Open Search form

Rafi Miller

Apply for a Blog

Aug 9, 2013, 2:56 PM

In love with the dirt

This post is in honor of 3 Elul on the Hebrew calendar. Today is the 78th yahrtzeit of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the Land of Israel, and the first anniversary of my personal...

Mar 1, 2013, 12:20 PM

Your multiverse doesn’t explain fine-tuning

Over the last several decades, scientists have uncovered a startling fact about the laws of nature. The laws appear fine-tuned to permit life. Physicist Paul Davies observes that this fact has gained “broad agreement among physicists and cosmologists.” Philosopher John...

Jan 27, 2013, 6:30 PM

The Aliyah Museum

Israel has some cool history museums. There’s the Palmach museum in Tel Aviv, or the Menachem Begin and Herzl museums in Jerusalem. These museums don’t focus on information or artifacts, but on an experience. The tour tells a story,...

Jan 15, 2013, 2:07 PM

What to do about global warming?

I am still gratified by the response to my post from last week, “Who doubts global warming?” It now has 94 comments among 14 threads. The disagreements range from civil and rational to less than civil and not-so-rational. One of...

Jan 13, 2013, 2:26 PM

Knowing better than the experts

When an editor promoted my recent post on this blog, “Who doubts global warming?” I was honored but also nervous. I had seen many times what happens when this issue gets the attention of the Internet. Sure enough, on...

Jan 9, 2013, 10:31 PM

Who doubts global warming?

How much worse will it have to get before climate change doubters yield to reason?

Dec 30, 2012, 11:54 PM

The Buffalo Grove Aliyah

In the modern history of Israel, immigrations often came in great waves. There were the waves of aliyah from Europe, then Yemen, Iraq, Morocco, Russia, Ethiopia, Argentina, France, and many more. The fall of 2012 saw the start of a...

Dec 25, 2012, 12:04 AM

A tragic climate at the Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal is America’s most widely circulated newspaper. Since 1889, its editorial pages have had an authoritative voice in American politics. But the newspaper has lost all credibility on the urgent issue of climate change. Man-made global warming is...

Dec 24, 2012, 8:04 AM

The culture of Daf Yomi

“You also learn Daf Yomi?” “Yeah!” “I have a question from yesterday that’s been bothering me…” “Here's how I understood that…” Rabbi Meir Shapiro of Lublin hatched the Daf Yomi program in 1923, at the first convention of Agudath Israel. Participants would commit...

Dec 21, 2012, 5:26 PM

You versus the true you

Who are you? Not your name, not your career—who is the true you? In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Vayyigash, Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers. The emotional moment is among the most powerful in Genesis (44:1–15, translation based...

Load more

About Me

Rafi Miller is a proud oleh hadash and blogs about Daf Yomi.