A Modern Orthodox Life: Sermons and Columns of Rabbi Emanuel Rackman »

Contents Introduction....................ix
SERMONS 1950 Shabbat Shuvah....................3
Passover 1950 Judaism: A Social Religion....................10
Passover 1951 The Love of Jews....................16
1952 The Great Challenge of Our Day....................23
Shavuot 1953 Altar and Courthouse....................28
Shavuot 1953 The Yoke of the Law....................33
Kol Nidre 1954 Days of Awe....................37
Yom Kippur Eve 1955 Responsibility for Our Own Sins....................42
Rosh Hashanah 1957 Helping God to Use Us....................46
Sabbath of Penitence 1958 Children of Three or Eight....................53
Rosh Hashanah 1959 Selflessness....................59
Yom Kippur eve 1962 The Sin of Habit....................65
Passover 1963 The Lesson of Not Seeing God....................71
COLUMNS 09-02-71 Is Term "Goy" Perjorative?....................79
09-16-71 Appetite Satisfaction on a Higher Plane Is Definition of Kashruth....................82
09-23-71 Talmud Flatly Forbids Criminal Record for Those Who Repented....................85
12-23-71 Deprive Them: Can Christmas permissiveness fail to weaken Jewishness of the coming generation?....................88
01-25-73 Zealots Who Offend: Can their ugly behavior be devoid of blind hatred for other human beings?....................93
02-01-73 Bodies Belong to Whom? Judaism denies a person the right to abuse or destroy gift from God....................96
03-01-73Intellectual Idolatry: Name of God taken in vain when linked arrogantly to any empty ideology....................100
05-03-73 Price of Exposure: In all times, Jews have been exposed to rival cultures and generation gaps....................102
05-17-73 No Jewish Watergate: Right to privacy was firmly established centuries ahead of other nations....................107
05-24-73 America Vindicated: Exposure of Watergate seen as result of liberties this country maintains....................111
06-21-73 A Convert's Status: He has embraced the Torah of his own free will and derives special merit....................115
09-06-73 Joy of Being Jewish: It is enough to compensate for all problems, trials and grim forebodings....................119
03-29-75 One-Sided Orthodoxy? Passover message insists honesty just as important as ritual observance....................122
10-05-75 Ethics of the Heart: How pious men refused to take advantage of common business practice....................126
11-09-75 Pragmatic Needs, not Halacha, Hold Key to West Bank....................129
04-11-76 Assurance of Future: What else can explain continuity of identity?....................132
05-02-76 "Denominations Fail" to Give an Accurate Idea of Jewish Life....................135
05-16-76 Jews Racists? Aid given equally to Jews and non-Jews....................138
06-06-76 Halacha Seen Viable Basis for Israel Despite Some lacks....................141
06-27-76 America's Jewish Debt Is Not to Jews of 1776, But to Judaism's Tenets....................144
09-26-76 Letter to My Son....................147
1980c Concern for a Positive Jewish Image is No Heresy....................158
1980c The Case for Israel's Prisoner Exchanges....................162
1980c A Step Toward Bridging the Religious-Secular Gap....................165
11-26-82 Modern Orthodox Jews Keep Authentic Tradition Alive....................168
01-07-83 The Bible Is a Guide to Mankind, Not to God....................172
02-11-83 One of Century's Great Jewish Teachers Is 80....................175
06-17-83 Retirement: The ages-old dilemma....................178
11-11-83 Needed: A Universal Jewish Family Law....................181
1984c Forgive the Germans, But May They Never Forget....................185
03-84 Self-defense No Guarantee of Right to Violence....................188
03-84 Orthodoxy's Rift Must Be Healed....................192
04-84 An Advocate of Integration Without Assimilation....................195
04-13-84 Jewish Education Belongs in the Family Too....................198
06-08-84 Israeli Terrorism: Reasons but no excuses....................201
06-15-84 Progress Often Surprise Result of the Bitterest Confrontations....................204
09-84 The Special, Two-Faceted Sensitivity of Jews....................208
11-02-84 When Extremism Is Sin, When It's a Virtue....................210
12-84 Paradoxes for Committed Jews in a Secular World....................214
02-28-85 Why Good Deeds Don't Guarantee Rewards - and Vice Versa....................218
03-08-85 Questioning and Accepting Reasons for Commandments....................221
09-27-85 An Optimist Sees Pessimism in Ecclesiastes....................224
12-27-85 Judaism's Special Sensitivity in Human Relations....................227
1986 Orthodoxy's Champion of Sacred and Secular Syntheses....................230
1990c Think Before Acting: A godlike life requires discipline and unrelenting thoughtfulness....................233
1991c Plea for Mercy: "Miscarriage of justice" against Pollard begs for commuted sentence....................236
1991c Policy of Separation: Government works best when the secular and spiritual coexist....................239
08-30-91 Value of Non-Orthodoxy: New ideas once condemned, sustain or advance Judaism....................242
10-04-91 Keep Criticism Constructive: When faulting Israel, one should deliver the message "lovingly"....................245
12-20-91 Democracy in Judaism: "Majority rule" is biblical; dissent always was protected....................248
1992 The Big Lie: U.S. Jews must act to stop the misnomer "occupied territories"....................251
1992c Revel in Repetition....................254
03-20-92 The Beauty of Legal Loopholes: Rabbinic fictions make for good reading and better memory....................257
03-27-92 Making Waves: U.S. Jewish groups must lead the fight against "territories" lie....................260
12-13-97 A Legacy of Survival: Perseverance has consistently saved Jews from persecution....................263
Needed for Jewish survival: Toleration, Civility....................266
The Real Meaning of a Mistranslated Biblical Verse....................270
The Importance of Voluntarism in the Welfare State....................273
Why Jews Abhor Bloodshed: Tenets of Judaism, especially dietary laws, instill reverence for life....................277
Why Not Give New Ideas a Fair Chance?....................281
ARTICLE 1992 Thoughts on the Holocaust....................285
INDEX....................297