JChatting - interviews with a Jewish flavour

  Rabbi Dr. Yakov Meir Nagen is an Israeli Rabbi and author. Rabbi Nagen teaches at Yeshivat Otniel and has written extensively about Jewish philosophy and Talmud. He is a leader in interfaith peace initiatives between Judaism and Islam and in encounters between Judaism and Eastern religions. Nagen is also the Director of the Blickle Institute for Interfaith Dialogue and the Beit Midrash for Judaism and Humanity. Many of his writings have been translated into Chinese, and he was profiled in Tablet magazine as one of the ten “Israeli Rabbis You Should Know.” Rabbi Nagen’s website is http://yakovnagen.com/index.php/english .   1.        What was a place, person or event that transformed your ideas, thinking, or perspective? Rabbi Menachem Froman inspired me to become part of the Interfaith Peace movement. His great insight was that if religion is part of the problem, it will have to be part of the solution.   2.    ...

Purim night 1984 aged 17. Arrived home after a Purim Spiel slightly less able to walk in a straight line than generally acceptable. My parents were very upset. My grandfather who was a doctor, told me some horror stories of people who went to bed drunk and choked to death on their own vomit. I suppose I was quite traumatized by the whole experience and my attitude towards drinking was more or less determined from those days. Since then, I have never overindulged to that extent (not even close). And now to the gemara I would like to relate to this topic  (not intended to be Halacha LeMaase): Rav Chisda opens the topic and asks: May one make Kiddush on date beer? After some discussion, the gemara brings this story: Levi sent to Rebbi beer made by pouring water on dates 13 times; Rebbi found it to be extremely tasty - he said that it is fit to make Kiddush on it and say over it all songs and praises; at night he had stomach pain (due to the laxative affect of the dates) - he...

Rabbi Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi, Midreshet Lindenbaum and is director of programs at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. Born and raised in the UK, Rabbi Israel moved to Israel in 1991 and received the S'micha (rabbinic ordination) of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate following several years of study at Yeshivat Har Etzion. Rabbi Israel holds degrees from London School of Economics, the Institute of Education, London, and Bar Ilan University. His books "I Kings - Torn in Two" and “II Kings – In a Whirlwind” have been received with great acclaim. Rabbi Israel has lectured widely at campuses and communities on five continents. His writings may be found at www.alexisrael.org. 1. What was a place, person or event that transformed your ideas, thinking, or perspective? Broadly we should realize that we are influenced all the time by that which we see, read and experience. That is a wonderful thing, although it may also present a problem if one cons...

  Rabbi David Milston has been the Director of the Overseas Program at Midreshet HaRova for the last twenty years. Born and raised in London, Rabbi Milston earned a B.A. in Jewish Studies at Jews' College where he became a talmid "muvhak" of Rabbi Isaac Bernstein zt'l. He studied for several years at Yeshivat Har Etzion under the guidance of Rav Yehuda Amital, zt”l and Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, zt”l , and received semicha from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. In addition to his role at Midreshet HaRova, Rabbi Milston lectures and delivers shiurim to youngsters and adults, including in his home community of Alon Shevut where he lives with his wife and five of their six children, the eldest Michal is married. He also performs weddings for couples, both religious and secular, all across Israel, through the Tzohar organization. Rabbi Milston has written a five book series on the parsha – "The Three Pillars, and a two volume series on the Jewish Calendar – "Ki V...

  “Not good” – an expression that will always haunt me. In school, we were “forced” to compose poetry. In short, let’s just say I wasn’t very good at it. One of my more exquisite pieces ended with the phrase “and that was not good” describing some desperate and irretrievable situation. My more creative and imaginative friend, Marshall, thought this phrase very funny. After all, we were supposed to use words that were descriptive and powerful, conjuring up the picture in the mind of the reader. I didn’t show him my work too much after that. Then comes along the parsha we just read today, in which Yitro says to Moshe “ the thing you are doing is not good ” (shemot 18,17). What is not good? The next pasuk answers “ the task (of judging the people all day) is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone ”. The only other place in the Torah where the phrase “not good” is mentioned is describing Adam’s situation before Eve came along – “ it is not good for man to be alone ” (Bereishit 2...

  Rav Menachem Leibtag, founder of the Tanach Study Center www.tanach.org, is an internationally acclaimed bible scholar and pioneer of Jewish Education on the internet. His essays on Parshat ha’Shavua reflect his vibrant thematic-analytical approach, blending the methods of modern scholarship with traditional approaches. As a faculty member at Yeshivat Har Etzion in Israel, he is best known for his ability to teach students how to study Tanach. Rabbi Leibtag also teaches at Matan, Midreshet Lindenbaum, & Yeshivat Shaalavim; and routinely lectures around the globe, primarily as a Scholar in Residence in communities in North America.   1.        What was a place, person or event that transformed your ideas, thinking, or perspective? The year of the Yom Kippur war was my second year in Israel at Machon Lev. This was the event that influenced me to stay in Israel, do hesder and make Aliyah. 2.     What Jewish message does the worl...