Rabbi Michael Knopf / Jewish World blogger

Three suggestions for harnessing Judaism to inspire inner happiness.

It is when we attempt to understand the perspectives of others that we increase our respect for them, improve our relationships and make way for peace.

We need not be paralyzed nor defined by uncontrollable evil, but work instead to create conditions that elicit goodness.

Passover is not about freedom, but about serving the most worthy of masters.

Embracing the Jewish emphasis on joy would bring about a change to American-Jewish life throughout the year, not only on Rosh Hodesh Adar or Purim.

The Rabbinate makes Israel the world’s only democracy where Jews do not enjoy religious freedom.

In Part 3 of a three-part series, Rabbi Michael Knopf explains that when we appreciate the food we have, we tend not to overindulge in order to compensate for perceived, fictional deficiencies.

For part two of a three-part series, Rabbi Michael Knopf explains how lessons in Jewish law can help us implement the common knowledge of ‘eat less, avoid obesity’ – just in time for Hanukkah.

For part one in a three-part series, Rabbi Michael Knopf explains how lessons in Jewish law can help us break free of our poisonous American diets.

On the final days of Sukkot, we learn that the path to inner peace involves mustering all our inner forces to common purpose.

‘Why do we fall, Bruce?’ asks the young Batman’s father. ‘So we can learn to pick ourselves up.’

For many Americans, Independence Day is a chance to celebrate our liberation from being our fellow’s keeper. But by ridding ourselves of our obligation toward the other, we perpetuate the heresy of Cain.

The term 'Lord' distorts the totality of the Jewish conception of God, and most Jews don't believe in the kind of God the term reflects.

Shavuot can be understood through a different metaphorical lens: that the Torah is perpetually offered to every Jewish soul; revelation is not a moment, but continuous.

Judaism demands in matters of life and death that facts, not fears, govern our decisions.

In our time, the only war Jewish law really permits is defensive war. So what does that say about Iran?

The Jewish community should welcome and support Magen Tzedek by buying products that carry its seal, inviting others to follow suit and encouraging its expansion to products other than foods.

As a 29 year-old rabbi, I am frequently told what an important commodity I am for the Jewish community. While it is flattering, I can’t help but admit the reasoning behind such a compliment is flawed.

By failing to acknowledge modern values, spirituality and science, Haredi-Fundamentalist Judaism excludes the beliefs and practices of most 21st century Jews.

Jewish legal authorities can become insensitive to human need and apathetic to the lure of the Divine – this was displayed in a recent debate of whether a deaf community may hold a public Torah reading in Sign Language.

We must demonstrate that Jewish practice is a means for becoming a better person, living a more meaningful life, and flourishing as a human being; it’s not just as a way of becoming a ‘better Jew’.

Many feel that 'yom tov sheni', the second day added to Jewish festive days in the Diaspora, is an institution that has long outlived its purpose and should be abolished, however, the importance of this second day is paramount.

A great deal of anti-convert sentiments within Jewish communities are due to a misunderstanding of normative or 'traditional' Jewish values, when in fact Jew by Choice is just as Jewish as any Jew by Birth.

Orthodox control over Israeli civil institutions lessens the vibrancy and diversity of what it means to be Jewish because it establishes that the Orthodox community has a monopoly on Jewish authenticity.