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:

Thoughts on Chagall’s ‘White Crucifixion’

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California –This past Shabbat at Temple Beth Shalom we had a most remarkable discussion on the famous Russian painter, Marc Chagall, as we discussed his various paintings of Jesus’s crucifixion. A panel consisting of Dr. David Strom, Dr. Tzvi Sax, and myself explored the history of several of […]

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Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

‘Paid protesters’ report a hoax which had me fooled

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — It was brought to my attention this morning that the story about paid protesters to which I alluded in a column, here linked, was indeed a fake story.  For this I apologize.  Paul Horner loves fooling people with fabricated articles. In fact, Horner’s con was so effective,

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Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA

Paid protesters and employers must be condemned

Editor’s Note:  News articles to which this column alluded were a hoax.  Apologizing for being taken in, Rabbi Samuel has filed an updated column, here linked.  By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — The riots and protests spreading around the country might give one the impression that these are spontaneous outbreaks, yet there

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Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA

From election’s dissonance, perhaps comes a pathway

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — After everything that has been said and done, this election will probably be remembered as one of the most acrimonious elections, full of mudslinging, accusations of improprieties, and personal attacks that our country has ever seen. The brilliant French political thinker, Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) wrote

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Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA

Conversion by Rabbi Lookstein should be honored

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — One of my favorite concepts in logic is the reductio ad absurdum (Latin: “reduction to the absurd”) argument, which is a logical method of argument that proves the falsity of a premise  by following its implications to a logical but absurd conclusion. The latest news regards the nullification

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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

U.S. government should welcome Islamic reformers

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Reformations are good for the soul. They keep the religious leaders and faiths in check. In the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, people began to read the Bible critically for the first time without having the local priest spoon-feed it to  them while they sat on

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

SDJW thanks its March 2016 contributors

SAN DIEGO — San Diego Jewish World expresses its appreciation to the byliners and staff photographers whose works appeared in March 2016 editions. They included: David Amos Eitan Arom Judy Lash Balint Kenneth Bandler Laurie Baron Amber Bartlett Jeremy Ben-Ami Boaz Bismuth Ronnie Blair Dan Bloom Shoshana Bryen Stephen Bryen Cynthia Citron Richard L. Cravatts Jack Forman

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Barry Shaw, Cynthia Citron, Donald H. Harrison, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Eileen Wingard, Eric George Tauber, Eva Trieger, Fred Reiss, EdD, Ira Sharkansky, Lawrence Baron, Mark D. Zimmerman, Melanie Rubin, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Michael Ordman, Natasha Josefowitz, Sheryl Rowling, Shor M. Masori, Shoshana Bryen, Steve Kramer