What is the essence of human nature?  Are we really creatures of spirit and mind, capable of forming ourselves at will to correspond to the highest conceptions of humanity possible?  Or are we, rather, little different than the animals of the field and forest, driven by instinct and whim, incapable of modifying either  our behavior or our aspiration? Read more...

The great Jewish existentialist, Franz Rosenzweig, began his monumental philosophy of Judaism, The Star of Redemption with these words: All knowledge of the Whole has its source in death, in the fear of death.”  That abiding fear, and the inescapable destination of all human lives, and of all human life, in death, is a fact beyond appeal. There are no exceptions, no delays, and no negotiations with our ultimate end. Read more...

At the very core of what the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah (the ten days of repentance, between Rosh Ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur) and Shabbat Shuvah is all about is the notion of teshuvah, which in Hebrew, translates more or less to “repentance.”  Indeed, the actual root of the word “שוּב”means to turn or to return.  Let’s return to a few different aspects of teshuvah, of what it means to turn. Read more...