by Rabbi Joshua Maroof | Sep 17, 2013 | Uncategorized
In Chapter 14 of Avot DeRabbi Natan, we read a fascinating story about consoling mourners in their time of bereavement. Specifically, we are told how Rabban Yohanan Ben Zakkai, the spiritual leader of the Jewish people in the wake of...
by Rabbi Joshua Maroof | Aug 19, 2013 | Uncategorized
I just rediscovered this essay, which I believe I wrote when I was about seventeen years old (approximately twenty years ago). There is a lot here that I would rephrase/edit/add/subtract today, but I resist the temptation to revise history and...
by Rabbi Joshua Maroof | Jul 15, 2013 | Uncategorized
Generally speaking, Jewish law is formulated so as to apply to everyone equally. There are no double standards in halakha. Yet, when it comes to the laws of Tisha B’av as codified by Maimonides (Rambam), it would seem as if there were two completely...
by Rabbi Joshua Maroof | Apr 4, 2013 | Uncategorized
This lecture, which I delivered at the Hillel of the University of Maryland, attempts to articulate the differences in worldview, philosophy and practice between Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews. Based on the feedback I have received from many Jews of both backgrounds...
by Rabbi Joshua Maroof | Mar 8, 2013 | Uncategorized
קיצור הלכות...
by Rabbi Joshua Maroof | Nov 11, 2012 | Uncategorized
I was honored to be invited by the City of Rockville to deliver the invocation at the Veterans Day Ceremony tomorrow. Here is the text I composed for the occasion: Almighty God, we gather today to honor the beloved veterans of the Armed Forces of the United States of...
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