Enhancing Prayer – and Thereby Faith and Spirituality – in the Modern Orthodox World by Yaakov Bieler

                 At the recent ChampionsGate V national leadership conference sponsored by Yeshiva University,   the “Leadership Track” in which I participated, was dedicated to grappling with contemporary challenges to faith and spirituality in the Modern Orthodox Community. Aside from my professional interest in the topic concerning whether qualities so seemingly personal and idiosyncratic can be successfully [...]

How “Blessed” were Bilaam’s Blessings? by Yaakov Bieler

How Goodly Are Your Blessings?            
We recently read one of the most well-known verses that comprise Jewish liturgy.  Siddurim[1] and Machzorim instruct that when an individual enters the synagogue, the first of several verses to be recited is, (BaMidbar 24:5) “How goodly are your tents Yaakov, your dwelling places Yisrael.” While the simple meaning of Bilaam’s [...]

Abrabanel & The Menora: An Early Interpretation Supporting the Concept of Tora U’Madda by Yaakov Bieler

             
The latter Tora portions of the book of Shemot, with the exception of Ki Tisa, focus upon the construction of the Tabernacle and the fabrication of the ritual clothing worn by the priests when they were performing the Temple service. Most commentators are hard-pressed to derive rigorously argued, logical spiritual instruction from this quantitatively significant [...]

Jacob’s Ladder and Exile: Comfort Zones vs. Risk

Jacob’s Ladder and Exile:  Comfort Zones vs. Risk
 by Yaakov Bieler
           At one point, Adam Gopnick, as part of his discussion about Charles Darwin in his book  entitled, Angels and Ages: A Short Book about Darwin, Lincoln and Modern Life (Knopf, New York, 2009) writes that great scientific discoveries are such that when others learn of [...]

The Importance of Engaging in Personal Inventories

The Importance of Engaging in Personal Inventories
by Yaakov Bieler
             It is self-apparent that a central component of Judaism is Teshuva (repentance.)[1] Since man is a conflicted, dualistic creature[2] and therefore aspirations to totally achieve spiritual, moral and religious perfection are by definition impossible to realize, the individual striving for higher levels of holiness must per [...]

Was Talking in Shul De Rigueur During the Mishnaic Period?

Was Talking in Shul De Rigueur
During the Mishnaic Period?
by Jack Bieler
            A well-known Mishna in Berachot presents a disagreement regarding the permutations of what to do when the fulfillment of a Commandment between man and God, i.e., the recitation of the three paragraphs of Shema, comes into conflict with the etiquette and civility that governs [...]

The Literary Character of the Shulchan Aruch: Does Talking During Prayers Render One Ineligible for Warfare?

The Literary Character of the Shulchan Aruch:
Does Talking During Prayers Render One Ineligible for Warfare?
by Jack Bieler
Literary Flourishes in the Shulchan Aruch
In addition to codifying in succinct fashion a broad range of the laws that comprise the traditional corpus of Jewish law, R. Yosef Karo’s Shulchan Aruch can also be viewed as a literary and spiritual work, complete with nuanced [...]