Author: Rabbi Michael Sternfield
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Pope Francis vs. the New ‘Golden Calf’
Calling present day capitalism and corporate greed “the dung of the devil,” Pope Francis called the world’s leaders “cowards” for not enacting meaningful legislation to alleviate the plight of the poor and also to save the planet.
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Its time for Netanyahu to stand up for Reform Jews
Perhaps you have read the outrageous remarks of Israel’s minister of religious affairs David Azoulay who announced that Reform Jews are not Jewish.
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Disney Pixar’s ‘Inside Out’ from a Jewish perspective
Long ago, the ancient rabbis conceived of the human mind as composed primarily of two contrasting feelings or inclinations. They are the “yetzer ha-tov” and the “yetzer ha-ra,” the inclination for the good, and the inclination for the evil.
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Dia de los Muertos: Its definitely not Halloween
If you want to know how a particular religion or culture understands the meaning of life, the best thing you can do is pay attention to how that group deals with death. In many American cities, we are blessed with an amazing confluence of ethnic and national groups. We reside in a virtual living laboratory…
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Why simply ‘feeling Jewish’ isn’t enough
When I am asked to describe the challenges of being a rabbi for liberal-minded Jews, I would say it consists largely of interpreting our Jewish religion for people who do not think of themselves as particularly religious. You might be surprised to hear me admit this, but I can hardly recall a single instance in which…