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:

*A Shepherd’s Song
*Gentle Judaic Wisdom for a Troubled World
*Maimonides Hidden Torah Commentaries: Genesis 1-21
*Maimonides Hidden Torah Commentaries: Genesis: 22-50
*Rediscovering Philo of Alexandria: A First Century Torah Commentator (Vol 1): Genesis
*Rediscovering Philo of Alexandria: A First Century Torah Commentator (Vol 2): Exodus
*Rediscovering Philo of Alexandria: A First Century Torah Commentator (Vol 3) Leviticus
*Rediscovering Philo of Alexandria: A First Century Torah Commentator(Vol 4) Numbers
*Rediscovering Philo of Alexandria: A First Century Torah Commentator (Vol 5) Deuteronomy

What MLK would say about the Poway Chabad shooting

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — One of my congregants posed an interesting question we ought to consider asking: What would Rev Martin Luther King Jr. have said about the Poway synagogue shooting? It is an important question—not just for members of the Jewish community, but also for the African-American community. Throughout […]

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Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA

Jihadi Islam’s campaign to erase religious history

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California –Congresswoman Ilhan Omar never ceases to surprise us with the countless inane claims she makes on a daily basis. In one of her more interesting canards, she claimed that “Jesus was a Palestinian.” One might imagine that she will soon claim that the Israelites were also really

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International, Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East, USA

Violence, fanaticism are the curse of many religions

“We keep on being told that religion, whatever its imperfections, at least instills morality. On every side, there is conclusive evidence that the contrary is the case and that faith causes people to be more mean, more selfish, and perhaps above all, more stupid.”― Christopher Hitchens By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California —

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International, Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East, USA

Sometimes, “It’s Hard to Be a Jew”

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — As Jews are observing the Passover holiday this coming weekend, recalling a time when our ancestors left Egypt, the land of their oppression, we are witnessing a new kind of Exodus taking place today: Jews are leaving France in record numbers amidst the rising anti-Semitic attacks that have

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Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Book Review: ‘In Good Faith’

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California  — Often the greatest critics of religion offer us a series of criticism about the depth of our faith; they confront us with our hypocrisy. They challenge us to reexamine what it means to “believe.” As a young teenager, I remember hiding Raphael Patai’s book, Hebrew Myths in

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Book Review: ‘Gentle Judaic Wisdom’

By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel’s book Gentle Judaic Wisdom is a brilliant work, very wise, easy to read, and deceptively simple. The book is filled with quotes that have significant information. It is a rich cornucopia of wisdom quoted from sources such as the Torah, Mishna, Tosephta,

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Omar’s anti- Semitic calumny deserves sterner response

By Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Jewish tradition has long taught that the Hamans of the world accomplish more good than evil by uniting the Jewish people.  The Talmud relates, “The actions of Ahasuerus and Haman can be understood with a parable; … the sealing of Haman’s decree proved more effective than the

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Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East, USA

How Maimonides understood Torah

By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Unfortunately, most people of all religions only know what they were taught about their religion and the Bible that they learnt in grade school. Most of it is childish and wrong. It is a shame that people do not improve their knowledge about religion as they

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Women’s March leaders still embrace Farrakhan

-Third in a Series- By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — This is my last article for now dealing with some of the challenges the Jewish and black community face in their battle against racial intolerance and Anti-Semitism. The Women’s March demonstrated against Donald Trump at his inauguration. It was one of the

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International, Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA

In reply to Alice Walker’s calumnies against Jews

-Second in a Series- By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Most of us probably had a lot of respect and cheered for Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction. It is a story about the life of African-American women

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

LeBron James has much to learn about Jews

–First in a series– By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — The “secret” is out. According to the bigots, the Jews control the world! We own the media! Politicians do our bidding! The Jews “control” Wall Street! Have you heard about the old joke concerning two Jews who were dining at a Vienna

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Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Sports & Competitions, USA

Book Review: Siddur Avodat HaLev

Siddur Avodat HaLev (Hebrew and English Edition) Hardcover by Rabbinical Council of America; Editor: Rabbi Basil Herring, by Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 97896530-19362; 1346 pages By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — The brand new Siddur Avodat Halev is a fabulous new commentary on the traditional siddur, but unlike most commentaries you have read, the writers of this project

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi