By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
There are numerous symbolic foods associated with Rosh Hashanah. The most popular of these is honey… into which we typically dip either apples or challah (or eager fingers!). The meaning seems clear. We aspire to a year of sweetness… of good things and good news,...
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By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
It is a fundamental principle of Jewish Law that, should any of its specific requirements or Commandments conflict with the interests of preserving human life and health, they are suspended in favor of lifesaving action. A critically ill or injured person must be driven to...
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By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
As a young college student, I served as Shamash in the Jewish Theological Seminary Synagogue. My first assignment was to coordinate services for Tisha B’Av, the fast day recalling destruction of the Temple. I prepared thoroughly, familiarizing myself with all the day’s liturgical procedures and...
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By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
The final verse of the last song of the Passover Haggadah – Chad Gadya – reports: “the Holy One comes and slaughters the Angel of Death.”
God’s destruction of death is limited neither to messianic visions nor to a future era. Death is defeated not...
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By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
The first prescribed liturgy in Jewish tradition – the first official prayer – was neither a petition for divine assistance nor a statement of praise or thanksgiving to God. The first official liturgy (Deuteronomy 26:5-10), recited upon presenting the first fruits of the harvest to...
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By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
According to 18th century philosopher Immanuel Kant, “By a lie, a man… annihilates his dignity as a man.” Kant’s contemporary, Rabbi Pinchas of Koritz taught: “Habitual liars have an inclination to idol worship and heresy, for truth and faith embrace one another.” In The Adventures...
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By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
The pessimistic report of the Israelite spies who, at Moses’ behest, surveilled the Promised Land included a lament about its allegedly formidable inhabitants (Numbers 13:33): “We felt like chagavim, like mere grasshoppers in comparison!” Notwithstanding our diminutive numbers, perceiving ourselves as insignificant, powerless bugs can...
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By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
George Washington was a pioneering, passionate champion of religious diversity and freedom. His favorite Biblical verse, cited some four dozen times in his public statements and private correspondence, was Micah 4:4 – “Every man shall sit under his vine or fig tree, with none to...
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By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiba were called upon to offer prayerful intercession for a community desperately afflicted by drought (Taanit 25B). Rabbi Eliezer, leading the congregation in prayer, intoned 24 blessings beseeching God’s mercy. His protracted pleas went unanswered.
Akiba offered a simple prayer: “Our...
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By JOSEPH H. PROUSER
A Talmid Chacham (literally, “student — or disciple — of a Sage”… plural, Talmidei Chachamim) is an exemplar of Jewish learning and scholarship, deeply immersed in sacred literature and the ways of Jewish piety and personal character. A Talmid Chacham embodies the very best of the...
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