by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 5, 2023 | Blog, DI, Tu B'shvat
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz Before I became religious I did not take public celebrations seriously, but all of my energy went into New Year’s eve. Unfortunately, that usually meant drinking to excess and little else. So when I found out that Judaism has FOUR new...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 22, 2023 | Blog, DI
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz My anti-religious friend was giving me a hard time again. “You keep saying that you are on a spiritual journey towards God,” he said. “But all I see are roadblocks. Don’t do this. Don’t say that. Don’t eat this. Don’t think that. That’s not a...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 19, 2023 | Blog, DI
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz People are complicated but God has us figured out, as the prophet Jeremiah said: Most devious is the heart; It is perverse—who can fathom it? I Hashem probe the heart, Search the mind— To repay every man according to his ways, With the proper...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 16, 2023 | Blog, DI
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz The beginning of the Book of Exodus is the first time that we encounter antisemitism. Pharaoh was the first to use the antisemitic tropes that have, unfortunately, become all too familiar: “There are too many of them”, “They...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 15, 2023 | Blog, DI
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz “Fear of God is the beginning of knowledge and understanding.” There are several sources for this piece of wisdom. King Solomon, the wisest of the wise, said it in Proverb (1:7). Solomon clearly learned this important maxim from...