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Weekly Email by Rabbi Moss

Thousands of people enjoy the wisdom and inspiration of Rabbi Moss' weekly emails.

The Anti-Jewish Jew

Question of the Week:

I recently saw a "Jewish" professor speaking at an anti-Israel rally with a Palestinian scarf around his neck. I was voicing my disgust to a friend of mine who knows this character from his youth. Apparently his parents had converted to Catholicism back in Europe and he was not circumcised or had a bar mitzvah, and is married to a non-Jewish woman. He claims in his speeches that he is a Jewish son of a Holocaust survivor. He may be the son of a survivor, but can we say once and for all that he is not Jewish?

Answer:

I share your disgust. But alongside my disgust, I have to marvel at such a person. He is a vivid illustration of the indestructibility of the Jewish soul.

Here is a guy who could easily identi… Read More »

Dead Man's Shoes

Question of the Week:

Is it true you are not allowed to keep shoes that belonged to someone who is now dead? As we were going through my grandfather's possessions, my grandmother insisted on throwing away his shoes, including brand new pairs he never wore. Isn't it better to donate them to someone who can use them?

Answer:

A medieval mystic, Rabbi Yehuda Hachassid, warned against wearing shoes that belonged to the departed. While he didn't share his reasoning, others have offered various fascinating explanations. Here's an ingenious one.

The Talmud, in a section on dream interpretation, lists various dreams that signal negative portents. One of them is if you dream of a dead person coming back and removing your shoes. Such a vision… Read More »

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