14th November 2014/21 Cheshvan 5775 Our Torah is “TORAT CHAYIM” –a Torah of Life. It addresses the life of human beings and wastes almost no time on issues such as how angels live in heaven… One of the most basic facts of human life is that all of us are bound to die. Each and […]
WaYera – 5775
weAnochi A’far waEfer – I am (merely) dust and ashes When Abraham learns of the Divine intention to wipe out the entire wicked city of Sodom, he entreats before the Supreme Judge to save the city even for the sake of a small minority of righteous people in it. This back and forth verbal exchange […]
Noah – 5775
Getting Drunk “Noah, the tiller of the soil, planted a vineyard” [Genesis 9:20]. Was he the first to discover the secret of producing wine? Rashi explains that Noah took with him saplings of grapevines and figs to the ark, but he does not draw a conclusion that before the flood Noah was a drinker. It […]
Shabbat Shuvah (Haazinu) 5775 / 26-27 Sep.2014
Why did our tradition assign this time of year as the season of repentence and forgiveness? Rabbinic tradition claims that Moses went down with the second set of Tablets of covenant on the 10th Tishrei, so on that date all realized that the sin of the Golden calf was forgiven. The Biblical text does not mention […]
Introduction to Malchuyot – Coronation of God
R.H. Musaf 5775 (Sep.25, 2014) The Shofar served two different functions in ancient times: It served as the siren warning of an approaching danger: war, flood, wild beasts… It also served as the trumpet calling all to rejoice with a new king or with a new year… All these different purposes are still imbedded in […]
God’s partners –Evening of Rosh HaShanah 5775
In my recent visit in Israel I met a man who has studied and researched for years the sounds that birds use to communicate… I asked him if the birds have any sound which expresses the idea of the ‘creator’ or ‘God’ of nature. He replied: Nothing of that sort! Their languages are very practical, […]