Rabbi Fried's weekly column
An Eye for an Eye
I recently attended a talk where the speaker explained the famous “an eye for an eye” verse in the Torah. As society has become less barbaric, the rabbis reinterpreted the verse to mean one pays the damages for the eye instead of taking out the eye of the perpetrator as it used to be done in the olden days. I have a big problem with the fact that the Torah originally had the punishment of taking out someone’s eye. What does it say for the Torah if it began as a barbaric set of laws and only later, rabbis try to smooth it out?
Mourning After Kaddish
I have recently completed the year of mourning and kaddish for my father, and am left with a profound feeling of emptiness now that it’s finished. I know I can no longer say kaddish, but is there anything more that I can do or is that it?
Tabernacle
This time of the year, as I follow along with the readings of the weekly Torah portion, I have a lot of trouble studying the sections we are now reading that deal with the building of the Mishkan – tabernacle. First of all, I have a problem relating to it; how does a building they built thousands of years ago affect our lives. Secondly, why do these portions appear in the book of Exodus, which is the story of the Exodus from Egypt. Why are they not in the next book of Leviticus which deals with the sacrifices they brought in the tabernacle?
Miscarriage
We have been in tremendous pain the past few weeks over a miscarriage we suffered in the sixth month. It’s hard to describe the sense of loss, and we can’t help but feeling it was so senseless; why would G-d put us through all that anticipation and both physical and emotional suffering for nothing? We’re hoping you can offer some comfort.
Miracles
We read about all kinds of miracles in the Bible. I would have a lot easier time believing in G-d if I could see miracles like our ancestors claim to have seen. How come there aren’t any more miracles today?
Mikvah Scandal
I have heard that you are the Rabbi in charge of the Dallas mikvah, so I decided to address my feelings to you over the recent charges of voyeurism against a rabbi from Washington D.C. The widespread outrage this has fostered and its effects cannot be underestimated; so many women who were users of his mikvah feel violated beyond words, and especially his female conversion candidates who feel the very rabbi bringing them into Judaism was perverting Judaism for his own lusts and gratification. Besides their feelings of being violated. I, personally, feel I need some reassurance that such a thing could never happen in Dallas. I would also hate to think that the crime this rabbi allegedly committed would be a reason for them to consider no longer using a mikvah and thereby deny themselves the beauty of that mitzvah.