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Tower of Babel Hierarchy and its Dangers

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Thoughts on parashat Noach 5785

At the end of parashat Noach we have a story of the T ower of Babel. This story has been and
can be understood in a variety of ways. Let me suggest yet another take on it, starting with the
following statement: The T ower of Babel represents an overgrown hierarchy in society. The
existence of hierarchy like that, in a completely natural way, increases the distance between the
strata in society, between the classes in the society and creates a situation in which those on
top begin to speak a different language than those on the bottom. Language is understood here
metaphorically as a means of communication that is lost.

Being Mindful in the Transient World

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Reflection on Sukkot 5785

You’re probably familiar with the expression “a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” That was told to young women of bygone generations to encourage them to learn how to cook well so that they could “catch” a man. Well, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches, the same is true of coming close to God – The way to your neshamah (soul) is through your stomach as well, through the feeling you feel in both, your soul and your stomach.

On Genuine Teshuvah

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Erev Yom Kippur 5785 Sermon

First, let me start with a little introduction. We live in times of war, terrible war. Our brothers and sisters in our homeland, Israel, experience it and are scared everyday. I will think of them and pray for them today, which I encourage or don’t actually need to encourage you. But the topic of this drasha won’t be related to the situation in Israel. Yom Kippur is a holiday of introspection. We look inside us, to do the final analysis of our transgressions, our wrongdoings, our moral condition and generally the time of self-assessment. It’s not about what’s going on in the world, it’s about what’s going on inside us. For this exact reason we fast – we don’t eat, we don’t drink, we don’t have marital relations, we don’t even wash (except for health and some rabbinic authorities allow – for hygienic reasons). It is all meant to strengthen our spiritual, internal self against our physical self, to weaken the physical self, which is often stronger than the spiritual one[…]

Things Hidden by Divine Loving Kindness

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Thoughts on Parashat Nitzavim-Vayelech 5784

The Torah is actually not metaphysical. Yes, She mentions God very often but does not elaborate much about the Divine nature (except a few passages here and there). Metaphysics is not something the Torah is focused on. Her main focus is practical – to give us a moral and ritual code that will guide us on the path of righteousness and holiness. All of what I just said has a clear expression in our Torah portion for this week:[…]