Nathan Lopes Cardozo
ARTICLES BY: Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Why Shabbat Cannot Be Postponed
Rashi asks the question: Why does the Torah need to specify that the Sabbath offering should be brought on Shabbat? If it is called a...
Vow to Wed Yourself to Judaism, and Life
The great Chassidic leader Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, complaining about the Jews’ detachment from Judaism, once said that when a bridegroom stands under the...
Is the Torah Really Divine? Thoughts on Shavuot
One of the most challenging aspects in Judaism is how to relate to the concept of revelation. The uncompromising claim by (Orthodox) Judaism that the...
A Bar Mitzvah as a Vote of Confidence
Few matters are as misunderstood as Judaism’s “obsession with the law.” In the life of a religious Jew, not a moment goes by that he...
Emerging Cracks in Jewish Education
The Holy of Holies -- the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle and later the Temple in Jerusalem -- was an area that only the High...
Yom Haatzmaut: The Eternal Marriage Between Israel and the Jews Must Be Nurtured
This year’s Yom Haatzmaut celebration commemorates the 71st anniversary of a marriage that has lasted more than 3,500 years. This may sound like a paradox -- but...
Why Do We Eat Matzah on Passover? For Humility
The Talmud, in tractate Berachoth (17a), poses the question of why it is forbidden to eat or even to possess chametz on Pesach. What is there...
The Israeli Elections: Radical Otherness
As we are asked to vote for a new Israeli government, it may be important to consider some crucial issues that seem to be overlooked...
To Keep Young Jews, We Must Tell Them to Question Their Teachers
For me, it is a great privilege to dedicate my life to Jewish education, and I wouldn't exchange it for anything else. But I have...
My Controversy With the Mainstream Orthodox Community
When I was about 14 years old, I was drawn to Judaism for reasons I have discussed earlier. We lived in a small town called...
The Lesson of Spinoza: Judaism Must Be Tolerant and Allow Dissenting Views
It would be too much to say that I was "raised on the knees" of Spinoza, but it's definitely true that my father was a...
Yes to the Ayalon Bridge on Shabbat, But No to the Eurovision Song Contest
On September 1, 2016, I published an essay discussing the crisis about people working on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv railway on Shabbat. I argued that if it...
My Search for and Momentary Loss of God
I believe I've had some of my spiritual personality since I was a youngster. There was always a dimension of amazement and mystery that accompanied...
The Non-Existent God and Our Need to Serve Him
According to one quote, “God is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere.” Indeed, to describe God is like trying to present something...
