Category Archives: Q&A and Contemporary Issues

The History of Jewish Settlement in Israel

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It has been more than 3,800 years since God promised Abraham that his children would inherit the Land of Israel, then called Canaan. Ever since that fateful declaration the Land of Israel has not departed the hearts, minds and consciousnesses of Jews worldwide. We have settled, been expelled and resettled the Land multiple times. What is at the core of the Jewish obsession with the ostensibly insignificant sliver of land and what is the fundamental underpinning of why we have historically had trouble maintaining stability, peace and sovereignty over our ancestral homeland?

Q&A: Execution for Shabbos Desecration?

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The Torah rules that a Jew who desecrates the Shabbat by performing one of the 39 prohibited categories of work is executed. Should we really round up and detain all the Jews driving to shul on Shabbos, try them and execute them? The punishment seems excessive for the crime.

Q&A: Evolution and Age of the Universe

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A simplistic reading of Genesis, interpolated from Adam to present day, results in a universe that is less than 6,000 years old. Scientific methods date the universe as being 13.8 billion years old, a discrepancy that is decidedly beyond the margin of error. How do we reconcile our faith with what science has empirically concluded? Perhaps a simplistic reading of Genesis is a mistake? After all, the 31 verses dedicated to the description of Genesis does not seem to be an exhaustive retelling of creation.