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Independent Jewish Spirituality Online

Does Saying “Shabbat Shalom” Make You A Jerk?

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Question: I know many non-observant Jews. We work together and we are friends. I am becoming more involved in Judaism and often say “Shabbat Shalom” on Fridays. People are now looking at me like I am a jerk! Should I just say “have a good weekend” since Friday night is Shabbat for me, but not for them?

Answer From Patrick: They are clearly not your friends because they are not as religious as you. Get new friends. Thanks for reading PunkTorah!

Just kidding!

I hear questions like this a lot. The same thing came up on Yom Kippur a few years back.

Do you say “have a meaningful fast” if your friends and family aren’t fasting? Do you go super Politically Correct and say, “I hope that you have the Shabbat you wish to have, if you have decided that this is indeed Shabbat, and if not, I am sorry if I have offended you. [Read more…]

Richard Dawkins, Gardening and the Number Seven: Parshat Behar-Bechukotai

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httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeGhYAF1JyI

I just watched the Richard Dawkins movie, “The God Delusion”. I disagree with Dawkins who thinks that religion is poison (a little too Chairman Mao for me), but he did bring up an interesting point: In one scene, Dawkins confronts a British rabbi about the Genesis account of creationism. The rabbi says that he supports a literal interpretation of Genesis and believes that the world is only 6,000 years old. Dawkins tells the rabbi how stupid this is, because archeologists all agree that humans are millions of years old and that 6,000 years ago was the start of the Agricultural Revolution.
This got me thinking: is there a biblical connection between the agricultural revolution and the laws of Moses? Sure enough, there is…and it’s this week’s Parshat

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