A Selection from My Favorite Jewish Sources
Rabbi Mordechai Levin
Leviticus 19:9-10
When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field to its very border, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you … More
A Selection from My Favorite Jewish Sources
Rabbi Mordechai Levin
Psalm 24:1
The Earth is the Lord’s and all that it holds, the world and its inhabitants.
Shemot Rabbah 10:1
Our Rabbis said, what is this “And the advantage of the land in all things” (Ecclesiastes 5:8)? Even things you … More
By Rabbi Mordechai Levin
In contemporary times, the words “tikkun olam” – repairing the world – have become synonymous with social action, but this is a recent development. What is the origin of these words? What does “tikkun olam” really mean?
Rabbi Gilbert Rosenthal wrote about the evolution of this … More
By Rabbi Mordechai Levin
When people think of Jewish symbols, which one comes to mind first? For most people, it is probably the Magen David, the familiar hexagram or six-pointed star, consisting of two interlocking triangles.
The Magen David – literally “Shield of (King) David” – is now the most … More
By Rabbi Mordechai Levin
For many, the blowing of the shofar – a ram’s horn prepared for use as a musical instrument – is one of the most moving moments of the High Holy Days services. It is one of the earliest musical instruments known to man that is still in … More
By Rabbi Mordechai Levin
The Torah is the foundational text of Judaism. The Torah scroll is our most revered physical possession. When it is lifted after it has been read during the religious service, the congregation chants “vezot haTorah asher sam Mosheh lifnei benei Israel al pi Adonai, beyad … More
By Rabbi Mordechai Levin
I recently read the moving story of a 91-year-old Dutch Jew who celebrated his bar mitzvah ceremony last month at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
He was the child of an assimilated family living in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Judaism was only part of their family’s past, not … More
By Rabbi Mordechai Levin
The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel begins with these words: “The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious, and national identity was formed. Here they achieved independence and created a culture of national and universal … More
By Rabbi Mordechai Levin
Jerusalem has national and religious significance to the Jewish people. This significance is first shown in the Hebrew Bible, as the name “Jerusalem” is mentioned 658 times; “Zion” – one of the hills of Jerusalem – is mentioned 175 times; and “City of (King) David” is … More
By Rabbi Mordechai Levin
The following facts have long been unacceptable to many Arabs: that the land of Israel is the Jewish people’s ancestral homeland; it is where we had a Jewish kingdom for centuries; there is now a Jewish state within Israel, with Jerusalem as its capital.
Even after … More
Rabbi Levin 
is the rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel in Munster, IN. He received his rabbinic ordination from the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary, and is a member of the Rabbinical Assembly. In 2010, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City for his years of dedicated service to the Conservative movement and the Jewish community...Full bio