An award-winning speaker, popular teacher, and experienced officiant.
“Man can alter his life by changing his thinking”
~ William James
An award-winning speaker, popular teacher, and experienced officiant.
“Man can alter his life by changing his thinking”
~ William James
Rabbinic Services
Rabbi Allen is ready to serve your needs in a variety of capacities. He is an award-winning speaker, popular teacher, and experienced officiant.
Speaker
Teacher
Officiant
Rabbi Allen is pleased to meet with you to discuss officiating at your wedding. With the experience of officiating at more than four hundred weddings, Rabbi Allen can customize each …
Books
In addition to the scholarly articles he has contributed to peer reviewed publications, Rabbi Allen has edited two books on Jewish law and co-written along with Harvey Haber a book of introductory prayers for various occasions. Rabbi Allen has also made a significant contribution to the understanding of Jewish theology, philosophy, history, and religious practice through his books.
Thinking About Good And Evil: Jewish Views From Antiquity To Modernity
The most comprehensive book on the topic, Thinking about Good and Evil traces the most salient Jewish ideas about why innocent people seem to suffer, why evil individuals seem to prosper, and God’s role in such matters of (in)justice, from antiquity to the present.
Outlook & Insights
VaYera 5782 – What Makes Lot Worthy of Salvation
After visiting Abraham, two of the three angels make their way to Sodom. The narrative tells us they arrive in the evening (Genesis 19:1). Both RaShI and Rabbi Ovadiah Seforno explain that in terms...
Asking Why – Lekh Lekha 5782
The genius of the Torah is that the picture of the world it presents often correlates with current ideas. For instance, since the pioneering work of Donald Winnicott at the beginning of the...
Judaism and Science – Noah 5782
One of the towering figures in modern philosophy is Karl Popper. Born to Jewish parents in Vienna in 1902 he escaped the rise of Nazism by fleeing o New Zealand and eventually London, England....
With Autonomy, Responsibility – Bereshit 5782
The concept of autonomy goes back to the politics of ancient Greece. A city had autonomia when its citizens made their own laws, as opposed to being under the control of a dominant or conquering...
True Victory – Hol HaMo’ed Sukkot 5782
The midrash (Pesiqta d’Rav Kahana, ed. Mandelbaum, Vol. II, p. 406) identifies seven specific commandments related to the celebration of Sukkot: the taking of the lulav, etrog, myrtles, and willows,...
Ha’azinu 5782 – Nothing Superfluous, Nothing Trivial
Another fundamental assumption of the Rabbis about the Torah is that there is not even one superfluous word in the Torah. There are lessons to be learned from every word or phrase no matter how...