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.
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
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.
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
There are moments in life when one is confronted with divine intervention. Thoughts on the loss of a great woman.
Response to an essay in the Jerusalem Post about haredi youth who left the fold and turned completely secular.
My Mother a’h
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.
In Franz Rosenzweig, Jewish Thought and Philosophy and Parashat Noach by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
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.
A Tribute to Abraham Lopes Cardozo z.l.
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
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.
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy, Rav Kook and Parashat Mishpatim by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
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.
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.
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.
In Halacha and Liturgy & Ritual by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
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.
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.
Israel's dilemma in the wake of the withdrawal from Gaza
In Israel and Parashat Ha'azinu by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
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.