Dear Jew in the City, Is the Lev Tahor cult actually Jewish? Best, Max Dear Max, Thanks for your question. You know, had you asked “Is Lev Tahor a cult,” I might have balked at answering (I have an aversion to lawsuits), but I didn’t say it’s a cult, you did. And so do lots […]

Dear Jew in the City, With all the international attention on Israel’s war with Hamas, I’ve been hearing a lot of debate—both within the Jewish world and beyond—about whether Israel is obligated to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza. Some argue that as Jews, we’re commanded to help all people, even our enemies. Others say that […]

Dear Jew in the City, With the pending hostage deal, does Jewish philosophy discuss if we should save lives if it means letting dangerous people free and sacrificing more lives? Thanks, Daniel Dear Daniel, Thanks for your question. This is indeed a topic of conversation, but there are a lot of moving parts and no […]

Dear Jew in the City, Is the world supposed to be upside down before Moshiach comes? How are people accusing Israel of doing the horrific things Hamas has done?  Sincerley, Oren   Dear Oren, Thanks for your questions. I’m breaking it down into three parts, which I’ll address separately: (1) “Is the world supposed to […]

Dear Jew in the City, Was Jesus a rabbi? Sincerely, Ben   Thanks for your question, Ben. The answer depends on who you ask. As you are no doubt aware, Christians and Jews have some very different ideas when it comes to Jesus. Christians consider him the messiah; Jews don’t. Christians consider him to be […]

Dear Jew in the City, Why didn’t King David deal more harshly with his son who raped his daughter? Why didn’t Yaakov react more strongly to Dinah being raped? – Jason Dear Jason- Thanks for your question, Jason. I understand where you’re coming from, but I think you’re making a lot of assumptions about what […]