Beliefs & Practices

After learning the results of an experiment involving a decapitated sheep, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach decided to permit organ donations.

Some worry that the discovery of "Jewish" genetic diseases will negatively affect the image and treatment of Jews.

Most (but not all) rabbinic authorities consider "partial birth abortion" on the same terms as other abortions.

In Judaism, the question of when "ensoulment" takes place is both unanswerable and irrelevant to the issue of abortion.

Isaac Luria's theory of creation.

Influential kabbalists like Rabbi Azriel and Jacob ben Sheshet were, at times, criticized for their work.

In the Talmud and midrash, visions of the Divine Throne are achieved by studying the Torah.

Some classical Jewish statements about sex might surprise you.

Some Jewish thinkers condone homosexuality, despite the condemnation of homosexual sex in Jewish law.

While some meaningful life events go by without any ritual to mark them, too often rituals take place without the participants experiencing any significant meaning.

Hasidism spread mystical ideas to the masses of East-European Jewry.

The Rabbis regulated the giving and receiving of tzedakah even while recognizing that how one gives may be as important as how much one gives.