Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel is spiritual leader of Temple Beth Shalom in Chula Vista, California.

His books, available on Amazon, include:

Time to forgive Pete Rose, or throw other cheaters out of the Hall of Fame

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved baseball. When I was about 7 or 8, I could rattle off the top ten pitchers, batters, along with their minor league and career averages. Yes, baseball is terrific. Yet, today,  I must confess: I do not like […]

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Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Book explores the intellect of Rav. Joseph Solveitchik

Society and Self: On the Writings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, by Gerald J.(Ya’akov) Blidstein. OU Press, 2012, 155 pages, ISBN-10: 1602802041, U.S. cover price: $25.00 By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Gerald J. Blidstein’s Society and Self: On the Writings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik is an excellent introduction to the

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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Torah’s lesson, if followed, could have saved many patients

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California –Every custom has a remarkable history and story. In dealing with someone who has an unusual seminal discharge, the Torah defines that person as being ritually and ceremonially “impure” and is called a “zab” (cf. Lev. 15:8). Historically, such persons often experienced being shunned by the general

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Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Science, Medicine, & Education

If schools won’t take action against bullying, it’s time for lawsuits

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Horace Mann School of Cherry Hill, NJ,  is still living in the dark ages. It is ironic that the original Horace Mann opposed corporal punishment in the classroom. He was an early advocate for teaching moral values in the classroom, and that the character formation was as

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Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Science, Medicine, & Education

Haredim grapple with archaelogy and other sciences

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Haredim and archaeologists in the Holy Land have never been especially fond of each other. Traditionally, they are a little bit like meat and milk. By themselves, each is fine. However, when they get together, they create a combustive chemistry. Whenever an archeological excavation takes place,

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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Sometimes God’s seeming indifference shocks us to silence

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California —In this week’s parsha we read about the death of Aaron’s two sons, who died from an accidental explosion in the Tabernacle. Aaron’s reaction is quite telling–despite the absence of scriptural detail from the narrator. As is often the case with biblical narrative, more is said by

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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Rabbi Leo Baeck never left the Jewish people’s side

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA,  California — Among the non‑Orthodox rabbis who were placed in the concentration camps, Rabbi Leo Baeck provides one of the most outstanding examples of shepherding of that era. Baeck’s saintly conduct served as an inspiration to all who were with him in the camp. In the years prior

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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Remembering a rabbi who would not forget his fellow Jews

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California –Nothing challenges the belief in a benevolent God like the ubiquity of evil in the world.  For the Jewish people, the experience of the Holocaust revealed the inadequacy of traditional theology. The God of the Exodus seemed “to be out for lunch.”  Asked in more simple and

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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi