Spark-of-all-truths
After all of the hoopla of the big production, which we call the Decalogue, one man climbed the mountain…Up there, far from prying eyes, Moses studied. Exactly what he studies, we are not told. However, what his menu was is recorded for posterity. “Forty days and forty nights, bread he did not eat and water he did not drink.” Ever thought of trying it?
Imagine you are attempting to solve a problem when suddenly you jump up and exclaim, “I have it! I have the answer!” Everyone asks, “What is it?” You brush them off murmuring, “Sh! Sh!...” You don’t want to talk. You close your eyes and signal with your hands for them not to disturb you. But how…
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History, Not Legend
A question I often get: “Is there any rational proof that than more thirty three hundred years ago a heavenly voice announced, ‘I am the only G-d around here, so you better not have any others. Also don’t let me catch any of you lying, stealing, killing, coveting or being disrespectful to your Mom and Dad!’”
I am sure that all of you are familiar with conspiracy theories. No man ever landed on the moon, it was filmed in Arizona, or, Bill Clinton is a communist agent. Perhaps, the theory goes, Jews invented the Sinai saga. Conspiracies are very popular because…
they provide simple explanations for a complex world. Let us examine two types of stories that are part of…
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Rabbi Akiva’s Moshiach
They both turned their lives around; became a success; but began as outsiders. Who were they, and why did they end their careers in disagreement?
Rabbi Akiva started his spiritual journey at the age of forty. Until then he could not have told you the difference between an Aleph and Bet. What changed everything? A rock with a hole. Hardly a miracle; not even memorable, until he asked, “What made a hole in this stone?” He was told, “The water which constantly drips every day.” Akiva immediately reflected, “If that which is soft can engrave that which is hard, then the words of Torah which are like steel can certainly penetrate my heart which is but flesh.” He immediately turned…
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Jerusalem Matters
London comes from a Celtic word which means, “A wild and wooded town.” Cairo is an anglicized version of the Arab name for Mars, while Paris is named for the Paris of Greek myth. In contrast, Jerusalem was named by G-d Himself.
On the 28th day of Iyar (approximately one week before Shavuos) the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount were liberated during the 1967 Six Day War, uniting the Arab and Jewish sections of the city. The day is commemorated in Israel as Jerusalem Day.
Through 2,000 years of exile, Jews from four corners of the world always turned in prayer toward Jerusalem. What memory were they so eager to preserve?
We need to understand the importance…
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Pesach Sheni - Second Chance (21:1)
SECOND CHANCE (21:1)
The Talmud, basing itself on the very first verse in this week’s Torah portion of Emor, tells us about responsibilities. According to our Sages the “great” (adults) have the obligation to instruct the “small” (children) in the observance of mitzvot.
In Chassidic philosophy these terms are not limited to interpersonal relationships. Just as there are “the great” and “the small” in the world at large, within the microcosm of man these concepts also exist. The great, meaning the mind and intelligence, are there to guide and teach the small - the limbs, the practical implementation. Does one learn only in order to know, or also to do? Assuredly, the greatness of Torah study is that it brings…
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Second Chance
The Talmud, basing itself on the very first verse in this week’s Torah portion of Emor, tells us about responsibilities. According to our Sages the “great” (adults) have the obligation to instruct the “small” (children) in the observance of mitzvot.
In Chassidic philosophy these terms are not limited to interpersonal relationships. Just as there are “the great” and “the small” in the world at large, within the microcosm of man these concepts also exist. The great, meaning the mind and intelligence, are there to guide and teach the small - the limbs, the practical implementation. Does one learn only in order to know, or also to do? Assuredly, the greatness of Torah study is that it brings about Torah action….
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It's a Book of Light
Lag B’Omer, the thirty-third day of the Omer count from Pesach to Shavuos, is the day most associated with the teachings of Kabbalah. It is the anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, author of the most basic Kabbalistic work, the Zohar. Literally, the Aramaic word Zohar is translated as luminance or radiance, but it is most often referred to as The Book of Splendor.
Rabbi Shimon, who brought us this so-called Bible of Jewish Mysticism, taught his disciples more than just the secrets of the Torah. He also instructed them on how to celebrate life, and sometimes even death, according to these inner disciplines. Concerning the date of his passing, he directed his students that at that…
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The Lag B’omer Mystery
The Omer period should have been a time of joyful anticipation, marking as it does, the Exodus from Egypt until the revelation at Sinai. Instead, it is a time of semi-mourning, except for Lag B’omer, when our sorrow is temporarily halted. What occurred then? The Talmud relates that during this period, Rabbi Akiva’s 24,000 students died from a mysterious plague sent from Heaven because, “They did not show respect to one another.” Nonetheless, on Lag B’omer the plague ended. This only creates new questions. Why does this event merit thirty-two days of sadness when greater tragedies, such as the destruction of both Temples, are marked by a single day of grief. In sheer numbers, the Inquisition, Crusades, Chemelnitsky pogroms, and…
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How Moses Slipped into the Megilla
How Moses Slipped into the Megilla
1. Where is Moses alluded to in the Torah? (Rashi: that he will come) As it says before the Flood, “Inasmuch as he is flesh, and his days shall be 120 years.” (Genesis 6:3) (Hebrew word for ‘inasmuch’ [beshegam] is numerically equivalent [345] to Moshe. “120 years,” is the exact life-span of Moses.)
2. Where is (the account of) Haman alluded to in the Torah? When G-d addresses Adam, “Did you eat of the tree?” (Genesis 3:11) [אHa-min, identical in spelling to Haman] (alluding to Haman’s being hanged on a tree.)
3. Where is (the account of) Esther alluded to in the Torah? “And I shall surely hide My face on that day.” (Deuteronomy…
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Invest Right
(Hebrew writing)
The literal translation of this verse is, “If a person will inadvertently sin by doing any of the things that G-d commanded shall not be done…” Although this straight-forward text is clean and unambiguous, that did not stop one of the great Chasidic masters of a century and a half ago to add another unique interpretation. According to him, the verse also means, “A person may sin when he does one of G-d’s commandements in a way that he should not have one it.”
While most people understand that one must atone for sins committed, this new perspective adds that one must sometimes ask forgiveness for mitzvot (good deeds) as well. This concept is best illustrated with the…
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Question & Listen
The summer of 656 CE was hot and bloody. In the Arabian Peninsula temperatures ran high, but tempers flared even higher as an armed revolt erupted against the third Caliph (successor) since Mohammed. Only thirty four years had passed since the Koran had been written and already there existed scribal variations. Othman the Caliph issued an official text and declared all the others to be unkosher. This incensed the faithful of other tribal groups and a civil war arose which still plagues the Moslem world.
In contrast, the Five Books of Moses have enjoyed more than thirty three hundred years of consistency. Torahs today read exactly as they did when the Jews first crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land….
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Mitzvah Preparations
Don’t look now but it’s coming fast and furious. Pesach , that is. In fact, if my calendar is telling the truth, in exactly twenty one days Jews the world over will be reclining at their respective Seders.
The Art of Celebration
The festival of Sukkot is generally described as “the season of our rejoicing.” Within the holiday itself, a peculiar ceremony occurs that expresses our joy to the greatest intensity. Its name is Simchat Beit Hashoeiva and it reflects the ultimate celebration.
Sparkling waters of the Shiloach Stream outside Jerusalem were drawn in golden buckets and brought up to the altar of the Temple, where they were poured into a silver basin. Open at the bottom, the basin let the water spill into a cavity within the altar walls, which led into the underground foundations of the Temple. This ritual took place to the accompaniment of music and celebration of unprecedented proportions.
Why the poured out water? Why the unbridled joy?...
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