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	<title>OzTorah</title>
	<link>http://www.oztorah.com</link>
	<description>Parashah Insights and Ask the Rabbi</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:04:33 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>The worker &amp; the work &#8211; Vayakhel</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This week&#8217;s sidra reminds us about Shabbat – but with a difference. In the Ten Commandments we are told, “Six days shall you work” (Ex. 20:9); in this sidra the phrase is “Six days shall work be done” (Ex. 35:2). One could say that the result is the same – Shabbat is a day without [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.oztorah.com/2010/03/the-worker-the-work-vayakhel/</link>
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		<title>The longest double sidra</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Every now and then, like this week, we read two portions on a given Shabbat. The synagogue congregation do not always appreciate it, especially when it comes to Vayakhel-P’kudei, the longest of the double portions. It prolongs the service and some would argue that it is boring and repetitive, reiterating material about building the Tabernacle [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.oztorah.com/2010/03/the-longest-double-sidra/</link>
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		<title>Handling your employees &#8211; Ask the Rabbi</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Q. What does the Talmud mean when it says that whoever acquires a servant acquires a master over himself?
A. The source is Kiddushin 20a. In the literal sense it probably means that an employer is at his/her workers&#8217; mercy. The workers know the business cannot continue without them, and they can be tempted to exploit [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.oztorah.com/2010/03/handling-your-employees-ask-the-rabbi/</link>
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		<title>Definitions &#8211; Ask the Rabbi</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Q. Can you explain the terms deism, theism, pantheism and panentheism?
A. Deism: belief that God is completely beyond the universe.
Theism: belief that God is both within and beyond the universe.
Pantheism: belief that God is identical with Nature.
Panentheism: belief that everything is in God.
Each concept has its own history and its own proponents. Deism and pantheism [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.oztorah.com/2010/03/definitions-ask-the-rabbi/</link>
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		<title>Difficult ideas: ways, places, faces &#8211; Ki Tissa</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Only a few verses – but what difficult theology! Moses asks God, “Show me Your ways” (Ex. 33:13). Rashi thinks Moses is asking what reward God will give to those who believe in Him.
Maimonides (Moreh N’vuchim 1:54) prefers to understand “ways” as “attributes” or “qualities”, but we are still not certain why the question is [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.oztorah.com/2010/03/difficult-ideas-ways-places-faces-ki-tissa/</link>
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		<title>Modernising prayer &#8211; Ask the Rabbi</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Q. Why don&#8217;t we modernise the prayerbook?
A. A person was studying a page of the Talmud. A friend saw what he was doing and noticed which page it was. A week later the same friend came by and was astounded to find that it was still the same page that was open. &#8220;Haven&#8217;t you moved [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.oztorah.com/2010/03/modernising-prayer-ask-the-rabbi/</link>
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		<title>The Arizal &#8211; Ask the Rabbi</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Q. Some Jews say they follow the customs of the Arizal. Who was this?
A. Arizal is the name popularly given to Rabbi Isaac ben Shlomo Luria, 1534-1572. Because his ancestry was German, Ashkenazi is often added to his name. Hence Ari is the initials of Ashkenazi Rabbi Yitzchak, though it could also be Eloki Rabbi [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.oztorah.com/2010/03/the-arizal-ask-the-rabbi/</link>
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		<title>He couldn&#8217;t have been a real priest</title>
		<description><![CDATA[He marched in a pro-Palestinian demonstration through Sydney the other week. He bore a placard, &#8220;They killed the the Prince of Peace, so what do you expect from them?&#8221; 
He wore a clerical collar. He appeared to be a priest calling on Christians to rise up against the Jews. I suspect he was not a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.oztorah.com/2010/02/he-couldnt-have-been-a-real-priest/</link>
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		<title>Jewish queens &#8211; Ask the Rabbi</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Q. Aside from Queen Esther, what can you tell me about Jewish queens?
A. The Queen of Sheba was probably the most famous Biblical queen, but she was not Jewish. Hers was a prosperous realm in south-west Arabia, and when she &#8220;heard of the fame of Solomon because of the name of the Lord&#8221;, she paid [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.oztorah.com/2010/02/jewish-queens-ask-the-rabbi/</link>
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		<title>The last aliyah &#8211; Ask the Rabbi</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Q. I have heard that in some congregations the most honoured place to be called to the Torah is Acharon, the last aliyah. Why is this?
A. The original custom was that only the first person called to the Torah would say the opening blessing and the last one called up would say the closing blessing. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.oztorah.com/2010/02/the-last-aliyah-ask-the-rabbi/</link>
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