהן גברים צעירים, הרחוקים לחלוטין מן הדת - לבושם לא רשמי ושערם ארוך ונטול כיפה - רכונים על ספרי התלמוד והמדרש, מנסים לגלות מחדש את שורשיהם היהודים; ונשים צעירות, הלבושות מכנסיים וחולצות נטולות שרוולים, מנסות לפצח את הסודות של המיסטיקה היהודית ומתרגשות מויכוח תלמודי בין אביי ורבא. אותם תלמידים חיים את הלימוד ולא מגיעים לסיפוק ממנו; חלקם אף לא עושה דבר אחר במשך היום מלבד לימוד המקורות הללו.
- [הגיעה העת להסיר את החרם](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/%d7%94%d7%92%d7%99%d7%a2%d7%94-%d7%94%d7%a2%d7%aa-%d7%9c%d7%94%d7%a1%d7%99%d7%a8-%d7%90%d7%aa-%d7%94%d7%97%d7%a8%d7%9d/): אל לנו לפחד לקבוע כי היהדות עודנה מצויה בתהליך של התפתחות. היא טרם נתנה ביטוי לרעיונות מרהיבים רבים, הקבורים תחת הגלד העבה שצמח עליה ושיש עוד להסירו. ודאי שחלק מרעיונותיו של שפינוזה יכולים לעזור לנו כדי להשיג מטרה זו.
- [Knowing How to Lose](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/knowing-how-to-lose/): What was Moshe’s 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.
- [הגשרים המתנודדים של ההלכה:  קביעת חוקים במקום שבו הם אינם אמורים להיות](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/%d7%94%d7%92%d7%a9%d7%a8%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%94%d7%9e%d7%aa%d7%a0%d7%95%d7%93%d7%93%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%a9%d7%9c-%d7%94%d7%94%d7%9c%d7%9b%d7%94-%d7%a7%d7%91%d7%99%d7%a2%d7%aa-%d7%97%d7%95%d7%a7%d7%99%d7%9d/): ההלכה מבוססת על הפרדוקס. כאן טמון הרעיון מאחורי הקריאה שלה לאותנטיות לצד קביעת נורמות ודפוסי התנהגות שאינם מתאימים בהכרח לפנימיותו של האדם. ההלכה איננה עקבית; היא מלאה בסתירות וניגודים שלעתים גורמים לנו תסכול עמוק. יום אחד היא דורשת מאתנו אותנטיות; למחרת היא דורשת קונפורמיות. היא מסרבת להסביר לנו מדוע פעם אחת היא דורשת כנות, חוויה אישית-פנימית, בעוד שבמקרה אחר היא דורשת במפגיע השלמה עם חוקים וסטנדרטים שונים.
- [איסור הטלטול בשבת: הרים מהלכים והבודהה](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/%d7%90%d7%99%d7%a1%d7%95%d7%a8-%d7%94%d7%98%d7%9c%d7%98%d7%95%d7%9c-%d7%91%d7%a9%d7%91%d7%aa-%d7%94%d7%a8%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%9e%d7%94%d7%9c%d7%9b%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%95%d7%94%d7%91%d7%95%d7%93%d7%94%d7%94/): בשבת אנו הופכים את תודעת החיים מחיצונית לפנימית, למשהו קיומי. במשך יום אחד בשבוע אנו הופכים לאנשים אשר נושאים רק את עצמם ולא אף דבר אחר, ובדרך זו חיים בעולם שכמעט ואינו יודע דבר על צרכי הנשמה שלנו. בשבת, אנו מטיילים אפילו בשעה שאנו הולכים לבית הכנסת. רק אז אנו מבינים כמה גדולים אנחנו ושאף אחד לא יכול להמעיט בערכנו ללא הסכמתנו.
- [Bilaam and our Lost Heretics](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/bilaam-and-our-lost-heretics/): 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?
- [Solving the Conversion Crisis](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/solving-conversion-crisis-birth-non-jewish-jewish-communities-another-approach/): 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.
- [תורה מן השמים?  על תורה א-להית הפגומה בכוונה תחילה](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/%d7%aa%d7%95%d7%a8%d7%94-%d7%9e%d7%9f-%d7%94%d7%a9%d7%9e%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%a2%d7%9c-%d7%aa%d7%95%d7%a8%d7%94-%d7%90-%d7%9c%d7%94%d7%99%d7%aa-%d7%94%d7%a4%d7%92%d7%95%d7%9e%d7%94-%d7%91%d7%9b%d7%95/): התורה היא אנתרופוצנטרית בעוד שהשאיפות שלה הן תיאוצנטריות. במלים אחרות, בעוד שהרצון הא-להי מבקש להשיג את האולטימטיבי, הוא מוגבל בגבולות היכולת האנושית. התורה, לאור זאת, היא פשרה א-להית, שנעשתה בהתאם לתודעה ולמנהגים של קהל היעד שלה. במובן הזה היא פגומה.
- [Halacha means Liberty](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/halacha-means-liberty/): A strictly secular approach to major moral issues may have to be much more restrictive than that which any religion would ever demand. In fact, a secular moral attitude may make life extremely difficult and even impossible.
- [הקללה של השעמום הדתי](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/%d7%94%d7%a7%d7%9c%d7%9c%d7%94-%d7%a9%d7%9c-%d7%94%d7%a9%d7%a2%d7%9e%d7%95%d7%9d-%d7%94%d7%93%d7%aa%d7%99/): על הממסד הדתי להבין ולהפנים שאנשים רבים נפלו קרבן לשעמום בכל הנוגע להלכה היהודית. בימינו, חלק גדול מדי מהיהדות הפך ל"שואו" ולטקס. טקסים הם בשביל העיניים אבל היהדות פונה אל הרוח. הטקס היחיד היום בבית הכנסת שחובה לקיימו מן התורה הוא ברכת כוהנים, ואפילו אז המתפללים מחויבים לעצום את עיניהם (אברהם יהושע השל; כדאי להביא מקור)! בימי המקרא, הנביאים פעלו כמרקחה בעוד שהעולם היה רדום, אך בימינו העולם כמרקחה בעוד שבתי הכנסת ישנים.
- [רעיונות נועזים](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/%d7%a8%d7%a2%d7%99%d7%95%d7%a0%d7%95%d7%aa-%d7%a0%d7%95%d7%a2%d7%96%d7%99%d7%9d/): אנו זקוקים לשמירת השבת לפני שניפול קרבן לתהליך האידיאליזציה של עצמנו ושל צרכינו הגשמיים. עלינו לפיכך לוודא שכל ההצעות מלמעלה ילכו יד ביד עם קריאה לרוחניות ודתיות אותנטית. אסור שהצעות אלו ייתפסו כניסיון למציאת הקלות לשם חיים קלים יותר. המטרה חייבת להיות שמירת שבת אמיתית יותר והפקת שמחה גדולה יותר מאותו יום קדוש.
- [המנורה: בין שמרנים וליברליים](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/%d7%94%d7%9e%d7%a0%d7%95%d7%a8%d7%94-%d7%91%d7%99%d7%9f-%d7%a9%d7%9e%d7%a8%d7%a0%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%95%d7%9c%d7%99%d7%91%d7%a8%d7%9c%d7%99%d7%99%d7%9d/): מאז תקומתה של מדינת ישראל, ניצבת בלב הוויכוח הציבורי השאלה האם יש לנהל את המדינה על פי ערכים יהודים או דמוקרטיים. שני הערכים נראים כבלתי מתפשרים. היהדות מייצגת השקפת עולם תיאוקרטית שבה א-לוהים ממוקם במרכז. הוא המוקד והסמכות המוחלטת. לעומת זאת, על פי  השקפת העולם הדמוקרטית מי שעומד במרכז הוא העם.
- [O Jerusalem!](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/o-jerusalem/): A poem in praise of the holy city of Jerusalem, in the wake of the American announcement to designate Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
- [The In-Authenticity of Codifying Jewish Law](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/codifying-jewish-law-not-authentic/): 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.
- [The Bet Midrash  of Avraham Avinu](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/bet-midrash-avraham-avinu-2/): When teaching, our rabbis’ and teachers’ personal conduct must be a reflection of what they impart in the classroom, as there is truly no better education than by example. Thought and practice must illuminate each other.
- [The Bet Midrash of Avraham Avinu: On Being Controversial and the Art of Teaching](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/bet-midrash-avraham-avinu-controversy-education/): Nobody can deny that Judaism today finds itself in a crisis that threatens to have devastating consequences. Instead of Judaism growing upward, vertically, it is becoming corpulent, growing horizontally. The growth of adherence to Halacha in the last few decades has clearly not been accompanied by a true religious revival. Genuine religiosity has nothing to do with the Yiddish expression of frumkeit, an untranslatable expression of routine religious observance.
- [The Bet Midrash of Avraham Avinu – Lectures and the Academy](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/bet-midrash-avraham-avinu-lectures-academy/): 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 one’s beliefs. In many ways, religion must be warfare—a fight against the indolence and callousness that stifles inquiry.
- [The Bet Midrash of Avraham Avinu: The Wonder of Judaism](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/bet-midrash-avraham-avinu-wonder-judaism/): The breaking of idols and slaughtering of sacred cows is, in itself, a Jewish task that began with Avraham Avinu. 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.
- [Freud’s Subconscious Discovery of God](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/freuds-subconscious-discovery-god/): Jewish tradition teaches that man was created in God’s 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.
- [The Bet Midrash of Avraham Avinu: Embryonic Judaism](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/bet-midrash-avraham-avinu-embryonic-judaism/): Every generation must find its own way to God and subsequently to the Jewish tradition. From a religious point of view, were this not the case, there would be little reason for that generation to exist. What, after all, is the meaning of human existence if not to reveal another dimension of God’s multi-colored world and Torah, and thus to gain a greater understanding of self?
- [The Bet Midrash of Avraham Avinu – The Scandal of Halachic Performance](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/scandal-halachic-performance/): The very fact that today we encounter a serious endeavor to see Halacha as the only expression of Judaism, and that some halachic authorities constantly attempt to bring the hashkafa (religious philosophy) of Judaism back to finalized dogmas, is a clear indication that those very authorities try to Halacha-ize issues of faith. But doing so robs Judaism of its vital flowing life force. We need to understand that Halacha is the practical upshot of un-finalized beliefs, a practical way of living while remaining in theological suspense.
- [The Bet Midrash of Avraham Avinu](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/bet-midrash-avraham-avinu/): There are two schools of thought in Judaism, two types of batei midrash: the Bet Midrash of Moshe Rabbeinu and the Bet Midrash of Avraham Avinu. Although both of them are integral parts of Judaism, the difference between them is critical. Judaism began as an existential movement in which all that humankind does, thinks, feels, and says is touched by the spirit of God. The Bet Midrash of Avraham Avinu aims to teach in order to inspire a re-awakening and transformation of the soul. It is here that we find the roots of Judaism in their most central form.
- [Traveling to Home Base and Eternal Life](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/traveling-home-base-eternal-life/): When confronted with death, our first reaction is consternation. We are stunned and broken. But slowly, our sense of shock gives way to a feeling of mystery. The mysterium magnum enters, and a new perspective makes itself known as a kind of revelation and elevation. Suddenly, our whole life, which we knew so well, gradually becomes concealed behind a great Secret. Our speech is silenced. Our understanding fails. There is only awe for the Other.
- [Betraying Judaism in the Name of Halacha](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/betraying-judaism-name-halacha/): In Biblical days the Halacha was astir while the world was sleeping. Today the world is astir while the Halacha is sleeping.  Only when it wakes up and starts to challenge our society with novel ideas and rulings will it once more be the vital mover of Jewish life. It must be prepared to look inward, challenge its own verdicts and once again understand that its main function is to protest and rebel.
- [Halacha: To Trouble the Comfortable](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/halacha-trouble-comfortable/): For a nation to maintain sensitivity and concern for “the other,” it must continue to live in some form of strangerhood. It must never be fully secure, and must constantly be aware of its own existential uncertainty. As such, the Jew is to be a stranger.
- [Handicapping Students and Secular Indoctrination](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/handicapping-students-secular-indoctrination/): Israeli teachers should create tension in the classroom by presenting their own ideas about Judaism and Jewishness, and then wage war on them, asking the students to fight them with knives between their teeth and come up with new ideas. In that way, the students will begin to appreciate and love what Judaism is all about. And only then should the teachers introduce biblical, Talmudic and midrashic texts as part of the discussion.
- [In Defense of Rabbi Dweck and Orthodox Judaism](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/defense-rabbi-dweck-orthodox-judaism/): If the Spanish-Portuguese community and Chief Rabbi Mervis give in to blatant blackmail by ultra-Orthodox elements then rabbis will no longer be able to speak their minds. The S&P and other communities will lose their independence and be subject to censure by all sorts of self-acclaimed rabbinical extremists, creating a situation that will terribly compromise Judaism.
- [The Modern Day Inquisition against Rabbi Joseph Dweck](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/modern-day-inquisition-rabbi-joseph-dweck/): When Orthodox rabbis are told that they are no longer able to speak their minds, offer new insights into Orthodox Judaism, or try to find solutions to serious problems by using innovative ideas, we are faced with a rabbinical world that is wearing blinders, is comprised of yes-people looking over their shoulders, and is generating a hazardous small-mindedness that has far-reaching effects.
- [Speaking Lashon HaRa about the World](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/speaking-lashon-hara-world/): Is the world truly getting worse—or are we simply choosing to see it that way? Like passengers in a moving elevator, we mistake motion for meaning and darkness for truth. This essay challenges us to reconsider the way we look at the world—and to rediscover the quiet, overwhelming goodness we have learned to ignore.
- [The Holocaust: Divine Retribution?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/holocaust-divine-retribution/): It is difficult to argue that the Holocaust was caused by divine anger for the violations of Torah precepts and deliberate heresy.
- [Shavuot: The Desert and the Wandering Divine Word](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/shavuot-desert-wandering-divine-word/): Only BaMidbar, in the emptiness and silence of the desert, that the authentic Word can be heard—a Word stripped of all distractions. Naked, without any excuse. But it can be heard only by a people of the wilderness; a people who are not rooted in a substance of physical limitations and borders; a people who are not entirely fixed by an earthly point, even while living in a homeland. They are never satisfied with their spiritual conditions and are therefore always on the road, looking for more.
- [Circumcision](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/ban-circumcision-blatant-anti-semitism-ignorance/): What gives us the right to bring a child into a religious covenant by way of circumcision, without his consent? On the other hand, what right do we have to bring children into the world without giving them a higher mission?
- [Kohanim and The Challenge of Educational Dissent](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/kohanim-challenge-educational-dissent/): In a world where environment shapes identity, true education must go further—instilling the courage to stand apart without ever standing alone.
- [The Unchallenged Holiness of the Jew ](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/dangerous-claim-unchallenged-holiness/): Any view that absolves Jews of their responsibility to observe the laws of the Torah and to maintain high moral standards, claiming that they are automatically considered holy, should be condemned.
- [Boredom and the Immature Elderly](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/boredom-immature-elderly/): In the old days, it was a privilege to be mature. It was something people strived for. This is no longer the case.
- [Sefirat HaOmer: What really counts](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/sefirat-haomer-spiritual-ladder/): Nothing is more dangerous for a person than to remain spiritually stale, and we are therefore required to count the 49 days of the Omer. In order to prepare ourselves for the upcoming celebration of Shavuot and the giving of the Torah, we are asked to climb a ladder of 49 spiritual steps, each day adding another dimension to our souls.
- [Pesach: God’s Sporadic Presence and Overwhelming Absence in Human History](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/pesach/): Contrary to what is commonly believed, the story of the Exodus was mainly one of Divine silence, in which only occasionally a word of God entered the human condition. While Pesach Haggada relates the miracles, the “empty spaces” in between tell us of a frightening Divine silence of some 38 years. And just as our forefathers must have often wondered where God was all those years, so do we. But just as they made it through, so must we.
- [Rambam and Spinoza](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/parashat-vayikra-trouble-with-sacrifices/): We need to ask ourselves a pertinent question: Is our aversion to sacrifices the result of our supreme spiritual sophistication, which caused us to leave the world of sacrifices behind us? Or, have we sunk so low that we aren’t even able to reach the level of idol worshipers who, however primitive we believe them to have been, possessed a higher spiritual level than some of us who call ourselves monotheists?
- [Johann Sebastian Bach and the Tent of Meeting](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/tent-meeting-johann-sebastian-bach/): Since the Torah is normally very parsimonious with its words, nothing is more surprising in Parashat Pekudei than the great detail in the instructions for building the Mishkan (Tabernacle).
- [Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik and his Paradoxical Influence](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/rabbi-soloveitchik-paradoxical-influence/): While I greatly admire Rabbi Soloveitchik’s essays such as The Lonely Man of Faith, I wonder why he never addressed some of the issues that keep many people away from Orthodoxy, such as the issue of Torah Min HaShamayim and Bible criticism. It may be true that the Rav avoided the issue of Bible criticism out of principle. But if so, then he was out of touch with reality. At the time, Bible criticism was a major topic of discussion, as it still is. This subject is of utmost importance, and if anyone could have dealt with it head-on it was the Rav.
- [Purim and the Challenge of the Holocaust](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/purim-challenge-holocaust/): Why continue to praise God for a hidden miracle when it seems that even hidden miracles came to an end with the Holocaust? This question should be on the mind of every Jew who celebrates Purim.
- [The Genius and Limitations of Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik z”l](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/genius-limitations-rabbi-joseph-ber-soloveitchik-zl/): Rav Soloveitchik himself was a traditionalist, who combined that ideology with religious Zionism and tried very hard to give it a place in the world of philosophy and modernity. He was unable to overcome the enormous tension between these two worlds and so became a “lonely man of faith,” with no disciples but with many students, each one of whom claimed their own Rav Soloveitchik. The truth is that the real Rav Soloveitchik was more than the sum total of all of them – a man of supreme greatness who was a tragic figure.
- [The Unknowable, Loving, and Aggravating God](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/unknowable-loving-god/): Judaism declares that emotions are what make a person; they are real and of crucial importance. In fact, emotions are central to a person’s existence, since they are the foundation of moral behavior. It is for this reason that Judaism views God as an emotional Being. By metaphorically attributing emotions to God, they are raised to a supreme state. If God has emotions such as love, mercy, jealousy and anger, then they must be genuine, important, and not ignored when found in humans.
- [Rabbinical Tyranny and Freedom of Thought](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/rabbinical-tyranny-freedom-thought/): Religious condemnations, whether by bans or by other means, reflect negatively on those who issue them. Truth will not be served by imposing bans and issuing condemnations, but only by honest investigation and dialogue.
- [Syria and the Scandal of Our Orthodox Synagogues](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/syria-scandal-orthodox-synagogues/): How dare we come before the Lord of the Universe with our personal prayers asking Him for His kindness and gifts, when we ignore the enormous atrocities done to other human beings?
- [Zen and the Art of Keeping Shabbat](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/zen-and-the-art-of-keeping-shabbat/): One day a week we are asked to return the world and all its potential to God and, instead of being creators, acknowledge that we are also creatures in God’s eyes.
- [The Deliberately Flawed Divine Torah](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/deliberately-flawed-divine-torah/): I believe that the Torah is min hashamayim (“from heaven”) and that its every word is divine and holy. But I do not believe that the Torah is (always) historically true (sometimes it seems like Divine fiction), or that it is uninfluenced by external sources.
- [Against Indifference](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/against-indifference-prayer-for-the-world/): A prayer against indifference, not just a prayer to God; but a reminder to us not to remain indifferent to the pain in our world and to what requires our care and serious attention.
- [Halacha and the Inadequacy of Jewish Dogma](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/halacha-and-the-inadequecy-of-dogma/): The difference between dogma and faith is like the difference between a word spoken and a word set to music. Faith is the refutation of human finality. It transforms dogma into something untouchable and gives man entry into the imponderable.
- [Violating Shabbat in order to Sanctify It](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/violating-shabbat-in-order-to-sactify-it/): Shabbat is serious business, not only because of its halachic requirements but also because of its magnificent and majestic message. But there is one sanctity that is even greater than Shabbat. That is the holiness of the human being.
- [Wanted: Rabbis with Knives between Their Teeth](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/wanted-rabbis-knives-teeth-need-genuine-upheaval/): The land and State of Israel was never and can never be the goal of the Jewish people. It is a means to carry out a great mission, and unless we rediscover and accept this calling, Israel will eventually collapse.
- [A Slap in the Face to the Holy One Blessed Be He?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/slap-face-holy-one-blessed-afterthoughts-tishah-av/): I must confess that this year’s Tish’ah be-Av was the first time in 54 years (since I was 16) that I did not go to synagogue to hear Eichah (the reading from the Scroll of Lamentations) and recite kinot (elegies written by famous sages throughout the centuries regarding the destruction of both Temples and the many later tragedies that befell the Jewish people).
- [The Chaos Theory of Halacha – Part 3 of 3](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/chaos-theory-halacha-part-3-3/): Halacha is in need of more “chaos.” It must allow for many ways to live a halachic life unbound by too many restrictions of conformity and codification. It must make room for autonomy on the part of individuals, to choose their own way once they have undertaken to observe the foundations of Halacha.
- [The Chaos Theory of Halacha (Part 2 of 3)](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/chaos-theory-halacha-part-2-3/): One of the most remarkable aspects of Orthodox Halacha is that it is almost an open market within the confines of the masoret, an unwritten and undefined tradition going back thousands of years. Some will view the masoret as a minimal and almost fundamentalist observance, and others will view it as a maximal and highly flexible tradition, which allows for much innovation.
- [The Chaos Theory of Halacha (Part 1 of 3)](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/chaos-theory-halacha-part-1-3/): Chaos is God’s signature when He prefers to remain anonymous. The same can be said about Halacha. Halacha is the chaotic way through which God wants the Jew to live his life, according to strict rules that seem to be part of a well-worked-out system. People do not come before God as actors in a play that has been planned down to the minutest detail. If they did, they would be robots and life would be a farce.
- [Judaism Beyond the Commandments](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/jewish-press-interview-rabbi-dr-nathan-lopes-cardozo/): The Beauty of the Jewish tradition is that it is not always precise and consistent," says Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo. "And that is a very wise thing. You have to have flexibility, because life is not clear-cut or coherent. Moving here, moving there, you work out the different opinions somehow, and you let it be. As such Jewish Law and beliefs stay fresh and thriving. A musical symphony. But the moment we codify or dogmatize it all, we are basically destroying it”.
- [Blessed Are Those Who Eat Chametz!](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/blessed-eat-chametz/): Why is it prohibited to eat or to possess chametz (leaven) on Pessah? What is there in the nature of leaven that makes it forbidden, and why only on Pessah? The Talmud offers an insightful answer.
- [The True Art of Sport](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/true-art-of-sport-tongue-in-cheek/): To run around a soccer field behind a ball is not yet sport. Only when it is the result of creativity, it becomes the definition of being human.
- [Are We Really Eating Kosher?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/are-we-really-eating-kosher/): Why did the Torah need to state that some non-kosher animals chew their cud or have cloven hooves? Would this not suggest that perhaps they are, after all, kosher!
- [Have Some Pity on the Anti-Semite!](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/have-some-pity-on-the-anti-semite/): The Jews are a nuisance. They break the rules of history, survive against all odds, and contribute disproportionately to the world. No wonder they are so difficult to tolerate. This essay offers a bold and provocative reflection on why anti-Semitism persists—and what it reveals.
- [Milk and Meat](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/milk-meat-dangerous-mixture-parshat-mishpatim/): One of the most puzzling laws in Judaism is the prohibition of mixing milk and meat. Strangely enough, this mysterious law has had the greatest influence on the daily life of Jews for thousands of years, right up to this very day.
- [Spinoza and the Question of Orthodoxy](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/spinoza-and-orthodoxy-answer-to-a-jerusalem-rabbi/): Should Judaism fear its heretics? The centuries-old ban on Spinoza raises a deeper question: is banning an admission of strength—or of insecurity? This essay challenges us to reconsider whether a confident tradition needs protection from ideas, or whether it should confront them head-on.
- [The  Desecration of Halacha](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-desecration-of-halacha/): The foremost point of departure in any halachic decision must be that all people are created in the image of God and that all human life is holy. We forget this principle at our own peril
- [The Challenge of Freedom](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-challenge-of-freedom/): When reading the story of the Exodus from Egypt, we are confronted with a strange phenomenon: the mashchit (destroyer). What was this mysterious threat?
- [The Art of Praying](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-art-of-praying/): How does man dare to speak to God, the Master of the Universe? The presumption that man can just open his mouth and believe that God will listen to him is unrivaled impertinence. When someone wishes to get an audience with the Queen, much paperwork has to be done, many meetings are held by ministers and officials, and security issues are considered.
- [Spinoza](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/spinoza-it-is-time-to-lift-the-ban/): A ban is a sign of fear, and since when is Judaism afraid? While the ban may have been necessary in the seventeenth century, today it only embarrasses Judaism.
- [The Great Gentile Aliyah Movement](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-great-gentile-aliyah-movement/): We will soon have to expand our borders at the request of millions of Europeans, Americans and possibly many others who will wish to come on Aliyah.
- [Oh, that I Could Take Off My Kippah!](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/oh-that-i-coul-off-my-kippah/): Halacha is the external garment of an inner spiritual process that should be stimulated by those very halachic acts. For that to occur, much more has to be accomplished. To become religious is to face opposition, even from oneself – to dare, to defy, and even to doubt.
- [How Old Would You Be If You Didn’t Know Your Age?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/retirement-and-old-age/): Since its earliest days, Jewish Tradition has instilled in people a healthy anticipation for retirement. It has created in its followers an “early retirement plan” by giving them a taste of its joy while they are still young.
- [The Religious Scandal of Akedat Yitzhak and the Tragedy of God](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-religious-scandal-of-akeidat-yitzchak/): Prior to the Akeda, Avraham still lives in the world where man submits unconditionally to any god, whatever its demands. He is still a child of his times. Only when God, by way of His angel, shouts No! “Do not lay a hand on the boy” does Avraham wake up from his so-called religiosity.
- [Spinoza’s Blunder And Noach’s Misguided Religiosity](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/spinozas-blunder-noachs-misguided-religiosity/): In his Tractatus Theologico-Politicus, Spinoza accuses Judaism of demanding obsessive and outrageous obedience. Parashat Noach teaches us that while Spinoza’s assessment is entirely mistaken, it is a warning to many religious Jews who know nothing other than "negative" obedience as opposed to positive obedience. Judaism teaches us to stand on our own feet and make our own decisions.
- [Tragedy and the Silence of God](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/tragedy-and-the-silence-of-god/): How do we live with a God Who sometimes violates all that our own limited thoughts and feelings can grasp and express? It would be easier if we could deny God's very existence, the grandeur of all creation is too powerful to allow us to deny that He is there. But how are we to answer His silence when tragedy strikes?
- [The Beginning after the Ending](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/simchat-torah-need-for-extraordinary-commentary/): The Torah reading in synagogue is not conventional Torah learning, but rather a kind of a wake-up call. Although we have read it for many years, the fact that the story appears again an entire year later, and no earlier, gives us a chance to forget it and then rediscover it as never before.
- [Sukkot: Joy in Insecurity](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/sukkot-joy-in-insecurity/): No matter how powerfully the outside walls and the leaking roof reveal our vulnerability and uncertainty, inside these walls we need to make our life as attractive as possible and enjoy its great benefits and blessings.
- [The Secret of Kal Nidrei – We Are All Marranos](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-secret-of-kal-nidrei-we-are-all-marranos/): On Yom Kippur, even a Jew with only the slightest Jewish affiliation knows that he needs to annul his vows to radical secularism and other non-Jewish ideologies. Something deep in his soul tells him that, even for just a moment, he needs to return “home” and be part of his people and its faith.
- [Rosh Hashana](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/rosh-hashana-is-judaism-your-supreme-passion-2/): As we approach Rosh Hashana and ask ourselves what we should do to become better Jews— not just as individuals but also as a community—we must realize the need to change our attitudes and not just our deeds.
- [Conversion and Annie Fischer’s Interpretation of Schumann’s Klavierkonzert in A Minor](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/conversion-and-annie-fischers-interpretation-of-schumanns-klavierkonzert-in-a-minor/): Just as a human being who’s never had an encounter with classical music won’t know what he’s missing until he is introduced to Mozart, Beethoven or Bach, so it is with Judaism. But it all depends on who is playing the music.
- [Same-Sex Marriage and Other Prohibitions](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/same-sex-marriage-and-other-prohibitions/): Religious thinkers should refrain from giving primary reasons for forbidden sexual relations. There is no objective reason why homosexuality and incest are forbidden.
- [In spite of Religion, God is still around](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/in-spite-of-religion-god-is-still-around/): It is in those who are still uncomfortable with God that new insights about Him are formed. And it will be in those uneasy environments that Judaism will be rediscovered and developed. The need for religious transcendence, and for the spiritual thread that keeps many young people on their toes, is enormous. Numerous secular people are joining a new category of spiritual theologians. Matters of weltanschauung are pivotal to many secular Jews now. The problem is that for them, and for the religious, the Torah is transmitted on a wavelength that is out of range of their spiritual transistors’ frequency. Yes, we turn on the radio, but we hear strange noises and unusual static. There is serious transmission failure. We are no longer sure where the pipelines are. God has relocated.
- [Make Anti-Semitism a Source of Jewish Pride](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/make-anti-semitism-a-source-of-jewish-pride/): While we must help to combat anti-Semitism in every way possible, we should be aware that it is not a Jewish problem. Its solution will be possible only when the world makes peace with ethical Judaism. Only when Jews will be able to convince the world of the power of Jewish ethics, and will ensure that it is taught in every classroom, church and mosque is there a chance that anti-Semitism will slowly come to an end.
- [The Dangling Bridges of Halacha](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-dangling-bridges-of-halacha/): Halacha makes rules where rules should not exist but need to exist lest chaos ensue. But it is these very rules that create unsolvable problems that are inherent to our existence.
- [The Virtues of Insanity](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/jumping-into-deep-waters-the-cornerstone-of-judaism/): Judaism is about new ideas. It is dependent on fresh concepts deeply rooted in its tradition. Innovative thinking is the need of the hour. It is time for halachic authorities, rabbis, and religious thinkers to take notice of the immense changes that have taken place in our day. Never has the world gone through so many adjustments in so short a time. Never have the Jewish people been confronted with so many challenges. It is not only the security of the State of Israel that is at stake, but even more so, its very spirit and spiritual future.
- [Rejection or Integration: The Secret of Pesach](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/rejection-or-integration-the-secret-of-pesach/): No nation or religious movement can live in isolation, nor should it. It needs to develop inner strength so that it can open itself up to other cultures and ideologies without losing its own identity.
- [To Be Religious is to Be a Halachic Poet](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/religious-halachic-poet/): Halacha is the practical expression of discovering the infinite within the finite.
- [Judaism as the Art of Rebellion](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/judaism-art-rebellion/): When we teach our children to eat kosher, we should tell them that this is an act of disobedience against consumerism that encourages human beings to eat anything as long as it tastes good. When we go to synagogue, it is a protest against man’s arrogance in thinking that he can do it all by himself. When couples observe the laws of family purity, it is a rebellion against the obsession with sex. By celebrating Shabbat, we challenge our contemporary world that believes our happiness depends on how much we produce.
- [What is Death?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/death/): How could it be possible that souls speak immortal words, think eternal thoughts, create art and music, and then just evaporate into nothingness and vanish?
- [Who Is Really a Jew?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/really-jew/): What makes one a Jew? Being born to a Jewish mother? Converting to Judaism? Not really. It is living by the spiritual order of Judaism that makes one a Jew; living through the Jews of the past and with the Jews of the present and future. We are Jews when we choose to be so; when we have discovered Jewishness on our own, through our search for the sacred; when we fight the never-ending spiritual struggle to find God, realize that the world needs a moral conscience, and carry that exalted burden so as to save the world and provide it with a mission.
- [My Brother and the Kosher Wine Bottle](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/my-brother-and-the-kosher-wine-bottle/): Laws such as issur maga nochri become an obstacle to the universal mission of the Jewish people when they are applied to those to whom they are not applicable.
- [Our Struggle with God’s Goodness](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/our-struggle-with-gods-goodness/): To believe in God is to believe not only that there is ultimate meaning to our existence but also that this meaning is completely beyond our comprehension. We do not know why God created the universe and man; to know that, we would have to be God.
- [Will Our Boys Fight Again?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/will-our-boys-fight-again-ttp-402/): Throughout the centuries, historians, philosophers and anthropologists have struggled with the concept called Israel more than with nearly any other idea.
- [Prayer on Behalf of the Jewish Soldier](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/prayer-on-behalf-of-the-jewish-soldier-english-hebrew-ttp-400/): A prayer for the Jewish soldier on behalf of those dwelling in the Diaspora.
- [On The Israeli-Arab Conflict:  A Biblical Perspective](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/on-the-israeli-arab-conflict-a-biblical-perspective/): History is not made up of social, political, or economic factors alone, but also of spiritual forces that have far-reaching moral implications. The Torah and Jewish tradition may help us achieve deeper insight.
- [Soccer Talk and The World Cup](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/soccer-talk-the-world-cup-some-rabbinic-advice-from-a-dutch-expert-ttp-391/): A tongue-in-cheek offering of rabbinic advice on understanding the soul of soccer. Or more precisely, of the ball itself!
- [The Danger of Universal Love](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-danger-of-universal-love-ttp-389/): We live for love. We are prepared to give up anything to experience it. But we should never forget that love means preference. No one craves universal love.
- [The Splitting of the Red Sea and the Miracle of the State of Israel](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-red-sea-and-the-state-of-israel/): The establishment of the State of Israel was no doubt an epoch-making event. Only when the establishment of the State of Israel is seen in the light of the miracle at the Red Sea does the true miracle emerge.
- [Spinoza’s Sub Specie Aeternitatis and Yeshiva Students](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/spinozas-sub-specie-aeternitatis-yeshiva-students/): Whenever I think of the huge demonstration of Chareidi yeshiva students at the beginning of this month, I think of Gateshead Yeshiva in England where I spent many years studying Talmud.
- [Halacha and Absurdity – Part 3](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/halacha-and-absurdity-part-3-2/): In the first two parts of this essay, we have seen that no objectivity is possible in Halacha. This enables us to understand not only why there are many opposing opinions in the Talmud, such as those of Beit Hillel and Beit Shamai, but also that the weltanschauung (world view) and ideologies of the halachic authorities play an enormous role in the way they decide halachic issues.
- [Halacha and Absurdity  – Part 2](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/halacha-and-absurdity-part-2-ttp-382/): Once the human being has recognized that ultimately there is no way to know why God created the world and mankind, he can make his way back to reason and meaning. Once he leaves this “divine absurdity” behind as an unsolvable problem, his intelligence is able to guide him through the labyrinth of human existence.
- [Halacha and Absurdity – Part 1](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/halacha-and-absurdity-part-1-ttp-381/): Much has been written about the meaning and purpose of Halacha, based on philosophy, metaphysics and psychology. Scholars have suggested that Halacha is the art of living in the presence of God.
- [The Inscrutable God](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-inscrutable-god/): Few prayers are more perplexing than the one called "Ein Keloh-einu." This famous song is chanted at the end of the morning prayers. But it makes little sense. In fact, it seems more than just odd.
- [Debating Orthodox and Reform Beliefs](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/debating-orthodox-and-reform-beliefs-1-wanted-rabbinical-courage/): Orthodox leaders must remember is that we owe much of our knowledge not to those who agreed with us, but to those who differed and therefore challenged us to sharpen our minds.
- [Bravo, Chief Rabbi Mirvis! Courage, Dayan Ehrentreu!](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/bravo-chief-rabbi-mirvis-courage-dayan-ehrentreu-limmud-and-the-orthodox-fiasco/): Courage is the word that comes to mind when we think of Britain’s new Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis’ decision to come to Limmud, the largest Jewish conference in the world, which will take place in England at the end of the year. It is a sad commentary on the state of contemporary Orthodox leadership when a chief rabbi is called courageous because he accepts the invitation to teach Torah at such a remarkable Jewish event. What could be more obvious? But the truth is that courage has indeed become a rare commodity in large segments of Orthodoxy.
- [Yom Kippur](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/yom-kippur-are-we-worthy/): This awesome thought is the focal point of Yom Kippur. Am I worthy to have a claim on life? Or, have I been born but lost my right to live? This is by far the most important question for man to ask. The trembling of the earlier generations on Erev Yom Kippur was indeed that of great pachad (fear) – not fear of punishment or death, but of not rising to the challenge of living in God’s presence and fulfilling one’s destiny!
- [The Joy of Saying: I am Sorry](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-joy-of-saying-i-am-sorry-ttp-359/): To be given the opportunity to do teshuvah is an enormous privilege. It is a joy to be able to say I am sorry. In fact, it is one of the great gifts that Judaism has given mankind: the knowledge that we can change.
- [Rosh Hashana and the Missing King](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/6354-2/): A Parable based on a fairy tale by Dutch author Godfried Bomans.
- [Nicolaes Maes and the Uproar in Our Souls](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/rosh-hashanah-nicolaes-maes-and-the-uproar-in-our-souls-ttp-357/): Nicolaes Maes’ "Old Woman at Prayer" is a profound reminder of what we should strive for on Rosh Hashana.
- [The Rebellion of Chief Rabbi Sacks](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-rebellion-of-chief-rabbi-sacks-ttp-351/): Let it be said. Jonathan Sacks has been a rebellious chief rabbi. Now that he is stepping down, we had better keep an eye on him and hope he will become even more of an insurgent.
- [The Challenge and Opportunities at Limmud](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-challenge-and-opportunities-at-limmud/): Judaism is the most astonishing and daring religion the world has been blessed with. It defies definition, standing head and shoulders above anything else I know. It is not just a faith, a sentiment, or a ritual;
- [Autobiography – Lonely But Not Alone](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/autobiography-lonely-but-not-alone-ttp-344/): A Spiritual Short Autobiography by a Jew Who Should Never Have Been
- [The Rise and Fall of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-israeli-chief-rabbinate/): Our later chief rabbis, some of them very righteous and willing to make great personal sacrifices, have lacked theological and philosophical background. They have remained exclusively in the four cubits of Jewish law, and have seemingly never studied secular or general religious philosophy.
- [The Need to Be a Stranger](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/to-be-a-stranger-is-to-be-moral-ttp-331/): One commandment repeated numerous times in the Torah is the one that requires the Jews to be concerned about the welfare of the stranger in their midst. We must conclude that there is something in this imperative that is central to the mystery of the Jews and Judaism.
- [The Tragedy of Forgetting our Mission](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-tragedy-of-forgetting-our-mission/): We Jews are messengers, but we have forgotten the message. It is our obligation to rediscover it and advance it into eternity.
- [A Protest against Rabbinical Tyranny](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/protest-against-rabbinical-tyranny/): Freedom in doctrine and conformity in action was the overall policy to which the Talmudic rabbis were committed, even when convinced of certain fundamental truths. This is evident when one studies the relationship between the biblical text and the Oral Torah: minimum words and maximum interpretation.
- [Halakhah as Symphony](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/halakhah-as-symphony/): Critics from Paul to Spinoza saw Jewish law as a system of rigid rules that suffocate the spirit. But what if the opposite is true? Perhaps Halacha is not meant to suppress creativity but to awaken it. Like the notes of a musical score, the mitzvot guide human action until life itself becomes a living composition—one in which the soul finally hears the music of God.
- [The Expulsion of God from Halacha](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-expulsion-of-god-from-halacha/): Halacha has been disconnected from a conscious awareness of God. Today, halachic living ignores Him.
- [The Absurdity of Halacha – Part 1](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-absurdity-of-halacha-part-1ttp-291/): Much has been written about the meaning and purpose of Halacha, based on philosophy, metaphysics and psychology. Scholars have suggested that Halacha is the art of living in the presence of God. Others have posited that it requires the need to live a life dedicated to kedusha (holiness), while many argue that Halacha’s purpose is to achieve a high level of ethical standards.
- [Racism and Gentile Wisdom](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/racism-and-gentile-wisdom/): The Israelites' experience of slavery had made them utterly convinced that mankind at large was anti-Semitic. God therefore sent them a righteous gentile by the name of Yitro, to impress upon them that the non-Jewish world includes remarkable people, who not only possess much wisdom but actually love the people of Israel and contribute to Jewish life.
- [Jesus and Spinoza – a Jewish Tragedy](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/jesus-and-spinoza-the-story-of-a-jewish-tragedy-ttp-264/): What Jesus and Spinoza have in common is that they were alienated by the rabbis of their days. What might they have contributed to the Jewish people had their teachers been more tolerant?
- [The Curse of Religious Boredom](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/curse-religious-boredom/): Young people are developing a fresh approach to what Judaism is really all about. They are keenly aware that one cannot inherit Judaism but only discover it on one’s own.
- [My Letter of Protest to God](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/letter-of-protest-to-god-itamar-and-japan-part-2-ttp-271/): While other religious traditions may believe that questioning God is unacceptable, Judaism encourages them and Tanach is replete with such questions. Complaints of heresy are often rooted in the fact that we believe that God owes us a human answer.
- [Oh, that I may believe!](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/oh-that-i-may-believe/): To have faith is to live with unresolved doubts, prepared to rise above ourselves and our wisdom.
- [Megillath Esther: Purim and Human Importance](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/megillath-esther-purim-and-human-importance-ttp-1/): From a subjective point of view it seems that the existence and behavior of a single human being is of little importance. Except for those leaders, thinkers and scientists who really make a contribution towards the advancement or devastation of mankind, the vast majority of people, numbering in the billions, do not seem to make any difference in terms of the future and well-being of our society. If not for the fact of their numbers, they would have remained unnoticed and the world would not have missed them had they not been born.
- [Brit Mila: An Oath of Loyalty](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/brit-mila-an-oath-of-loyalty/): What right do parents have to bind a child to an eternal covenant? Judaism offers a radical answer: not to do so would be the greater injustice. Brit mila is not merely a ritual—it is a declaration that life has purpose, that the human being is destined for greatness, and that the covenant between God and Israel begins from the very first breath.
- [Revelation and the Need for Authentic Halacha](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/revelation-and-need-for-authentic-halacha/): Just as great scientists are fascinated when they investigate the properties of DNA, or the habits of a tiny creature under a microscope, so should even a secular Jew be deeply moved when he or she encounters the colors and fine subtleties of the world of Halacha.
- [Mixing with This World While Washing Your Hands of It](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-trivialities-of-the-tabernacle/): Judaism is the theology of the physical, the commonplace and the mundane. It is concerned with the everydayness of our lives and struggles, with the devastating effect brought on by the curse of the multitude of trivialities that often keep us busy from morning till night. It struggles with the emptiness of our lives when we do not even have the time to focus on the higher meaning of our existence. Man's paradox is that he is too much at home in this world yet needs to escape his worldliness in order to be consciously part of the universe.
- [The Need for Heresy](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/bring-a-heretic-into-the-beth-midrash-moshes-leadership-and-rebellion-ttp-266/): It is often forgotten is that the Torah was the first rebellious text to appear in world history. Its purpose was to protest against injustice and mediocrity.
- [The Idolatry of Theodicy](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-the-idolatry-of-theodicy/): By making God good by our standards, we are essentially making God into an idol, one who fits our standards and fulfills our needs. That is surely not the Jewish God.
- [Word Painting, US Customs, and God’s Wonders](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/word-painting-us-customs-and-gods-wonders/): Some reflections on a recent trip to America: the good, the bad, and the sublime.
- [Human Autonomy and Divine Commandment](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/human-autonomy-and-divine-commandment/): For centuries, Jewish thinkers have Which is the higher religious value: to serve God in a spontaneous outpouring of religious devotion (autonomy), or to obey the divine imperative (obedience)?
- [Kreplach & Bisli](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/kreplach-bisli-revelation-of-language/): It is in language that human beings reveal their inner lives. Their subconscious overflows and, before they are aware of it, they have already exposed their inner selves.
- [Yom Kippur and the Lessons of Religious Optimism](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/yom-kippur-and-arthur-schopenhauer-ttp-256/): Judaism is a warning not to yield to total pessimism, an admonition to endure truth and to choose life.
- [How Does One Express a Tear on Paper?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/poem-to-god-ttp-255/): A prayer upon hearing of the slaughter of innocents.
- [The Preciousness of My Children – A Terrifying Story](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-preciousness-of-my-children-a-terrifying-story/): I have learned to be constantly thankful to God for His incredible gift of children, children-in-law and grandchildren. I learned this on Friday, June 11, 2010, when my wife and I nearly lost a daughter and three grandchildren.
- [Pessah and The Challenge of Freedom](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-challenge-of-freedom-ttp-249/): Judaism is the art of making a problem out of every solution. It correctly believes that what is taken for granted is boring; it does not get our attention and therefore has no significance. Only when we see something as a challenge and give it thought do we come alive. A sense of duty reflects awareness that the trivial is critical.  There is no growth except in the fulfillment of one’s duty. 
- [Thoughts on Forgiveness – The Man Who Made Me Jewish](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/thoughts-on-forgiveness-the-man-who-made-me-jewish-ttp-242/): There is only one time I have ever forgiven an anti-Semite. But it was for a good reason. He had successfully helped me to become Jewish!
- [Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/rosh-hashana-and-yom-kippur-ttp-13/): Moshe Rabbenu teaches us that real religious life is not defined by where one finds oneself spiritually, but rather by how hard one tries to get there! 
- [Rabbinic Courage and the Frozen Text](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/who-is-a-gavra-rabba-a-great-man/): The Talmud discusses the identity of a Gavra Rabba, an exceptionally great person or Torah sage. Rava cites the courage to change the obvious and literal meaning of a commandment as mentioned in the Torah as a mark of a great man.
- [The Secret of “Ein Kelohenu”](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/ein-kelohenu-there-is-no-other/): The song “Ein Keloh-enu” rejects the traditional so-called rational proofs for the existence of God, since they are based on a serious paradox.
- [The State of Confusion](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-state-of-confusion/): What is at the core of the current crisis of leadership in Israel is a fundamental misreading of the nature and destiny of the Jewish people and the total lack of Jewish pride among our leaders.
- [Rabbis, Hindus and the Question of Mutual Respect](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/rabbis-hindus-and-mutual-respect/): All the talk about mutual respect of which our conferences are so full, has little meaning when people are not prepared to metaphorically "move to the back of the bus.
- [My Mother Bertha Lopes Cardozo z.l.](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/my-mother-bertha-lopes-cardozo-zl-ttp-219/): Looking back on my life's journey, I think that the only one who truly understood was my mother. Why? First of all because mothers comprehend things concerning their children that nobody else can. But also because she traveled with me on this strange road.
- [New Halachic and Spiritual Conditions for Conversion](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-conversion-crisis-part-3-ttp-217/): In this essay I reluctantly suggest new criteria for conversion. They must be seen as a response to the need of the hour in which our people finds itself. This is especially true for the State of Israel to which tens of thousands of people of Jewish descent made aliyah, primarily from Russia, yet who are not halachically Jewish.
- [Solving the Conversion Crisis and Global Judaism](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/solving-the-conversion-crisis-and-global-judaism-part-2-ttp-216/): Israel has been confronted with the plight of hundreds of thousands of people who made aliyah, mostly from Russia, who are children of mixed marriages or who have other Jewish ancestry, such as Jewish grandparents. Most of them are not halachically Jewish since their mothers are not Jewish.  Yet many of them would like to become Jewish. The problem, however, is that the majority do not want to commit themselves to a halachic way of life.
- [The Challenge of Chareidi Exceptionalism](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-challenge-of-chareidi-exceptionalism/): Integration of the Chareidim into the State of Israel poses unique challenges. Navigating these challenges successfully will necessitate major changes in Chareidi education and lifestyle.
- [A Chareidi Jewish State?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/a-chareidi-jewish-state/): The increasing Chareidi population poses significant challenges to the State of Israel. At the same time, the secular nature of the State is seen as a significant threat to the Chareidi community. This series examines the challenges, and potential outcomes.
- [Prayers for the Enemy](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/prayers-for-the-wicked-ttp-133/): While the winds of war with Iraq are coming closer and closer, committed Jews have a special obligation to think of the enormous loss of life this war is surely going to cost to many human beings who are or are not on our side of the conflict.
- [A Personal Encounter with the Divine](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/a-personal-encounter-with-the-divine/): There are moments in life when one is confronted with divine intervention. Thoughts on the loss of a great woman.
- [Forsaken by God](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/forsaken-by-god-ttp-204/): Response to an essay in the Jerusalem Post about haredi youth who left the fold and turned completely secular.
- [Heroism and the Gavra Raba](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/my-mother-ah-heroism-and-the-gavra-raba-ttp-203/): Only when some kind of separation has set in and the other is no longer immediately available, do thoughts break through which allow a better understanding of those who have been the closest to us.
- [Hearing and Seeing](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/hearing-and-seeing/): Contemplation about the mitzvot without actually fulfilling them makes one deed-deaf. The profound meaning of a mitzvah may only be understood by experiencing it.
- [Ne’im Zemirot](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/abraham-lopes-cardozo-zl-neim-zemiroth-ttp-190/): A Tribute to Abraham Lopes Cardozo z.l. While fully involved in the world, he taught us that spiritual nobility is a thousand times more valuable than all what the great secular world has to offer us.
- [The Revolutionary Future of the Torah and Mitzvot](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-future-of-the-torah/): All humans are fundamentally children of the time in which they live. It is hard, if not altogether impossible, for most people to think beyond their own limitations. It is the commonplace that stands out and holds sway over most of our thinking. To think outside the box requires courage, broad thinking and daring creativity.
- [Aggada and  Halachah](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/aggada-and-halachah/): Halachah can tell us how to act in a given situation, but it cannot provide insight into the quality of a given act or a sense of the spiritual change that is results from that act. That is the job of Aggadah.
- [The Courage to Be Different](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-courage-to-be-different/): Modern culture insists that identity is something we choose. We are expacted to choose our affiliations, our values, and our commitments as if selecting a product from a shelf. Judaism insists on something deeply countercultural: that identity is received long before it is chosen.
- [The Protest of a Bracha](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-protest-of-a-bracha/): While many of us still live with the notion of surprise, this, we have convinced ourselves, is nothing but the result of our limited understanding and knowledge of our world.
- [Israel at the Crossroads](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-day-after-the-disengagement/): There are too many yeshivot and too few, if any, tents of Avraham. After elementary studies, most yeshiva students should be motivated to prepare themselves for the great task of bringing Jewish ethical values back into the center of Israeli life.
- [Toward a Solution](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/toward-a-solution-gaza-withdrawal/): In Parashat Ha’azinu, the Torah warns of the severe consequences that the people of Israel will suffer if they do not live up to their religious and moral mission. However, it's possible that these verses also prove that what is now happening to the Jewish people and to the State of Israel is not the result of random forces or political turmoil. They prove as clearly as can be that God is in charge and that His providence is at work through its very apparent absence.
- [Some Thoughts on Ruth and Conversion](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/afterthoughts-on-ruth-and-conversion-ttp-178/): As long as Judaism is taught as merely a luxury, something extraneous to life, it will be of little importance in the eyes of those who are asked to become Jewish. But when we teach it as being indispensable, it will become life itself and will make waves in the souls of all those we approach.
- [Siyum Ha-Shas](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/siyum-ha-shas-ttp-172/): Carefully studying the Talmud reveals a diversity of ideas and philosophies, often compared to the sea. There are storms and waves, silences and noise, rebellions and deep faith, colors in every combination, music in every setting. It is a work which cannot be characterized, eluding all definitions.
- [Halacha and “trivialities”](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/halacha-and-trivialities-ttp-140/): Commonplace deeds are the moments through which man has the opportunity to meet God more intensively than at any other instant. Trivialities were created by God in order to show man that there are no insignificant moments and that every move of man counts, however small.
- [Religious Jewry and the Sanctification of God’s Name](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/religious-jewry-and-the-sanctification-of-gods-name/): The obligation of Jews to shower infinite mercy on the world. Our ideal is to be the one to whom the nations can always turn for spiritual if not for physical help.
- [Israel’s Uniqueness and its Future](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/israels-uniqueness-and-its-future/): The condemnation of Israel by the nations of the world and the confusion of its leadership, together with its unprecedented successes, are just more examples of its uniqueness. Paradoxically, the more the nations condemn Israel because it does not meet the conditions of normalcy, the more they prove Israel’s distinctiveness.
- [The Number of Generations Before Him](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-number-of-generations-before-him/): Our nearly 4,000 year history has constantly reminded us of the danger of our children losing interest and commitment to our common heritage. We can overcome this problem by creating a psychological language that delves deeper than the general cultural and sociological environment in which children find themselves.
- [What’s wrong with Idol Worship](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/idol-worship-ttp-10/): Various commentators disagree on why the Torah was so adamant about prohibiting idol worship. This debate exposes some a profound idea behind Jewish monotheism.
- [Jewish Tradition and the Intifada](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-jewish-tradition-and-the-intifada-part-2/): While the observance of religious laws such as Shabbat and kashrut are very important, it is clear that the the laws governing human social behavior are most vital for the security of Israel. If we observe Shabbat, kashrut and other ritual mitzvot but fail to treat our fellow human beings properly, society will not be able to function properly and will eventually disintegrate.
- [Simchat Torah, The Endless Beginning](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/simchat-torah-the-endless-beginning-ttp-122/): When it comes to the learning of Torah we are all perpetual beginners. The text may have a beginning but it has no end.
- [What makes a Legal Case a “Major” one?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/what-makes-a-legal-case-a-major-one/): What makes a legal case truly “major”? Is it the amount of money at stake — or the depth of moral and legal complexity it demands? In Parashat Yitro we see a subtle but radical change that Moshe makes to Yitro’s judicial reforms, revealing a vision of justice in which complexity, not power or wealth, determines what truly matters.
- [Jewish Tradition and the Intifada](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-jewish-tradition-and-the-intifada-part-1/): As religious people we are asked to look for the deeper meaning of world history, since our belief is that God has a hand in the unfolding of history. We consult biblical and Talmudic sources, examining them and drawing conclusions. Above all, we must try to discover the moral lessons from these texts that inspire us to be better human beings and Jews.
- [Hating War against the Enemy](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/hating-war-against-the-enemy-ttp-110/): We hate having to take up weapons in order to defend ourselves. It is a nightmare to have to uproot the lives of innocent people. We abhor having to shoot people even when they want to kill our babies and mothers in suicide attacks.
- [A Call to my Brothers in the Diaspora](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/a-call-to-my-brothers-in-the-diaspora/): American Jewry must rise up like a roaring lion. It is obligated to organize massive demonstrations in every city as many times as necessary till the American administration starts to realize that it has crossed the borders of what is acceptable.
- [Remembering Who We Are](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/remembering-who-we-are/): The need for revenge after experiencing a great injustice is very understandable. In the heat of the moment, people easily lose their minds and take to the streets to carry out acts of rampant destruction. They often forget who they are fighting and cause heavy losses to the innocent. While this is understandable, it is wrong.
- [The Struggle for Faith – Part V](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-struggle-for-faith-part-v-ttp-105/): The Talmud in tractate Pesachim 8b gives an interesting example of the tension between trust in God and the natural order of things while simultaneously adding a new aspect to this problem.
- [The Struggle for Faith – Part IV](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-struggle-for-faith-part-iv-ttp-104/): We established in part III of "The Struggle for Faith" that it is forbidden to trust in God when this trust contradicts God's purpose for the world. Since man must have the possibility of exercising freedom of will, there must be a natural order to the world. If not for the laws of nature, it would not be possible for man to make any moral decision, since he would never be able to know what the consequences of his decisions would be.
- [The Struggle for Faith – Part III](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-struggle-for-faith-part-iii-ttp-103/): The question to what extent one can actually trust God and rely on His protection is closely related to the question why He created the world. It should be claimed that one can only rely on His protection and help as long as this does not contradict the very purpose of existence.
- [The Struggle for Faith](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-struggle-for-faith-part-ii-ttp-102/): For the biblical personality and those living in early post-biblical times, the existence of God was apparent. One would discover His fingerprints everywhere: in heaven, on earth, in the colors of a flower, in the stormy sky, in the thunder and lightning, in the smile of a baby or the beauty of the seashore.
- [The Struggle for Faith – Part I](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-struggle-for-faith-part-i-ttp-101/): Faith is one of the most difficult attributes to acquire. To have faith in God has become a struggle for many human beings, including those who are desperately looking for it. In modern times with their tendency to secularize nearly anything, the man of faith often feels alone in a world in which religious beliefs are often looked down on.
- [The purchase of the Cave of Machpela](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-purchase-of-the-cave-of-machpela/): Why did Efron name such an outrageous price for the Cave of Machpelah? Beneath the surface of a simple negotiation lies a profound insight into human nature—and a warning that echoes far beyond the days of Avraham. Some conflicts are not meant to be solved, because those who sustain them have too much to lose in peace.
- [Revolution through one word](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/revolution-through-one-word-ttp-95/): Conventional wisdom has it that Avraham “discovered” God after mankind had fallen prey to idol worship, and that this was his main contribution to the world. This however, cannot be the whole story.
- [The inner fire, or “Familiarity breeds contempt”](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/familiarity-breeds-contempt/): It is an artform to live as if every moment is new, a challenge, and an encounter with the Divine.
- [What will you say to your children?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/what-will-you-say-to-your-children-ttp-92/): An open letter to my friends and students in Chutz La'aretz on the background of the Arab terror attacks in Israel.
- [“Es Past Nicht” and Jewish Pride](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/es-past-nicht-and-jewish-pride/): While we've had to fight physical battles to ensure our survival, we must never lose sight of the fact that existence would be meaningless if not for the nation’s spiritual purpose.
- [The Sensitivity of the Torah and the Power of Language](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-sensitivity-of-the-torah-ttp-73/): The subtlety of this teaching regarding how we should ideally communicate with our fellows is part of the Torah’s greatness.
- [Going to Synagogue and Reclaiming the Jewish Neshomeh](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/it-is-time-to-go-to-synagogue/): Many leading and highly intelligent Israelis seem to have completely separated themselves from the community of Israel. They are no longer Jewish apikorsim but just secularists.
- [The Dimensions of Prophecy and the Eternity of the Torah](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-dimensions-of-prophecy/): Two main expressions used for prophecy are "Zeh Hadavar," "This is the word," and "Koh Amar Hashem," "Thus says God." Why these two different expresssions?
- [The Blessings of Ephraim and Menashe](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-blessings-of-ephraim-and-menashe-ttp-70/): It is most significant that Jewish parents bless their children with the blessing suggested by Yacov: “With you shall Israel bless saying: May God make you as Efraim and Menashe.” In this blessing, Yacov expressed the delicate balance between the need for a strong Jewish identity and the capacity to interact with the outside world.
- [Rosh Hashana Teshuva](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/rosh-hashana-teshuva-a-matter-of-seduction/): What does the haftarah of Shabbat Shuvah mean when it suggests that we should use words of seduction at the time of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur to aid in the process of teshuva? Why should we utter words that are not entirely truthful?
- [Halachic Limits to Halacha](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/halachic-limits-to-halacha/): To run a secular, but Jewish country is an almost impossible task. The idea alone is a contradiction in terms. Secular, but Jewish? The difficulties come from all sides, but one of the major obstacles no doubt arises from the fact that the purpose of secular law differs from that of Jewish Law.
- [Rabbi Bezalel Rakov z.l. of Gateshead](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/rabbi-bezalel-rakov-zl-of-gateshead/): It is with great pain that I write about the demise of one of the great rabbinical figures of our generation, Rabbi Bezalel Rakov z.l. who headed a small settlement of deeply religious Jews in the city of Gateshead in the north of England.
- [Sanctification of the Heart](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/sanctification-of-the-heart/): Through the words, we can grasp the perpetual, holy murmurs from a world beyond, but nothing more. What lies deeper can be accessed only with repair work to open the channels of the heart
- [“After Modern Orthodoxy, Then What?”](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/after-modern-orthodoxy-then-what/): Thoughts based on Rabbi Cardozo’s introductory remarks before a lecture by Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks at the Cardozo Academy, 25 May 2003
- [In Memory of Ilan Ramon. z.l.](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/in-memory-ilan-ramon/): At an ever increasing rate, we are starting to see revolutionary changes appearing in our world that no one would have even considered contemplating a few years ago. Suddenly, we realize that we are walking through the door of a new epoch before we even thought to ring the bell.
- [The Chozrim B’she’ela Movement](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/chozrim-bsheela-movement/): It is not for the lack of answers that people leave Judaism, but for the absence of questions!
- [Tolerance and Dialogue](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/tolerance-and-dialogue-ttp-44/): While we cannot expect to solve all our differences, this does not obviate the need for dialogue to take place between Orthodoxy and these other movements.
- [God Speaks Only to Himself](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/god-speaks-only-to-himself/): If anyone were to argue that traditional Judaism is guilty of too much dogma and not enough imaginative thought, a closer look at the multitude of rabbinical insights into the meaning of “God” and “revelation” would quickly disabuse him of such a notion.
- [Between Frumkeit and Religiosity](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/religious-stringencies-and-the-nazir/): Many people feel the need to express their religious devotion through the acceptance of stringencies that conventional Jewish Law does not in actual fact require. But the Torah does not appear to condone such stringencies.
- [Asterix and Obelix](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/asterix-obelix-rabbinic-commentary/): Almost nothing will be missed unless it has once been tasted. We feel deprived of something only once we are aware of its existence, or when we have experienced it even for a very short period of time.
- [Baruch Spinoza and Johann Sebastian Bach](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/baruch-spinoza-johann-sebastian-bach/): What if two of Europe’s greatest minds had met—Baruch Spinoza, the philosopher who rejected Jewish law, and Johann Sebastian Bach, the composer who obeyed every rule of musical composition? Bach’s music provides the perfect response to Spinoza’s critique of Halacha: true creativity is not born from rejecting rules, but from mastering them. The law, far from suppressing the soul, becomes the instrument through which it sings.
- [Mitzvoth, Minhagim, and Their Dangers](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/mitzvoth-minhagim-and-their-dangers/): At times, we are confronted with problems with how some people observe some well-established customs, and even mitzvoth.
- [The Chosen People?](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/the-chosen-people/): One of the most disturbing claims ever made by any group of people is the one Jews make when, quoting the Bible, they insist upon being called the "Chosen People." What does this even mean?
- [Yom Kippur: A Day Like Purim](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/yom-kippur-a-day-like-purim/): Our sages suggested that Yom Kippur is "a day like Purim". To suggest that Yom Kippur is like Purim is a most unusual way of looking to this awesome day.
- [Now is the time to write the Song of our lives](https://cardozoacademy.org/thoughts-to-ponder/now-is-the-time-to-write-the-song-of-our-lives/): "Now, write this Song for Yourselves and Teach It". A song however is different from a mere inheritance. It is the result of being overwhelmed by something which touches the deepest level of one's soul. It is the speechlessness of the lips which carry the song to the ineffable. An authentic song is therefore a protest against words getting frozen.

## Newsletter Archive
- [Nissan 5779](https://cardozoacademy.org/newsletters/nissan-5779/): Read about our latest projects, new books coming out this year, and news from the DCA Think Tank. Bonus: an innovative activity for Pesach!
- [Nissan 5778](https://cardozoacademy.org/newsletters/nissan-5778/): Read about Rabbi Cardozo's latest book, see what the Think Tank has been up to in the last few months and more!
- [Rosh HaShana 5776](https://cardozoacademy.org/newsletters/rosh-hashana-5776/): Cardozian Newsletter Rosh HaShana 5776. In this issue, a sneak preview of Rabbi Cardozo's new book, updates on DCA activities, lectures, and more!
- [Pesach 5774/May 2014](https://cardozoacademy.org/newsletters/pesach-5774-may-2014/): The David Cardozo Academy Think Tank had an interesting and productive year in 5773. Topics that arose included; personal and scholarly definitions of halacha and the historical development of halacha and codification. We also discussed contemporary issues, such as the Women of the Wall and army draft for yeshivah students..
- [Pesach/Spring Edition 2014-5774](https://cardozoacademy.org/newsletters/pesach-spring-edition-2014-5774/): Spotlight on Yael Unterman, Rabbi Lopes Cardozo's Travels & Lecture Tours to Australia, South Africa, United Kingdom and the Netherlands, A new book in the pipeline, and more.
- [Pesach/Spring Edition 2013–5773](https://cardozoacademy.org/newsletters/pesach-spring-edition-2013-5773/): From the Dean’s Desk
In moments of great turmoil great thing can happen. The destruction of stability may be painful but allows for new patterns to emerge. Stereotypes may fall apart and disappear but they pave the road for novelty.
- [Rosh Hashana/Fall Edition 2012/5773](https://cardozoacademy.org/newsletters/rosh-hashana-fall-edition-2012-5773/): From the Dean’s Desk
Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are a protest against death in life and a warning of the danger of spiritual numbing. Habitual behavior and lack of responsiveness are the great enemies of life.

## Think Tank Sessions
- [Survey of 5777 Activities at the DCA Think Tank](https://cardozoacademy.org/think-tank/survey-5777-activities-dca-think-tank/): We're delighted to share with you a full-color bulletin with photos detailing what the David Cardozo Academy Think Tank has been up to this year - our regular activities plus an Open Think Tank for the public in March. There are also questions for you to ponder - it wouldn't be the DCA Think Tank without them! 
- [Session 11: Yom HaZikaron](https://cardozoacademy.org/think-tank/bytes-ponder-yom-hazikaron/): The DCA Think Tank gathered last night to mark Yom Hazikaron together, sharing stories of fallen soldiers and victims of terror with whom they had a personal connection, and talking about the day and what it brings up for them.
- [Session 10: The Roots of Anti-Semitism](https://cardozoacademy.org/think-tank/9360-2/): In his book, Lonely but not Alone, Rabbi Cardozo speculates that anti-Semitism is rooted in Christianity, but not for the reasons we might have thought: The world hates us not because we supposedly killed Jesus but because we gave them Jesus! On reading this excerpt, a lively discussion ensued. Read on to see excerpts of the conversation, and feel free to join in via the comment section.
- [Session 9: What is Yirat Shamayim?](https://cardozoacademy.org/think-tank/what-is-yirat-shamayim/): Last night, the DCA Think Tank members discussed the concept of “Yirat Shamayim”: what it means to them, what role it plays in their religious lives, and whether critical thinking and academic analysis affects it negatively. Tell us in the comments how you would answer these questions.
- [Session 8: The Founding of the State of Israel and the Challenge of Halachic Living](https://cardozoacademy.org/think-tank/9217-2/): The think tank discusses whether the founding of the State of Israel has changed how we approach Halacha and its mode of development, as well as what kind of changes can be made to the halachic system.
- [Session 7: Religious Experience, Sexuality, Wild Halacha and Chumras](https://cardozoacademy.org/think-tank/session-7/): This year, the Think Tank is reading excerpts of the manuscript of Rabbi Cardozo’s forthcoming spiritual autobiography Lonely But Not Alone. Though the book is still very much in process, these summaries of the TT meetings will give readers a preview into what the book will contain.
- [Session 6: Mikveh, Education, and Written & Oral Law](https://cardozoacademy.org/think-tank/session-6-mikveh-education-written-oral-law/): The first discussion of this meeting opened around Rabbi Cardozo’s use of the metaphor of the mikveh. Rabbi Cardozo converted at age sixteen, but came to realize that to “convert” only once is nearly meaningless. Immersing in a mikveh symbolizes an inner transformation, resembling emerging afresh from the womb; and he deeply desires to emerge transformed from each and every visit to the mikveh, as he did upon his conversion many years ago.
- [Sessions 5: Philosophy and Personal Experience, Questions and Answers](https://cardozoacademy.org/think-tank/session-5-philosophy-personal-experience-questions-answers-first-sneak-preview-rabbi-cardozos-upcoming-book-2/): For the second half of 5775, the DCA Think Tank, consisting of fourteen men and women, of various ages and backgrounds but all committed to inquiring deeply into traditional Judaism, will be reading excerpts of the manuscript of Rabbi Cardozo’s forthcoming autobiography Lonely But Not Alone.
- [Session 4: Developing a Relationship with the Divine](https://cardozoacademy.org/think-tank/developing-a-relationship-with-the-divine/): The fourth session of the year 5774 at the David Cardozo Academy Think Tank began with a fill-in-the-blank statement, “I think God is happy when….”
- [Session 3: Defining Authenticity](https://cardozoacademy.org/think-tank/think-tank-sessions-session-3-november-18-2013/): One of the main subjects of the previous session was “authenticity” and its place within Jewish values and in the observance of halacha. While members acknowledged the importance of questions about authenticity and Judaism, they were above all troubled by the term’s lack of clear definition. Everyone seemed to relate to it differently.
- [Session 2: Considering Authenticity](https://cardozoacademy.org/think-tank/think-tank-sessions-session-2-november-4-2013/): The second session of the year 5774 at the David Cardozo Academy Think Tank began with the question, “What is one halakhah that you have never doubted or questioned or struggled with for a moment?”
- [Session 1: Rav Ovadia Yosef z”l, Similes, and Competing Values](https://cardozoacademy.org/think-tank/think-tank-sessions/): The first session of the year 5774 at the David Cardozo Academy Think Tank took place just a few weeks ago, and it had the usual mix of intriguing activities, discussions, and food for thought regarding how we relate to halacha and where and how the individual comes into the picture.

## Videos
- [Where are the Jews?](https://cardozoacademy.org/videos/where-are-the-jews/): What is the mission of the Jewish people? What is the meaning of being Jewish? Why is there such a thing as a Jewish people? We may give our children a Jewish education, but there is one thing that we too often fail to teach them. And that role we should be playing in this world.
- [Lonely but not Alone (Hebrew)](https://cardozoacademy.org/videos/lonely-not-alone-hebrew/)
- [Lonely but not Alone (English)](https://cardozoacademy.org/videos/lonely-not-alone-english/): A film on the incredible life of Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo, who grew up in a secular, half-Jewish family in the Netherlands, and grew to become an internationally known rabbi and Jewish philosopher, as well as the head of the David Cardozo Academy and its Think Tank.
- [Torah from Heaven](https://cardozoacademy.org/videos/torah-from-heaven/)
- [Beit Boyer Lecture: “God is not Good”](https://cardozoacademy.org/videos/beit-boyer-lecture-god-not-good/)
- [The Complexity of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and the Problem of Fundamentalism](https://cardozoacademy.org/videos/complexity-rabbi-joseph-b-soloveitchik-problem-fundamentalism/): On Wednesday February 1, 2017, Torah in Motion and the Cardozo Academy co-sponored a discussion between Professors William Kolbrener and Elliott Malamet, in honor of the publication of William Kolbrener’s new book, The Last Rabbi, on the life and thoughts of Rabbi Soloveitchik.  Rabbi Cardozo’s introductory remarks sparked a lively discussion in their own right.
- [The Many Faces of Truth](https://cardozoacademy.org/videos/the-many-faces-of-truth/): Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo speaks of his secular upbringing and memories of studying the philosophies of Baruch Spinoza with his father. He goes on to discuss his own spiritual path, ideas of spiritual satisfaction, freedom and time.
- [The Jewish People and the Jewish State](https://cardozoacademy.org/videos/jewish-people-jewish-state/)
- [Conference on Lifting the Ban on Spinoza](https://cardozoacademy.org/videos/conference-lifting-ban-spinoza/)
- [Tshuvah, Drugs & Rock ‘n’ Roll](https://cardozoacademy.org/videos/tshuvah-drugs-rock-n-roll-highs-lows-journey-observance/)
- [Non-Jewish Suffering and the Contemporary Torah World](https://cardozoacademy.org/videos/non-jewish-suffering-contemporary-torah-world/)
- [Why Jews Should Continue to Ignore the Bible Critics – Rabbi Francis Nataf](https://cardozoacademy.org/videos/jews-continue-ignore-bible-critics-rabbi-francis-nataf/)
- [The Hidden Freud: His Chassidic Roots](https://cardozoacademy.org/videos/hidden-freud-chassidic-roots/)
- [Rescuing Judaism](https://cardozoacademy.org/videos/rescuing-judaism/)
- [Paradox of Sukkot](https://cardozoacademy.org/videos/paradox-of-sukkot/): Rabbi Cardozo shows us how the tradition of Sukkot teaches us the wisdom of paradox. Among the many insights of Rabbi Cardozo, this time he touches upon the paradox of two classic philosophers by embracing opposite perceptions of this world. Arthur Schopenhauer, a German philosopher known for his ultimate pessimism and Greek philosopher Epicurus, who's purpose of philosophy was to attain the happy, tranquil life characterized by freedom from fear. It is here that we received one of the most famous aphorisms, Carpe Diem, Latin for "Pluck this life" or more commonly translated to "Seize the Day".

## Audio Series
- [Parashat HaShavua Seminar with Avivah Zornberg](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/rabbi-cardozo-parashat-hashavua-seminar-with-avivah-zornberg/): In this seminar, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo engages in conversation with Dr. Avivah Zornberg, whose unique approach to Torah blends Midrash, literature, and psychoanalytic insight. Together, they explore the weekly parashah not as a static narrative, but as a living text filled with ambiguity, tension, and emotional depth.
- [Book Launch of The Last Rabbi](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/book-launch-of-the-last-rabbi/): Professor William Kolbrener and Dr. Elliott Malamet discuss the complexity of Rabbi Soloveitchik's thought. Introductory remarks by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo.
- [Judaism, Heresy and Secular Philosophy](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/judaism-heresy-secular-philosophy/): Six leading Jewish thinkers came together in Jerusalem to examine where Jewish tradition meets the intellectual challenges of modernity — from Spinoza and the Kotzker Rebbe to Dawkins, Foucault, and postmodern philosophy.
- [Lectures on the Book of Esther](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/lectures-on-the-book-of-esther/): This series of ten lectures on Megillat Esther explores the hidden spiritual drama beneath the surface of Jewish history. Moving between philosophy, halachah, psychology, and biblical interpretation, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo reads Esther as a text of concealment and courage, where God’s silence, human ambiguity, and moral risk become the very conditions for faith. Together, these talks invite the listener to reflect on exile, identity, power, and the quiet ways that redemption begins.
- [Lectures at Limmud over the years](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/lectures-at-limmud-over-the-years/): Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo explores diverse topics in Halacha and Jewish thought, highlighting the dynamic and creative nature of Torah study. Rabbi Cardozo sees Torah as a living, evolving conversation—one that demands intellectual courage, personal engagement, and a willingness to challenge inherited assumptions.

## Writers’ Guild Essays
- [The Condemned City and the Challenge of Interpretation](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/the-condemned-city-and-the-challenge-of-interpretation/): What should we do when a command in the Torah appears to conflict with the Torah’s own deepest moral values?
Faced with the law of the condemned city, the sages offered radically different answers. Some defended the command as written. Others protested its injustice, restricted it until it became nearly impossible to carry out, or interpreted it so boldly that they concluded it had never happened at all.
Their debate reaches far beyond one troubling biblical law. It asks whether faithfulness means obeying the text as it stands—or accepting responsibility for where our interpretation may lead.
- [Why We Remember](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/why-we-remember/): Jerusalem has been rebuilt. Jewish sovereignty has been restored. So why do we still mourn on Tisha b’Av? Perhaps because the day is not only about what others did to us, but about what we did to ourselves—and what we might still do again. Tisha b’Av confronts us with the dangers of division, mistrust, and unequal responsibility, while asking whether we can preserve our sense of shared destiny even when no external enemy forces us to unite.
- [The Waters of Meriva and the Question of Leadership](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/the-waters-of-meriva-and-the-question-of-leadership/): The mystery of the Waters of Merivah has puzzled readers for centuries. But perhaps the real question is not what Moshe did wrong—but why even the greatest leader cannot lead forever.
- [The Torah’s Case Against Absolute Power](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/the-torahs-case-against-absolute-power/): Korach's rebellion was about more than challenging Moshe and Aharon. Beneath the drama lies a profound question: How can a society create authority without allowing power to become absolute?
- [National maturity and Halachic humility](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/national-maturity-and-halachic-humility/): This week's Torah reading, parashat Masei, rounds off Sefer BaMidbar (Numbers). Among the narratives of battles, conquests, and politics, we can also discern a subtle shift in divine-human relations: only in the last few parshiot do human beings begin bringing questions and requests to change the law. 
- [Lag baOmer: A lesson in transformation](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/lag-baomer-a-lesson-in-transformation/): Lag baOmer's rising popularity and increasing religious attribution is a good indicator of how holidays evolve in our national consciousness. We seek meaning, and if meaning is lacking, we draw on our collective memory of transformation to supply it.
- [In every Generation](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/in-every-generation/): The phrase “in every generation” appears in two different places in the Hagaddah, but with two very different meanings: “In every generation” they rise up to destroy us, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, delivers us from their hands. But we are also told that “in every generation” we are to liberate ourselves from slavery, which means that we’re also obligated to relieve ourselves of any hate, and fear, towards those who wronged us. Those two “in every generations” clash. Too much focus on one the first (our enemies) undermines our ability to do the second (overcoming hate). Emphasizing the second (no hate) may dull our senses to the reality of the first.
- [Purim – The Covenant Ratified in Exile](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/purim-the-covenant-ratified-in-exile/): The rabbis of the Talmud sought to anchor Purim in the Biblical tradition, with varying degrees of success. But one of the most striking rabbinic comments appears in a surprising place: in Massechet Shabbat, we find a curious reference to the events on which Purim is based: “'The Jews confirmed and accepted'—on that occasion they confirmed what they had accepted long before." What exactly, did the Jews living in the Persian exile accept?
- [Finding Meaning in the Book of Job](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/finding-meaning-in-the-book-of-job/): About nine years ago, the 929 project was launched. Similar to (but much easier than) Daf Yomi, individuals study one chapter of Tanach a day five days a week, completing the entire cycle in 929 days (3.5 years). Those engaged in it are currently learning the Book of Job, which offers us wisdom in these trying times. 
- [A House Divided – A warning for our time](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/a-house-divided-a-warning-for-our-time/): In this week’s parashah, Yaakov, now the head of a large family, heads home to the land of Canaan after living for two decades in the house of Lavan. During those years, he has gone from being an “innocent” tent-dweller to becoming a savvy man of business. Having deceived his father and stolen his elder brother’s blessing, he has been deceived in his turn, having been given the elder daughter in marriage before the beloved younger. He has come full circle. But there are hints that Yaakov has still to learn one crucial lesson: the price of fatherly favoritism.
- [The Merit of Isaac’s Ashes](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/the-merit-of-isaacs-ashes/): The theme of ashes, (efer / עפר) plays a role in two stories in this week’s parsha. Abraham uses the term when entering into negotiation with God to spare the city of S’dom. The other mention of ashes is in the Akeida, where Abraham is commanded to take his beloved son Isaac to Mount Moriah and offer him as an olah, a burnt offering. The story not only fascinated traditional commentators but modern Israeli and Zionist thinkers too. What does this story mean for us today?
- [Dancing over the Abyss](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/dancing-over-the-abyss/): While other holidays are said to be times of joy as well, Sukkot is singled out in particular by the Torah (D'varim 16:15): "You shall be altogether/only joyful." But can we ever be "only" joyful? Is there ever a time when we are completely without other emotional states? Is the Torah asking of us the impossible?
- [The Day after the Shabbat – What an ancient controversy teaches us about nation-building](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/the-day-after-the-shabbat-what-an-ancient-controversy-teaches-us-about-nation-building/): Shavuot is one of the three Pilgrimage Holidays mandated by the Torah, and yet the text tells us very little about the holiday or how it is to be observed. Even the date on which it is celebrated is left undefined, leading to intense debate among rival factions during the Second Temple era. In fact, this controversy was part of a much larger debate which threatened to split the Jewish nation along sectarian lines. The split hinged on a major difference of opinion over the nature of Jewish society and its foundation texts: Is the Torah a fixed text, unchangeable for all time, or is it a living document meant to be reinterpreted in the light of changing circumstances?
- [Parashat Midbar – Beyond the I-We Dichotomy](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/parashat-midbar-beyond-the-i-we-dichotomy/): Sefer BaMidbar is the story of a great test: Can the disparate tribes of Israel put into practice the lessons learned during the revelation at Sinai and the subsequent building of the Mishkan. Can they forge themselves into a nation capable of conquering their ancestral homeland and building a just and lasting society?
- [Rabbi Akiva’s Time Capsule – The Song of Songs in Context](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/rabbi-akivas-time-capsule-the-song-of-songs-in-context/): Imagine that civilization was going to be destroyed within five years, and that you were tasked with deciding what literary treasures to preserve? That is the background of the Tanakh that we have today. The Talmud records the bare bones of discussions where scholars fought for the inclusion of those writings that were dear to them, often against ferocious opposition from their colleagues. Amazingly, of all the possible things to include, the famous Rabbi Akiva chose a collection of bawdy wedding songs! What lay behind such an odd choice?
- [The Danger of Negating a Miracle](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/parashat-shmini-the-danger-of-negating-a-miracle/): What was the crime of Nadav and Avihu, who were consumed by divine fire while offering incense? It turns out that by comparing this incident with a later one, in which Moshe strikes a rock to bring forth water, we can learn a lot about miracles, holiness, and leadership.
- [The Book of Esther as Political Critique](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/the-book-of-esther-as-political-critique/): While the Book of Esther bears all the literary marks of a fairy tale, the underlying themes are far from trivial: At what point does a ruler become unfit to rule? When is civil disobedience not only allowed, but imperative? Why continue to believe in social justice in a seemingly unjust universe?
- [Escaping the Luxury of Powerlessness:  A cautionary tale](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/escaping-the-luxury-of-powerlessness-a-cautionary-tale/): A curious midrash on the Megillah examines the attraction - and dangers - of exile. The powerlessness of exile can free us from the difficult moral decisions of sovereignty. But this freedom from guilt comes at the price of our ability to control our circumstances.
- [Parashat Vayakhel – The Limits of Creation](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/parashat-vayakhel-the-limits-of-creation/): This week's parashah opens with an odd juxtaposition. Just before explaining to the Israelites how the Mishkan is to be constructed, Moshe pauses to exhort the people to sanctify the Shabbat. Why is the commandment of the Shabbat inserted here? The usual answer is that building the Mishkan—as important as it is—nevertheless does not over-ride the prohibition of work on Shabbat. But this only puts off the question: why are we are told to sanctify the Shabbat by ceasing all creative work on that day?
- [Parashat Tetzaveh – Amalek and Modern Antisemitism](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/parashat-tetzaveh-amalek-and-modern-antisemitism/): God has made two unconditional promises to the Jewish people: one that we are eternal, that we will not disappear; and the second that He will ultimately redeem us. Unfortunately, He has also warned us that a certain kind of irrational hatred will be our lot throughout the generations.
- [Parashat Mishpatim: The Power of Names](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/parashat-mishpatim-the-power-of-names/): This week’s parashah takes place in the midst of the dramatic ceremony of the Covenant at Sinai. The Israelites have accepted the terms and conditions and now stand poised to sign on the dotted line. Now comes the small print: the actual terms and conditions they are to keep. But there’s something very odd about the way the names of God come up in presenting these laws.... The names of God hint at the nature of law, causality, and justice.
- [When God is Mute – Interpretation and honesty in reading texts](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/when-god-is-mute-interpretation-and-honesty-in-reading-texts/): Is it appropriate to sing God's praises, when God is utterly silent to our distress? Jewish tradition has addressed the question in different ways throughout history. Some of these answers may be helpful to us, living through a period that includes both unimaginable lows and historic highs.
- [Free Will and Confirmation Bias – A lesson for our times](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/free-will-and-confirmation-bias-a-lesson-for-our-times/): One of the more perplexing aspects of the Exodus story is the repeated “hardening” of Pharaoh’s heart. This phrase—together with another that is equally mysterious—is the key to understanding the true miracle of the Exodus. Virtually every encounter with Pharaoh involves a dialog between two key concepts: the hardening of the heart is paired with God’s showing Pharaoh, the Egyptians, or the Israelites “that I am Hashem.” Why is it so important that the Egyptians learn the mysterious name of God? Surely the primary target for this lesson would be the Israelites themselves! The solution to both questions is bound up in the true miracle of the Exodus—and it isn’t what we commonly think!
- [The Tragedy of Moshe Rabbenu’s Fight for Justice](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/tragedy-of-moshe-rabbenu/): Moshe was a warrior for justice. On three separate occasions, he fought for justice for others. He was simply unable stand idly by when he saw suffering. But this very inability to countenance injustice was also the source of Moshe's greatest tragedy.
- [Knowing the Way Home – Yaakov’s high-stakes gamble](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/knowing-the-way-home-yaakovs-high-stakes-gamble/): What is behind Yaakov's sudden adoption of Yosef's two sons? And why does he make Yosef swear to bury him in the land of Canaan? Is his son's word not enough? It seems that Yaakov--or rather, Yisrael--is once more taking the helm of the family, and he is about to hatch his most daring plot of all!
- [A Light on the Threshold: The unwritten message of Hanukah](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/a-light-on-the-threshold-the-unwritten-message-of-hanukah/): To the question “What is Hanukkah?” the Talmud doesn't give us the answer we expect. We're told only that when the victorious Maccabees rededicated the Temple, the sole remaining jar of ritually pure olive oil for the menorah sufficed for eight days. Why no mention of the military victory over vastly superior forces and the resurrection of an independent Jewish state? Why does the Talmud leave so much out?
- [The rape of Jacob’s daughter, the war of Israel’s sons](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/the-rape-of-jacobs-daughter-the-war-of-israels-sons/): Since October 7, all of the parshiot have had multiple meanings for our current situation. This week’s parshah, Vayishlach, in particular, is one that I’ve been dreading. It speaks directly to one excruciating element of our national pain from that day, and asks how we should respond to that pain.
- [Yaacov’s Dream – The encounter with uncertainty](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/yaacovs-dream-the-encounter-with-uncertainty/): In this week's parashah, Yaakov has his first vision of the God of his ancestors. It is significant that this encounter finds him in a state of vulnerability, a state of uncertainty. It is uncertainty that clears the way for us to accept the miracle of the encounter.
- [To our Friends outside the Land of Israel](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/to-our-friends-outside-the-land-of-israel/): This week marks the Sloshim, 30 days since the massacres of October 7. The Jewish laws of mourning focus first on the dead, on dignity from death to burial. The focus then turns to the needs of the close relatives of the deceased, with Shiva, the seven days of intense mourning, to the Sloshim, which—with the exception of the death of one’s parents—marks the end of the mourning period. However, even 30 days later, we as a nation find it hard to get past the mourning.
- [Questions in Light of a Palace in Flames](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/questions-in-light-of-a-palace-in-flames/): We have become used to thinking of the diaspora as a place of danger; Israel of safety. The fact the biggest murder of Jews in one day since the Holocaust took place in Israel is simply unfathomable. The question is inevitable: Where was God? A strange Midrash on this week's parashah may hint at an answer.
- [The Gaza War and the Challenges of Statehood](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/the-gaza-war-and-the-challenges-of-statehood/): In the weeks ahead, Israel will be facing one of the hardest tests a nation ever has to face, and it isn’t what we might think. The test is not to stay strong under the threat of rockets fired at our population centers, nor of repelling vicious incursions from across our borders, nor even of standing against the hatred of the nations when we fight back. The war now facing the State of Israel poses a greater challenge, and that is to hold on to the high moral standards that have sustained us since Israel’s founding. We must ensure that we do not become the very thing that we are fighting against.
- [Truth, Compromise, and Meta-Halakhah](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/truth-compromise-and-meta-halakhah/): 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 Disputation in Barcelona: Theatrical Challenges](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/the-disputation-in-barcelona/): 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.
- [The Perfect Torah Versus The Evolving Torah – Part 7](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/the-perfect-torah-versus-the-evolving-torah-part-7/): This is the last of a seven-part series on the thoughts of the Mei HaShiloach, the famous and highly unusual work by the Chassidic thinker, Rabbi Mordechai Joseph Leiner of Izbica. In this essay, Yehuda DovBer Zirkind discusses how the ideas of Mei HaShiloach may impact the future evolution of halachah. Many observations by the Mei HaShiloach touch on my opinion that Halacha will have to liberate itself from what we can only call “Defensive Halacha,” which became the norm while the Jewish people were living in exile.
- [The Perfect Torah versus The Evolving Torah](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/the-perfect-torah-versus-the-evolving-torah-the-philosophy-of-the-mei-hashiloach-and-its-practical-consequences/): This is the sixth part of our discussion on the philosophy of the Chassidic thinker, Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica, author of the Mei HaShiloach, a most unusual work which in many ways goes far beyond the established norms of orthodox Halacha as we know it today. Yehudah DovBer Zirkind continues to discuss Rav Cardozo's observations, and adds much important information and insights of his own.
- [The Perfect Torah Versus the Evolving Torah – Part 5](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/the-perfect-torah-versus-the-evolving-torah-part-5/): The Mei HaShiloach’s highly unusual teachings are becoming more and more relevant in our days, as we face greater challenges to Halacha and the Jewish lifestyle. Among these challenges are the establishment of the State of Israel, numerous religious crises, and the challenge of modernity. Can Halacha—which can no longer rely on the strict adherence to its rules, but gets more and more dependent on its ideological and spiritual message and spirituality—guide us in the future?
- [The Perfect Torah Versus the Evolving Torah – Part 4](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/the-perfect-torah-versus-the-evolving-torah-part-4/): In these trying times, it is of great value to focus on spiritual matters that may move us to a different plain. This will give us comfort, broaden our minds and enlarge our souls, as we carefully follow all the health regulations prescribed by our authorities. Here is the fourth part of Yehudah DovBer Zirkind’s reflections on the ideas of the Mei HaShiloach and my own comments.
- [The Perfect Torah Versus the Evolving Torah – Part 3](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/the-perfect-torah-versus-the-evolving-torah-part-3/): The two different approaches to the Torah: the “perfect Torah” and the “evolving Torah” approaches are related to a broader theological question about the nature of the mitzvot: Do the mitzvot reflect God’s ultimate and unconditional will (kvayachol), or do they reflect God’s instrumental will for humanity, providing an instruction manual for how to redeem the world? In other words, is the main purpose of the mitzvot for the sake of God (i.e. that humankind should fulfill God’s wishes) or for the sake of man (i.e. that God’s plan for humanity should be realized)?
- [The Perfect Torah versus the Evolving Torah – part 2](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/the-perfect-torah-versus-the-evolving-torah-part-2/): The giving of the Torah has radically altered the course of Judaism and we cannot revert to a pre-Torah age. Nevertheless, Rabbi Cardozo believes that the vision and spirit of this formative era, i.e. the vibrancy of an inchoate and incipient Judaism - or to borrow a metaphor from biology, a “stem cell” based Judaism - should be kept alive and maintained as a counterweight against the ethos of textual fixation and rigid Halachic codification which is so prevalent within the contemporary Orthodox Jewish world.
- [The Perfect Torah vs. the Evolving Torah](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/the-perfect-torah-vs-the-evolving-torah-thoughts-on-the-mei-hashiloach/): Part 1 of a series discussing the ideas of the Chassidic master, Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica, Poland (1800-1854), also known as the Mei Hashiloach, after the title of the book containing his teachings.
- [Learning to be finite](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/learning-to-be-finite/): Spiritual experiences may represent our yearning for the “infinite”, 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.
- [On Spiritual Experiences – A response to Yael Valier](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/spiritual-experiences-response-yael-valier/): 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.
- [What makes a “spiritual experience”?](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/makes-spiritual-experience/): 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.
- [The Legacy of Rav Soloveitchik](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/rav-soloveitchik-legacy/): In evaluating Rabbi Cardozo's critique of Rav Yoseph Dov Soloveitchik, it is important to clarify that Rabbi Cardozo criticizes Rav Soloveitchik from the perspective of the burning issues that are important to Rabbi Cardozo (i.e. changes in Halacha, daring theological approaches etc.), and it should not be seen as a general evaluation of Rav Soloveitchik's philosophical legacy as a whole.
- [An open letter to Rabbi Cardozo in response to his article on Rav Soloveitchik](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/open-letter-response-on-rav-soloveitchik/): Tanya White responds to Rav Cardozo's critique of Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik's lack of innovation in the Halachic realm. She argues that for many reasons the Rav was halachically strait jacketed. He felt a strong obligation to the tradition of his fathers and perhaps felt it was too early to depart from or radically reinterpret thousands of years of Halachic stringencies and inertia. However, he laid the path for those after him to do the work. His insistence on women’s learning especially of Gemara was an opening of doors for the developments we see today.
- [Musings on Rav Soloveitchik’s Torah](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/musings-rav-soloveitchiks-torah/): Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik thought is greatly indebted to Kantian philosophy. In contenting himself with the philosophical world of Kant, JBS shows himself to be thoroughly unmodern in his philosophical approach to halacha.
- [Innovative Halakhic solutions already exist: Do we have the courage to use them?](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/halachic-solutions-already-exist/): In the process of adapting from exile to statehood, halachah may need to be uprooted and transplanted, or even cut back to its deepest roots and regrown in a larger pot, where it can flower more freely. This will probably result in the “secularization” of some of our halachot, offset by a cultural “Judification” of our secular society. Can we use the lessons learned during the galut to survive in an increasingly decentralized and globalized world?
- [Shabbat desecration, the Olympics and the dilemmas of a Jewish State](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/shabbat-desecration-olympics-dilemmas-jewish-state/): Several recent events—the Olympic Games and the proposal to work on the railway line construction on Shabbat—are excellent opportunities to start a conversation on the role of halacha in the Jewish State. The question is: what form should the conversation take? It should not, I believe, primarily take the form of a formal halachic argument.
- [Faith and Truth: A necessary trade-off?](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/9680-2/): Our relationship with God as we know it is not just about what we think or understand. There is also a faith that is not based in intellectual belief. This is a faith that is based on our own inner resonance with the practices and beliefs of our tradition. What happens to our emotional faith when our intellectual faith runs up against facts that seem to contradict that faith? How do we keep our balance?
- [Tisha b’Av: Can we still mourn? A reply to Rav Cardozo](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/tisha-bav-can-still-mourn-reply-rav-cardozo/): Rabbi Cardozo writes: "Maybe we should literally go out in the streets and help people, sit down with our ideological enemies and see where we can find common ground, instead of simply reciting more kinot?" And yet, there are reasons why we should continue to fast and read Eichah on Tisha b'Av. Here are just a few of those reasons
- [A Tongue-in-Cheek Tribute to Rabbi Cardozo, from the Think Tank Members, in Honor of his Recent 70th Birthday](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/tongue-cheek-tribute-rabbi-cardozo-think-tank-members-honor-recent-70th-birthday/): A light-hearted look at a typical DCA think tank meeting, in honor of Rabbi Cardozo's 70th Birthday. Happy Birthday Rav Cardozo!
- [The Omer: Giving Birth](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/omer-giving-birth/): As a woman anticipates giving birth, so the people of Israel await the redemption. The labour pains start with ten plagues. Toward the end, the people are confined to their homes: "You shall not leave your houses until morning." They await the birth.
- [Hareidi-Bashing, Modesty, and Normative Values: A response to Yael Valier](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/haredi-bashing-modesty-mores-response-yael-valier/): There is a limit to how far we should accommodate Hareidi norms in the public space. A normative system doesn’t simply respond to reality; it actively shapes and influences people’s perceptions of reality. The rules followed by the Hareidi world actively encourage a perception of women as little more than dangerously arousing sexual objects. They do not encourage a perception of women as responsible members of society fully the equal of men in all matters of intelligence and competence. Hence these norms should not be indulged in the public sphere.
- [When religious arguments descend into Hareidi bashing](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/religious-arguments-hareidi-bashing/): Recently yet another opportunity for Hareidi-bashing appeared, with the news that an 81 year-old woman is suing El Al after being forced to switch seats because a Hareidi man refused to sit next to her. Rabbi Marc Angel commented on the incident in a short article, "Thoughts on the Scandal on an El Al Airplane." But Rabbi Angel's critique misses a crucial point. In fact, there's reason to applaud one aspect of the Hareidi worldview.
- [The Inescapable Obligation to Care For the Wicked](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/the-inescapable-obligation-to-care-for-the-wicked/): If you were Abraham, would you have interceded for Sodom? Do you think that he was delighted at the existence of an entire city filled with evil as Sodom was? This man who the midrash describes as cursing the builders of the Tower of Babel for caring more for the loss of bricks than of human laborers? The answer is no, undoubtedly their behaviour nauseated him; yet still he tried to salvage it through the presence of ten righteous inhabitants.
- [A Thought on Tisha Be’Av](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/think-tank-blog-a-thought-on-tisha-beav-calev-ben-dror/): A few years ago, Israeli academic Amnon Rubinstein wrote 'The Sea above us,' a fictional tale in which Tel Aviv, Israel’s first Hebrew metropolis, lies under water. In an interview with Ari Shavit, the author explained the idea behind his novel, describing his deep ‘existential anxiety that our country is hanging by a thread, that one day it may simply cease to be. I haven’t read the book, but I admire Rubenstein and share his anxiety about the future
- [Competing values and the beauty of the irrational choice](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/think-tank-blog-competing-values-and-the-beauty-of-the-irrational-choice-yael-valier/): This Friday morning, I had a real-life competing values choice to make. I was making challah when I noticed a blood spot in one of the two eggs I was checking. Automatically, I made a move to throw the eggs away.
- [Wishy-Washy Judaism – Jessica – Part I](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/think-tank-blog-wishy-washy-judaism-jessica-part-i/): During my year in the Cardozo Think Tank, I found myself at odds, not so much with the answers people were discussing as with the questions themselves. The friction seemed centred on the fact that my religious life over the last few years,
- [Lying to the Bet Din](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/think-tank-blog-yael-valier/): Following a lecture by Rabbi Cardozo, I was thinking about the problem of converts coming before a beit din and feeling pressured to lie to the effect
- [Mediated Relationships with G-d?](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/think-tank-blog-mediated-relationships-with-g-d/): I keep discovering that Judaism means very different things to different people. Recently I was exposed to an expression of Judaism that is old yet new, inspiring to some and disturbing to others.
- [Halacha makes life simple](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/think-tank-blog-halacha-makes-life-simple/): Halacha makes life simple Halacha makes things very, very simple. I have a modest booklet explaining how to start your own fish aquarium. It turns out to be not so simple.
- [What Would You Answer to the Question, “What Purpose Does Judaism Serve?”](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/think-tank-blog-what-would-you-answer-to-the-question-what-purpose-does-judaism-serve-2/): Hear what some Think Tank members had to say.
- [Opium for the Masses?](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/think-tank-blog-opium-for-the-masses/): By Moshe-Mordechai van Zuiden Once upon a time, religion in general and Judaism in particular represented the cutting edge of human progress. Abraham, Moses & Rabbi Akiva were trailblazers who challenged the laws of the jungle with the Laws of Moses. However, things have changed considerably.
- [In Search of Religious Idealism, Continued](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/think-tank-blog-in-search-of-religious-idealism-continued/): By Michael Eliyahou Further to my last post: As to the identity of the Gedolei HaDor Whose Decrees Must Be Obeyed. There’s just kind of an assumption that they are, and who am I to question it?
- [In Search of Religious Idealism](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/think-tank-blog-in-search-of-religious-idealism/): A friend who, unlike me, grew up with a religious Jewish education in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY, described the kind of idealism that a student of Judaism might hold:
- [Reconsidering the Halachic Process](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/think-tank-blog-reconsidering-the-halachic-process/): NOTE: This post was written as a response to Rabbi Cardozo’s argument that in order to rediscover the authentic melody in Halacha that has been drowned out over the past few centuries in the process of Halachic psak (legal ruling), the process needs to be consider giving more weight to minority opinions, and more possibility of individual autonomy vis a vis Halacha.  Ariel’s suggestion (see below) was adopted by the Think Tank and an experimental model named the “Halacha lab” was initiated in July 2011.  Watch this space!
- [Is Complication Really a Means to God?](https://cardozoacademy.org/writers-guild/new-the-think-tank-blog-check-it-out-here/): NOTE: This post is in response to a position argued by Rabbi Cardozo that the purpose of Halacha is to “complicate life in order to lead to the experience of God’s presence,"  while noting that in recent centuries the development of Halacha has gone too far and overcomplicated life, defeating its purpose.

## Faith & Defiance Essays
- [The Real Meaning of Religion](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/chapter-17-we-are-naught-the-real-meaning-of-religion/): As I mentioned in the previous chapter, it became clear to me at a later stage of my life that most of those surrounding me did not properly understand the nature of science and its limitations, and that religion belongs to an altogether different realm.
- [We Are Naught](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/chapter-16-we-are-naught/): In Amsterdam of my youth there were many - Jews and non-Jews alike - who were in a similar situation to me: we did not perceive ourselves as belonging to any religion. Furthermore, we perceived those who were involved in religious practices as primitive and of inferior intellect. And yet, my family's social and cultural settings had quite a Jewish (without Judaism) flavor.
- [It is Not the Events We Suffer But Our Judgment Thereof](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/chapter-15-it-is-not-the-events-we-suffer-but-our-judgment-thereof/): Our lives are filled with multiple events that impact us deeply. Some of these events are negative and have the potential of crushing our hopes and extinguishing the inner flame burning within us that motivates and drives us. And among these events there are circumstances we can change, and others we cannot. The correct perspective regarding the circumstances of our lives is not only the key to surviving but even holds within it the potential for our own growth and touching the lives of others.
- [Kiddush in a German Beer Cellar](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/chapter-14-kiddush-in-a-german-beer-cellar/): Traditions - and all their miniscule details - can be extremely important for a society, a city and a country. Traditions exist in all forms, many of these do not elevate man (and unfortunately there are those that denigrate him), while others have the power to transform one's existence and raise one to a different plane. Judaism is a religion of ideas, but more so a religion that is involved in the practical, day-to-day activities of man. Indeed, "God is in the details" - our law and traditions, right down to their finest details - define us.
- [Prayer, and Authentic and Unauthentic Sexuality](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/chapter-13-prayer-and-authentic-and-unauthentic-sexuality/): The beauty of the human body in the eyes of another human is beyond comprehension just as God’s “splendor” is. However, when the beauty of the body is used for the wrong reasons it becomes vulgar, and the inner Divine beauty is exposed and violated.
- [The Encounter with the Divine, Prayer and Sexuality](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/chapter-12-the-encounter-with-the-divine-prayer-and-sexuality/): I am often asked whether I actually experience moments of God’s Presence. This is a difficult question to answer, because it relates to things that cannot be verified by conventional means. It touches on something that does not fall within the parameters of any other experience.
- [My Father and Spinoza](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/chapter-11-my-father-spinoza-and-i/): My father constantly spoke about the famous, highly controversial philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677). Spinoza was raised in the Portuguese Spanish Jewish Community whose members had fled from Spain and Portugal to the Netherlands after the Inquisition in 1492, a fate shared by my own family. Spinoza's attacks against Judaism made me wonder what Judaism was all about and why he so strongly opposed it. Thus, paradoxically, it was Spinoza who set me on the road to Judaism.
- [God, Bach, and the Chasidic Nigun](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/chapter-10-god-bach-and-the-chasidic-nigun/): 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.
- [My Spiritual Problem With the 26 Letters of the Alphabet](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/chapter-9-my-spiritual-problem-with-the-26-letters-of-the-alphabet/): While the Greek narrative focuses on “seeing,” the biblical perspective focuses on “hearing” the deeper internal dimension that eludes the naked eye.
- [Making Sense of a Mixed Marriage](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/chapter-8-making-sense-of-a-mixed-marriage/): My non-Jewish background allows me to understand the non-Jewish mindset and explain Judaism to those for whom it is entirely foreign.
- [Turning the “Foreign” into Jewishness](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/chapter-7-turning-the-foreign-into-jewishness/): Rosenzweig was seeking to transform “the maximum of what is alien” into Judaism’s greater glory. The task of Teshuva is to convert negative aspects that are seemingly detrimental to Judaism into a positive force that can enhance Judaism. Can "hearing" other religions be part of this?
- [Franz Rosenzweig’s Disturbing Demand](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/chapter-6-franz-rosenzweigs-disturbing-demand/): I am taking the reader through the uncharted territories I traversed during my voyage of discovery. Only after I have taken the reader through the many mountains and valleys will I be able to reflect on my journey as a whole and attempt to articulate my holistic re-visioning of Judaism. I am guided by the Talmudic method of argumentation where ideas are raised and discussed; sometimes these ideas are accepted, while other times, they are rejected. There are instances where a final determination is never reached. At other times, the debate might suddenly continue many pages later or may even resume unexpectedly in a different Talmudic tractate altogether. It is in this spirit that this contemplative Autobiography is written.
- [Hearing in the Deed](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/chapter-5-hearing-in-the-deed/): This is Chapter 5 of my Contemplative Autobiography. It is the story of how I rediscovered—and continue to rediscover—what I believe to be authentic Judaism. It is the story of a search for deep religiosity and the re-engagement with Halacha, which I view as musical notes written by the Great Maestro to be played by each one of us on the strings of our souls.
- [Inner Enigmatic Struggles](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/chapter-4-inner-enigmatic-struggles/): This is Chapter 4 of my Contemplative Autobiography. It is the story of how I rediscovered—and continue to rediscover—what I believe to be authentic (Orthodox?) Judaism. It is the story of a search for deep religiosity and the re-engagement with Halacha, which I view as musical notes written by the Great Maestro to be played by each one of us on the strings of our souls.  
- [Catch 22](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/chapter-3-catch-22/): As I reexamined my Jewish observance, I found that my dilemma was not about the existence of God per se but the practical consequences of this question in terms of determining an appropriate lifestyle. Pascal's wager asks "What is the correct way to live in case God exists?"
- [A Return to the Beginning](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/chapter-2-a-return-to-the-beginning/): No one can inherit religion, neither from one’s parents nor from one’s teachers. Only by embarking on a relentless quest for truth can we reap the rewards of personal discovery.
- [Complacency and Mental Cliches](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/chapter-1-complacency-and-mental-cliches/): After living in the Orthodox community for some years, I became deeply disturbed by the fact that many Orthodox Jews were not spiritual in the slightest. They were secular Jews who happened to be observant. These were all very nice people, but they were guilty of religious plagiarism. One religious day was identical to the previous day, without any new encounter with the Divine and the Torah. Everything was “under control,” to the point that any novel spiritual and intellectual struggle was completely absent. But most disturbing was my realization that I myself had become guilty of this!
- [Introduction (Part 2)](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/introduction-part-2/): Judaism has taught me that external experiences are of little importance when they remain trivialities. However, when these trivialities can be transformed into ways in which one can meet God, then the finite becomes infinite.
- [Introduction (Part 1)](https://cardozoacademy.org/faith-defiance/introduction-part-1/): This new extensive autobiography, divided into short chapters, is not a book of memoirs, but a window into my soul. Besides the request to write it, it was also an assignment I had to undertake because an inner voice told me to do so. I could not escape the challenge.

## Books
- [Cardozo on the Parashah: Volume 5](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/cardozo-on-the-parashah-volume-5/): The art of biblical interpretation is more than just knowing how to understand the deeper meaning of the words and expressions. 
- [Cardozo on the Parashah: Volume 4](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/cardozo-on-the-parashah-volume-4/): Books are available in the United States, Israel, and internationally via online retailers.
- [Cardozo on the Parashah: Volume 3](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/cardozo-on-the-parashah-volume-3-the-book-of-leviticus/): In this collection of essays, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo looks at the weekly Torah portion through the eyes of philosophy, contemporary controversies, and personal struggles. Written in his unique style, this book offers something for many different types of readers: laymen and clergy, full-time students and the intellectually curious, Jews and non-Jews alike.
- [לבד אבל לא בודד](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/%d7%9c%d7%91%d7%93-%d7%90%d7%91%d7%9c-%d7%9c%d7%90-%d7%91%d7%95%d7%93%d7%93/): כרך קצר זה מספר את סיפורו יוצא הדופן של הרב ההולנדי־ישראלי נתן לופס קרדוזו.
- [ההלכה כמרד](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/%d7%94%d7%94%d7%9c%d7%9b%d7%94-%d7%9b%d7%9e%d7%a8%d7%93/): בעבור מי שאינו חודר לעומקה של ההלכה ומבין אותה, ההלכה עשויה להצטייר כמי שדורשת מהאדם כניעה, קונפורמיזם וציות. כך, למשל, הבין אותה שפינוזה. אך לטענת הרב, הסופר והוגה הדעות ד"ר נתן לופס קרדוזו, יליד הולנד ובן למשפחה מעורבת שהתגייר, טבעה של ההלכה הפוך דווקא. היא בועטת במוסכמות, מערערת על הקיים, השגרתי והחונק, וקוראת לאדם להיפתח אל מרחבים חדשים ופלאיים של הקיום האנושי. במילה אחת, ההלכה היא מרד.
- [Cardozo on the Parashah: Volume 2](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/cardozo-on-the-parashah-volume-2-the-book-of-exodus/): In this collection of essays, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo looks at the weekly Torah portion through the eyes of philosophy, contemporary controversies, and personal struggles. Written in his unique style, this book offers something for many different types of readers: laymen and clergy, full-time students and the intellectually curious, Jews and non-Jews alike.
- [Cardozo on the Parashah: Volume 1](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/cardozo-on-the-parashah-volume-1-the-book-of-genesis/): This collection of essays looks at the weekly Torah portion through the eyes of philosophy, contemporary controversies, and personal struggles. Written in Rabbi Cardozo’s characteristic style, this collection offers something for many different types of readers: laymen and clergy, full-time students and intellectually curious practitioners, Jews and non-Jews alike.
- [The Revival of the Dead & the Miracle of Return](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/the-revival-of-the-dead-the-miracle-of-return/): Epub / eBook
- [Returning](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/returning-2/): Publisher ‏ : ‎ Kasva Press LLCPublication date ‏ : ‎ September 4, 2018Language ‏ : ‎ EnglishPrint length ‏ : ‎ 504 pagesISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1948403009
- [Jewish Law as Rebellion](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/jewish-law-as-rebellion/): In this remarkable and highly controversial book, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo suggests that Jewish Law must be seen as a discipline of resistance and courage. Rebelling against the rabbinical establishment, Rabbi Cardozo takes it to task for failing to liberate Halacha from its stagnancy and confinement. With ground-breaking suggestions, Jewish Law as Rebellion shows how to make Jewish Law once again relevant to our modern society and to the State of Israel.
- [Reflections and Resources on Teshuvah](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/reflections-and-resources-on-teshuvah/): This discussion guide explores some of the difficulties and dilemmas facing those who seek to heal the wounds of their own souls—especially self-inflicted wounds. These topics are explored through a series of dialogues between Ovadya ben Malka, former member of the Birkenau Sonderkommando and Rabbi David Ish-Shalom. The discussion topics are supplemented with sources from Jewish texts and sample questions. Foreword by Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo.
- [The Hidden of Things](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/the-hidden-of-things/): In these charming - and sometimes provocative - short stories, young men and women in Jerusalem, London, and New York seek identity, spiritual clarity, and that nice Jewish girl or boy.
- [The Written and Oral Torah](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/the-written-and-oral-torah-a-comprehensive-introduction/): In The Written and Oral Torah: A Comprehensive Introduction, Rabbi Dr. Cardozo offers those interested in Jewish tradition an explanation of and basic insight into Judaism’s classical sources. Containing a diverse selection of material culled from the Talmud and from the writings of many of Judaism’s most gifted sages, this extensive volume will be a valuable resource for novice students as well as for those with some background in Torah study.
- [Lonely But Not Alone](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/lonely-but-not-alone/): This short volume tells the highly unusual story of Dutch-Israeli Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo.
- [The Tent of Avraham](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/the-tent-of-avraham-gleanings-from-the-david-cardozo-academy/): This collection addresses matters of an academic, a personal, and a spiritual nature. The contributors include Jewish professors, rabbis, and thinkers, all of whom have taught at or are affiliated with the David Cardozo Academy in Jerusalem. Offering original insights into the Jewish tradition, many of the articles illustrate a more personal and emotional struggle with elements of Judaism, thus capturing the essence of the Academy.
- [The Infinite Chain](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/the-infinite-chain/): Thoughts on Torah, Mesorah, and Man.
- [Halacha As Symphony & Tolerance and the Jewish Tradition](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/halacha-as-symphony-tolerance-and-the-jewish-tradition-two-lectures/): Where does creativity and individualism fit into the system of Jewish law? How should we relate to those with different views?
- [Nehama Leibowitz](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/nehama-leibowitz/): Publisher ‏ : ‎ Urim PublicationsPublication date ‏ : ‎ February 1, 2009Print length ‏ : ‎ 607 pagesISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-9655240191
- [Thoughts to Ponder #2](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/thoughts-to-ponder-2/): Comprised of over fifty brief essays on a variety of topics (e.g., "Man, God, and the Torah," "Education and Leadership," "Jewish Family and Society," "Holidays and Customs," "The Power of Prayer") this volume contains a wealth of deep, transcendent ideas that thoughtful Jews should consider.
- [The Beth Midrash of Avraham Avinu](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/the-beth-midrash-of-avraham-avinu/): The monograph is meant to explain the purpose and ideology of the David Cardozo Academy and is based on the Academy's inaugural lecture given in September, 2005.
- [Thoughts to Ponder #1](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/thoughts-to-ponder-1/): Musings on Judaism from one of our generation's great Jewish philosophers.
- [Crisis, Covenant and Creativity](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/crisis-covenant-and-creativity/): Crisis, Covenant and Creativity deals with some of the most widely discussed issues in contemporary Jewish religious life.
- [Judaism on Trial](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/judaism-on-trial/): Arguing that science and anti-religious philosophy are not responsible for the decline of Judaism, Rabbi Cardozo says it is those who teach it that make Judaism appear irrelevant to the needs and problems of modern man. Jewish law and custom are taught as a dogmatic creed and no longer contains the exciting spontaneity of worship, while remaining formalistic, replacing love with habit. Instead, the author believes that Judaism must reflect deep compassion to recapture the flowing fountain of a glorious tradition-if not, all becomes meaningless. The author is dean of the David Cardozo School for Jewish Studies and Human Dignity.
- [For the Love of Israel and the Jewish People](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/for-the-love-of-israel-and-the-jewish-people/): How is it that contrary to all the laws of history, the Jewish people outlived so many powerful empires? How was this tiny nation able to make an unprecedented contribution to the well being of all of humankind? Why did the Jewish people become a source of endless irritation to those who opposed its ethical teachings? Finally, how can the State of Israel rediscover its Jewish identity as the source of its greatest blessing and hope? Nathan Lopes Cardozo addresses these and other questions throughout this remarkable collection of essays.
- [Between Silence and Speech](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/between-silence-and-speech/): Free Download
In Between Silence and Speech, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo confronts the questions that thoughtful readers often hesitate to ask. Rather than defending tradition with easy answers, Rabbi Cardozo challenges both religious complacency and secular certainty, revealing Judaism as a living intellectual and spiritual adventure.
- [The Torah as God’s Mind](https://cardozoacademy.org/books/the-torah-as-gods-mind/): A short introduction to the metaphysical meaning of the Five Books of Moses.

## Philosophical Responsa
- [Happiness: Crawling Through One’s Own Web](https://cardozoacademy.org/philosophical-responsa/happiness-crawling-through-ones-own-web/): Question: My whole life I saved and saved, and as a result lived a very modest life - I was always told to prepare for a rainy day. Now I am already toward the end my life, have amassed significant funds, and am able to leave an inheritance for my children. However, on reflection I feel something is missing... did I live my life correctly?
- [Retirement Homes, Afterlife and the Denial of Death](https://cardozoacademy.org/philosophical-responsa/retirement-homes-afterlife-and-the-denial-of-death/): Only when we realize that our world has become barer and barer, and incapable of giving itself ultimate meaning is there hope that we may recapture the possibility of an afterlife Our denial of the afterlife and the need for a spiritual passport to continue the road has created enormous psychological problems.
- [Why does Jewish Law forbid religious images?](https://cardozoacademy.org/philosophical-responsa/why-does-jewish-law-forbid-religious-images/): When scientists describe or teach about atoms and electrons they use models and images on the blackboard or computer screen.  However, these are but metaphors and symbols; no one believes them to be the real thing. Why then, does Jewish Law forbid images that are meant to represent God, even when we know these images are only metaphors?
- [Is God Really of Supreme Importance?](https://cardozoacademy.org/philosophical-responsa/is-god-really-of-supreme-importance/): Is God really of supreme importance? The answer affects the way one lives, behaves, and perceives life. A believing person claims that he lives in the palace of the King of all Kings; if one lives in this palace, one must behave as befits royalty, and it is religion’s task to give us the guidelines as to how to do this.
- [Is believing in God the same as believing that He exists?](https://cardozoacademy.org/philosophical-responsa/is-believing-in-god-the-same-as-believing-that-he-exists/): Is there a difference between believing in God and believing that God exists? Might belief in God imply that we not only believe that He exists but that we trust Him?

## Quotes
- [The art of creating problems](https://cardozoacademy.org/quotes/the-art-of-creating-problems/): Judaism is the art of making a problem out of every solution. It correctly believes that what is taken for granted is boring; it does not get our attention and therefore has no significance. Only when we see something as a challenge and give it thought do we come alive.
- [Religion and Science](https://cardozoacademy.org/quotes/religion-and-science/): Religion will regain its old power only when it can face change in the same spirit as does science. Its principles may be eternal, but the expression of those principles requires continual development.
- [God is relocating](https://cardozoacademy.org/quotes/god-is-relocating/): God is moving in with the young people who have a sense that He is there but cannot yet find Him.
- [The beauty of fluid Halacha](https://cardozoacademy.org/quotes/the-beauty-of-fluid-halacha/): The Beauty of the Jewish tradition is that it is not always precise and consistent. And that is a very wise thing. You have to have flexibility, because life is not clear-cut or coherent. Moving here, moving there, you work out the different opinions somehow, and you let it be. This way, Jewish Law and beliefs stay fresh and thriving. A musical symphony. But the moment we codify or dogmatize it all, we are basically destroying it.
- [Strength from Opposition](https://cardozoacademy.org/quotes/strenght-from-opposition/): We owe almost all our inner strength, not to those who have agreed with us, but to those who have opposed us.
- [Theodicy as Idolatry](https://cardozoacademy.org/quotes/theodicy-as-idolatry/): Theodicy, in claiming that God can be justified in human terms, is a form of idol worship.
- [The Search for Meaning](https://cardozoacademy.org/quotes/the-search-for-meaning/): It is impossible to live without embarking on a search for meaning, whether one finds it or not. It is the search that is important; the end result much less so.
- [The Torah as Metaphor](https://cardozoacademy.org/quotes/the-torah-as-metaphor/): The Torah speaks to that part of us that understands but cannot articulate what it understands. It allows us to go beyond the realms of the definable, perceivable, and demonstrable. It is a form of religious metaphor, a mirror that enables us to form mental images of the indescribable.
- [Torah, Interpretation, and Authenticity](https://cardozoacademy.org/quotes/torah-interpretation-and-authenticity/): The art of biblical interpretation is more than just knowing how to understand the deeper meaning of the words and expressions. It is impossible to treat the biblical text as one would any other classical work, because the people of Israel, according to Jewish tradition, are not the authors of this text; the text is the author of the people. Truly learning Torah requires human authenticity. It means standing in front of a mirror and asking yourself the daunting question of who you really are.

## Audio Tracks
- [Faith After the Holocaust](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/faith-after-the-holocaust/): In this lecture, Rabbi Cardozo confronts the theological crisis posed by the Holocaust, arguing that traditional answers fail not because faith is impossible, but because God’s silence demands a more courageous, morally demanding form of belief after Auschwitz.
- [A Woman’s Minyan](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/a-womans-minyan/): In this lecture, Rabbi Cardozo examines the question of a women’s minyan not only through halachic categories, but through the deeper tension between tradition, spiritual dignity, and evolving religious consciousness, challenging listeners to ask what genuine inclusion demands without dissolving halachic integrity.
- [Megillat Esther](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/megillat-esther/): In this lecture, Rabbi Cardozo presents Megillat Esther as a radical meditation on divine hiddenness, moral courage, and Jewish survival, showing how faith is forged not through miracles, but through human responsibility in a seemingly godless world.
- [The Torah as God’s Mind](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/the-torah-as-gods-mind/): The Torah is more than a book of commandments or history—it is a window into the Divine mind. In this thought-provoking lecture, Rabbi Cardozo explores how the Torah serves as a meeting point between the infinite wisdom of God and the spiritual and intellectual development of humanity.
- [Final Introduction](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/final-introduction/): Concluding the series, this talk reflects on Esther as a book of unresolved endings, inviting listeners to see Jewish existence itself as an ongoing moral and spiritual introduction rather than a finished story.
- [Amalek](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/amalek/): Rabbi Cardozo revisits the concept of Amalek not only as a historical enemy, but as a recurring spiritual force that thrives on doubt, cynicism, and moral exhaustion.
- [Hadassah](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/hadassah/): This lecture explores Esther’s hidden name, Hadassah, as a symbol of inner integrity, arguing that true Jewish strength often lies in concealment rather than display.
- [The Petalled Rose](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/the-petalled-rose/): Using poetic imagery, Rabbi Cardozo describes Esther as a many-petalled rose, revealing how layered identity, courage, and restraint can quietly overturn tyranny.
- [The King](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/the-king/): Focusing on the figure of the king in Esther, this talk probes the ambiguity between human power and divine sovereignty, asking who truly rules when God’s name is never mentioned.
- [Normal and Absurd Halachah](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/normal-and-absurd-halachah/): Rabbi Cardozo examines moments when halachah appears strange or even absurd, suggesting that these tensions are not failures but gateways to deeper spiritual honesty and moral responsibility.
- [Incidents and Accidents](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/incidents-and-accidents/): This lecture questions whether anything in Jewish history is truly accidental, using the hidden structure of Esther to argue that meaning often reveals itself only in retrospect.
- [Neshama and Evolution](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/neshama-and-evolution/): Here, Rabbi Cardozo challenges simplistic readings of evolution, proposing that biological development and the human neshama need not be in conflict, but may reflect different dimensions of a divinely unfolding process.
- [Noach’s Intoxications](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/noachs-intoxications/): Drawing an unexpected parallel between Noach and the Persian court, this talk explores how intoxication—literal or cultural—can blur moral clarity and leave even the righteous dangerously exposed.
- [The Lost Paradise](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/the-lost-paradise/): Rabbi Cardozo reflects on humanity’s deep nostalgia for a lost spiritual wholeness, arguing that the Book of Esther exposes our longing to recover meaning in a world that feels exiled from innocence and purpose.
- [Judaism & Christianity](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/judaism-christianity/): In this lecture, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo explores the complex and often fraught relationship between Judaism and Christianity. What are the fundamental theological differences between the two traditions? Where do the two share ethical vision and historical connections? This lecture offers a thoughtful approach that invites both honesty and openness in interfaith engagement.
- [Discussion](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/book-launch-of-the-last-rabbi-discussion/): Discussion between Professor William Kolbrener and Dr. Elliott Malamet on the complexity of Rabbi Soloveitchik.
- [Introduction](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/book-launch-of-the-last-rabbi-introduction/): Introductory remarks by Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo.
- [How True Are Religious Beliefs? Rav Kook and Postmodernism](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/how-true-are-religious-beliefs-rav-kook-and-postmodernism/): Professor Tamar Ross' lecture "How True are Religious Beliefs? Rav Kook and Postmodernism" was delivered on June 13, 2012 in Jerusalem, the sixth and final talk in the David Cardozo Academy's 5772/2012 Jerusalem Lecture Series titled Judaism, Heresy and Secular Philosophy.
- [Michel Foucault: Power, Control and Freedom in the Religious Life](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/michel-foucault-power-control-and-freedom-in-the-religious-life/): Rabbi Dr. Eliezer Shore's lecture "Michel Foucault: Power, Control and Freedom in the Religious Life" was delivered on March 21, 2012 in Jerusalem, the fifth talk in the David Cardozo Academy's 5772/2012 Jerusalem Lecture Series titled Judaism, Heresy and Secular Philosophy.
- [The Dawkins Delusion: A Response to Richard Dawkins’ Book, The God Delusion](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/the-dawkins-delusion-a-response-to-richard-dawkins-book-the-god-delusion/): Professor Yehuda Gellman's lecture "The Dawkins Delusion: A Response to Richard Dawkins' Book, The God Delusion" was delivered on January 18, 2012 in Jerusalem, the fourth talk in the David Cardozo Academy's 5772/2012 Jerusalem Lecture Series titled Judaism, Heresy and Secular Philosophy.
- [Milton, Paradise Lost, and Me: Is Our Paradise Lost? Desire, Skepticism and Belief](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/milton-paradise-lost-and-me-is-our-paradise-lost-desire-skepticism-and-belief/): Professor William Kolbrener's lecture "Milton, Paradise Lost, and Me: Is Our Paradise Lost? Desire, Skepticism and Belief" was delivered on December 14, 2011 in Jerusalem, the third talk in the David Cardozo Academy's 5772/2012 Jerusalem Lecture Series titled Judaism, Heresy and Secular Philosophy.
- [The Crisis of Jewish Identity and Franz Rosenzweig](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/the-crisis-of-jewish-identity-and-franz-rosenzweig/): Professor Ephraim Meir's lecture "The Crisis of Jewish Identity and Franz Rosenzweig" was delivered on November 30, 2011 in Jerusalem, the second talk in the David Cardozo Academy's 5772/2012 Jerusalem Lecture Series titled Judaism, Heresy and Secular Philosophy.
- [Spinoza, the Kotzker Rebbe, and I](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/spinoza-the-kotzker-rebbe-and-i/): Rabbi Cardozo's thought-provoking lecture "Spinoza, the Kotzker Rebbe, and I" was delivered on October 26, 2011 in Jerusalem, as the opening talk in the David Cardozo Academy's 5772/2012 Jerusalem Lecture Series titled Judaism, Heresy and Secular Philosophy.
- [From Chaos to Speech: Finding a Language of Faith](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/seminar-parshat-hashavua-with-avivah-zornberg-part-3/): The concluding session of Rabbi Cardozo’s dialogue with Avivah Zornberg, drawing together themes of interpretation, inner conflict, and the living complexity of the Torah text.
- [The Hidden Language of Torah: Listening Beneath the Words](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/seminar-parshat-hashavua-with-dr-avivah-zornberg-part2/): Avivah Zornberg explores the weekly parashah through psychological insight, literary sensitivity, and midrashic imagination.
- [Rabbi Cardozo’s Introduction to Avivah Zornberg](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/seminar-parshat-hashavua-with-avivah-zornberg-part-1/): A rich and imaginative dialogue on the weekly parashah with Avivah Zornberg, uncovering the psychological and literary depths of the Torah text through close, creative reading.
- [Spinoza, Heresy, and the Creative Power of Torah](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/spinoza-heresy-and-the-creative-power-of-torah/): Spinoza challenged everything Judaism holds sacred. But what if his challenge is exactly what Torah needs? Rabbi Cardozo explores how confronting heresy can deepen faith and transform religious life into a dynamic, creative encounter.
- [Torah and Creativity: Rethinking Tradition](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/torah-and-creativity-rethinking-tradition/): What happens when Torah is approached not as a fixed doctrine, but as a living, creative force? In this Limmud lecture, Rabbi Cardozo challenges us to rethink tradition—not as something to passively inherit, but as something to wrestle with, question, and reimagine. A bold call to rediscover Torah as a source of intellectual excitement and spiritual transformation.
- [Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo – Hearing And Seeing](https://cardozoacademy.org/audio/rabbi-nathan-lopes-cardozo-hearing-and-seeing/): In this lecture, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo explores the profound distinction between seeing and hearing as two fundamentally different ways of engaging with reality. Drawing on classical Jewish sources, he contrasts the visual orientation of Western culture with the Torah’s emphasis on listening—particularly to the Divine voice.

## Weekly Torah Portions
- [Acharei Mot](https://cardozoacademy.org/acharei-mot/)
- [Balak](https://cardozoacademy.org/balak/)
- [Bamidbar](https://cardozoacademy.org/bamidbar/)
- [Bechukotai](https://cardozoacademy.org/bechukotai/)
- [Beha'alotcha](https://cardozoacademy.org/behaalotcha/)
- [Behar](https://cardozoacademy.org/behar/)
- [Bereshit](https://cardozoacademy.org/bereshit/)
- [Beshalach](https://cardozoacademy.org/beshalach/)
- [Bo](https://cardozoacademy.org/bo/)
- [Chayei Sarah](https://cardozoacademy.org/chayei-sarah/)
- [Chukat](https://cardozoacademy.org/chukat/)
- [Deuteronomy](https://cardozoacademy.org/book-of-deuteronomy/)
- [Devarim](https://cardozoacademy.org/devarim/)
- [Eikev](https://cardozoacademy.org/eikev/)
- [Emor](https://cardozoacademy.org/emor/)
- [Exodus](https://cardozoacademy.org/book-of-exodus/)
- [Genesis](https://cardozoacademy.org/book-of-genesis/)
- [Ha'azinu](https://cardozoacademy.org/haazinu/)
- [Kedoshim](https://cardozoacademy.org/kedoshim/)
- [Ki Tavo](https://cardozoacademy.org/ki-tavo/)
- [Ki Teitzei](https://cardozoacademy.org/ki-teitzei/)
- [Ki Tisa](https://cardozoacademy.org/ki-tisa/)
- [Korach](https://cardozoacademy.org/korach/)
- [Lech Lecha](https://cardozoacademy.org/lech-lecha/)
- [Leviticus](https://cardozoacademy.org/book-of-leviticus/)
- [Masei](https://cardozoacademy.org/masei/)
- [Matot](https://cardozoacademy.org/matot/)
- [Metzora](https://cardozoacademy.org/metzora/)
- [Miketz](https://cardozoacademy.org/miketz/)
- [Mishpatim](https://cardozoacademy.org/mishpatim/)
- [Naso](https://cardozoacademy.org/naso/)
- [Nitzavim](https://cardozoacademy.org/nitzavim/)
- [Noach](https://cardozoacademy.org/noach/)
- [Numbers](https://cardozoacademy.org/book-of-numbers/)
- [Pekudei](https://cardozoacademy.org/pekudei/)
- [Pinchas](https://cardozoacademy.org/pinchas/)
- [Re'eh](https://cardozoacademy.org/reeh/)
- [Shelach](https://cardozoacademy.org/shelach/)
- [Shemini](https://cardozoacademy.org/shemini/)
- [Shemot](https://cardozoacademy.org/shemot/)
- [Shoftim](https://cardozoacademy.org/shoftim/)
- [Tazria](https://cardozoacademy.org/tazria/)
- [Terumah](https://cardozoacademy.org/terumah/)
- [Tetzaveh](https://cardozoacademy.org/tetzaveh/)
- [Toldot](https://cardozoacademy.org/toldot/)
- [Tzav](https://cardozoacademy.org/tzav/)
- [V'Zot HaBerachah](https://cardozoacademy.org/vzot-haberachah/)
- [Va'era](https://cardozoacademy.org/vaera/)
- [Va'etchanan](https://cardozoacademy.org/vaetchanan/)
- [Vayakhel](https://cardozoacademy.org/vayakhel/)
- [Vayechi](https://cardozoacademy.org/vayechi/)
- [Vayelech](https://cardozoacademy.org/vayelech/)
- [Vayera](https://cardozoacademy.org/vayera/)
- [Vayeshev](https://cardozoacademy.org/vayeshev/)
- [Vayetzei](https://cardozoacademy.org/vayetzei/)
- [Vayigash](https://cardozoacademy.org/vayigash/)
- [Vayikra](https://cardozoacademy.org/vayikra/)
- [Vayishlach](https://cardozoacademy.org/vayishlach/)
- [Yitro](https://cardozoacademy.org/yitro/)

## Categories
- [Abraham](https://cardozoacademy.org/abraham/)
- [Book of Esther](https://cardozoacademy.org/book-of-esther/)
- [Circumcision](https://cardozoacademy.org/circumcision/)
- [Converting to Judaism](https://cardozoacademy.org/converting-to-judaism/)
- [Education](https://cardozoacademy.org/education/)
- [Eliezer Berkovits](https://cardozoacademy.org/eliezer-berkovits/)
- [Franz Rosenzweig](https://cardozoacademy.org/franz-rosenzweig/)
- [Halacha](https://cardozoacademy.org/halacha/)
- [Heschel](https://cardozoacademy.org/heschel/)
- [Holocaust](https://cardozoacademy.org/holocaust/)
- [Israel](https://cardozoacademy.org/israel/)
- [Jewish Thought and Philosophy](https://cardozoacademy.org/jewish-thought-and-philosophy/)
- [Liturgy & Ritual](https://cardozoacademy.org/liturgy-and-ritual/)
- [Maimonides](https://cardozoacademy.org/maimonides/)
- [Moses](https://cardozoacademy.org/moses/)
- [Rav Kook](https://cardozoacademy.org/rav-kook/)
- [Spinoza](https://cardozoacademy.org/spinoza/)
- [The Ishbitzer](https://cardozoacademy.org/the-isbitzer/)
- [The Kotzker Rebbe](https://cardozoacademy.org/the-kotzker-rebbe/)
- [Theodicy](https://cardozoacademy.org/theodicy/)

## Jewish Holidays
- [Hanukkah](https://cardozoacademy.org/hanukkah/)
- [Lag BaOmer](https://cardozoacademy.org/lag-baomer/)
- [Passover](https://cardozoacademy.org/passover/)
- [Purim](https://cardozoacademy.org/purim/)
- [Rosh Hashanah](https://cardozoacademy.org/rosh-hashanah/)
- [Sefirat HaOmer](https://cardozoacademy.org/sefirat-haomer/)
- [Shabbat](https://cardozoacademy.org/shabbat/)
- [Shavuot](https://cardozoacademy.org/shavuot/)
- [Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah](https://cardozoacademy.org/shemini-atzeret-simchat-torah/)
- [Sukkot](https://cardozoacademy.org/sukkot/)
- [Tisha B’Av](https://cardozoacademy.org/tisha-bav/)
- [Yom Ha’atzmaut](https://cardozoacademy.org/yom-haatzmaut/)
- [Yom HaShoah](https://cardozoacademy.org/yom-hashoah/)
- [Yom HaZikaron](https://cardozoacademy.org/yom-hazikaron/)
- [Yom Kippur](https://cardozoacademy.org/yom-kippur/)
- [Yom Yerushalayim](https://cardozoacademy.org/yom-yerushalayim/)