Tag Archives: Judaism

The Christmas Conundrum

Posted on December 24, 2020 by N.S. Palmer

(The photo shows the Japanese pop music group E-girls, which disbanded in 2020 but reunited for a Christmas farewell video.) At Christmas, it’s natural to think of Jesus, whose life and example inspired the Christian faith. Christians believe that in … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Judaism | Tagged Christianity, Christmas, Duty, Hillel, Jesus, Judaism, Morality, Negative duty, Particularism, Positive duty, The Golden Rule, The Sermon on the Mount, Universalism | Leave a comment

A Visit with Esther and Joe

Posted on July 25, 2020 by N.S. Palmer

Did you ever wish you could thank some people from your past who helped you when you needed it? For me, two of those people were Esther and Joe. They owned a little “mom and pop” grocery store around the … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Psychology | Tagged Dreams, Family, Gratitude, Happiness, Judaism, Kindness, Moral Choice, Parenting, Psychology | 2 Comments

Do We Need Religion to be Good People?

Posted on August 20, 2018 by N.S. Palmer

“Does being religious make someone a good person?” Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Christianity, Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Modern Orthodoxy | Tagged Christianity, Divine Law, Faith, Halacha, Judaism, Matthew Arnold, Morality, Prayer, Religion, Social harmony | 5 Comments

You Can’t Prove God — and It Doesn’t Matter

Posted on August 1, 2018 by N.S. Palmer

“You can’t prove God’s existence. And it doesn’t matter.” Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Jewish Philosophy | Tagged Atheism, Bible, Christianity, Judaism, Logic, Philosophy, Proof, Religion, Theism | 2 Comments

Translating the Bible for Our Era

Posted on May 30, 2017 by N.S. Palmer

My latest blog post for The Jewish Journal: What difference does a translation make? If we take the Torah seriously, a lot. Whether we believe it was given by God to Moses, or only that it’s the foundational text of our identity … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Judaism, The Jewish Journal | Tagged Aaron Koller, Andrea Weiss, Barry Schwartz, Ben Sommer, Bible, Creighton University, Daniel Septimus, Gary Rendsburg, Jewish Publication Society, JPS, Judaism, Leonard Greenspoon, Marc Brettler, Septuagint, Tamar Kamionkowski, Tanakh, Targums, Torah, Translation | 2 Comments

The Fifth Question

Posted on April 22, 2016 by N.S. Palmer

Are you the same person today as you were yesterday? If so, how do you know? And what does it even mean for you to be “the same person” as you were yesterday? Therein lies a tale. It leads us … Continue reading →

Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, The Jerusalem Post | Tagged Judaism, Memory, Neuroscience, Passover, Personal Identity, Pesach, Seder, Soul | Leave a comment

What Is Faith in God?

Posted on November 2, 2015 by N.S. Palmer

What does it mean to have faith in God? It’s not a simple question. Lately, I’ve been wrestling with The Tenacity of Unreasonable Beliefs, a book that tries to analyze religious belief from a psychological perspective. The author, Solomon Schimmel, … Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Philosophy | Tagged Faith, Judaism, Orthodox Judaism, Religious Skepticism, Schimmel, The Tenacity of Unreasonable Beliefs | 4 Comments

What Do You See?

Posted on October 1, 2015 by N.S. Palmer

Look at the ink blot. What do you see? The ink blot is used in what’s called a “Rorschach test.” The picture is supposed to be neutral, and not to look like anything in particular. What you see in it … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Jewish Philosophy, Judaism | Tagged Bible, Judaism, Rorschach | Leave a comment

Maimonides and Keeping the Commandments

Posted on August 5, 2015 by N.S. Palmer

By N.S. Palmer “God rewards those who perform the commandments of the Torah and punishes those who transgress its admonitions.”1 The Jewish sage Maimonides called that an essential tenet of our faith. But there’s something a little odd about it. … Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Modern Orthodoxy, Philosophy, The Times of Israel | Tagged A Maimonides Reader, A Priori, Belief, Commandments, Epistemology, Functions of Belief, Halacha, Judaism, Maimonides, Mitzvot, Times of Israel, Twersky | Leave a comment

Turning Around Spinoza’s Challenge

Posted on July 23, 2015 by N.S. Palmer

By N.S. Palmer Spinoza meant it as a taunt. But it might hold one of the keys to Jewish survival. Depending on where you sit, Baruch de Spinoza is either the founder of modern Jewish philosophy or Judaism’s deadliest critic. … Continue reading →