Thank you to Attorney General Rob Bonta and Mayor Todd Gloria for inviting me to participate in this important roundtable conversation on behalf of Shiviti, Kehillat Shaar HaShamayim, and the entire Jewish community. Crimes motivated by hate are not just attacks on individual people – they are attacks on our communities and affect us all. […]
Category: News and Politics
As Israeli civilians are once again under rocket attacks from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups, we the undersigned, Sephardic rabbis representing communities all over the world, stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Israel. We support Israel’s right to defend her cities and civilians, and to assert her sovereignty over Jerusalem, the historic […]
Since I heard the devastating news that took place on Shabbat with the loss of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, I have been scrambling to find a teaching of his that I can share with you that would summarize his greatness. I did not merit to know Rabbi Sacks personally. Though I feel that I knew […]
I just heard the tragic news that a giant of our generation, Rabbi Dovid Feinstein, son of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, passed away. Baruch Dayan HaEmet. Though I did not merit to know him well, I wish to share a personal story, which I believe illustrates one of Rav Dovid’s most exemplary Middot – his Anavah, […]
אַל־תַּ֣עַן כְּ֖סִיל כְּאִוַּלְתּ֑וֹ פֶּֽן־תִּשְׁוֶה־לּ֥וֹ גַם־אָֽתָּה: Do not answer a fool according to his folly lest even you become like him. Mishle (Proverbs) 26:4 A response to a post by a member of our Shiviti Learning Forum on Facebook Shalom, I hesitated greatly before approving this post. But since you are not the only one to […]
“Men of faith have vanished – those who come with the strength of their good deeds, those strong enough to stand up to any breach and repel harsh decrees”(- Piyut for Selichot, Author Unkown) Today, the world lost a tremendous Torah sholar, Rabbi Dr. Yosef (José) Faur, of blessed memory. I have spent the last […]
“My friends, this is where Judaism stands today. This is how the rabbinic establishment makes decisions regarding who is “acceptable” and who is “not”. This is how some opinions are championed, while others are not just rejected but are deemed entirely invalid. Whoever is more violent – prevails!” – Rabbi Yonatan Halevy, Rabbinic Violence Part 1 […]
The Jewish community has long had a fear of Halachah. No, I am not talking about those Jewish communities who are honest about their indifference or non-absolute loyalty to Halachah. Rather, I am referring to the community who constantly prides itself as being “Halachically observant” and relishes at any opportunity to judge and critique all […]
I was recently contacted by an individual who responded to my numerous requests from my viewers to do so if they have anything they wish to discuss. Being that this email is about a very important topic, and that it was asked with such tremendous Derech Eretz, I felt obligated to respond. The email has […]
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“Woe is me, my mother, that you ever bore me— A man of conflict and strife with all the land!” – Yirmiyahu (15:10) “If I am forced to be a man of conflict with the whole world because of the leaning towards truth that is deep in my soul – which [which causes me to […]