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 Reflections on Our Personal Tragedy .: Viewed: 2497 times :.
In Loving Memory of Asher Shmuel Chaim ben Tziona V'Ephraim
My wife and I lost our precious and beloved son, Asher, a few months ago. He was only ten years old. Obviously, this tragic event, prompted many questions. One of the questions is, that one mourns a father or a mother for an entire year, while for other close relatives, including a child, the mourning period (Avelut) is only...
Published: July 1, 2013 |
Why Does Psalm 79 Sing about the Temple's Destruction .: Viewed: 2617 times :.
Was the act of the Churban Beit Hamikdash (the Destruction of the Temple) a totally negative event or really a hidden positive one? Tehillim Chapter 79 holds the answer. This Tehillim deals with the gruesome details of the Temple's Destruction, and yet it begins with the words, "A song to Asaf". The Talmud in Kiddushin 31b asks that it would have been more appropriate to start with the words,...
Published: June 18, 2013 |
Hope in the Midst of Despair .: Viewed: 2608 times :.
Can we imagine what it was like when Jerusalem and the Beit Hamikdosh were destroyed? Can we picture the devastation, the carnage and the slaughter? It was the original Holocaust. As the surviving starving captives were being marched off to Babylon, they must have felt that G-d had abandoned them. They must have thought that G-d doesn't care about us anymore.
The Zohar, however, gives...
Published: June 18, 2013 |
The Torah's View on Gay Marriage .: Viewed: 2563 times :.
With Gay Parades scheduled for this summer in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, this article may not be PC (politically correct). The Meiri, however, on the Mishnah in Avot 5:20 states, "One must always strive to uphold and speak the truth and to dispute anyone who attempts to corrupt it, because the truth fears no one."
The Torah (Vayikra 18:22) considers homosexuality a "toevah" (an abomination), a...
Published: May 27, 2013 |
Prayer – The Right to Argue with G-d! .: Viewed: 2532 times :.
For the Refuah Sheleimah of Herb Sunshine
The Talmud (Berachot 26b) says, "Tefilot Avot tiknum" – "Prayer was established by the Avot". The Talmud then uses the following verse (Bereshit 19:27) to prove how Avraham established Prayer: "Vayaskem Avraham baboker el hamakom asher amad sham et pnei Hashem" – "And Avraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had stood...
Published: May 6, 2013 |
Jerusalem: What's in a Name? .: Viewed: 3243 times :.
Names play a significant role in Judaism. In the Torah, the name of almost every person comes with an explanation or reason for the name. The name Adam is derived from the Hebrew word, "adama" (earth), to remind us of our humble roots and beginnings. Avraham, will become the "Av" (father), of many nations. The name Yitzchak, is a reminder of his parents Tzchok (laughter), upon hearing the...
Published: April 22, 2013 |
Shavuot: In G-d We Trust! .: Viewed: 2731 times :.
The Talmud (Shabbat) states that an apostate said to Rava, "You are an impetuous people for you put your mouths before your ears!"
Our mouths before our ears?!! What the apostate referred to was "Naaseh v' Nishma", the famous phrase uttered by the Jewish People when we stood at the foot of Mount Sinai and G-d asked us if we would accept the Torah. "We will do, and then we will hear," we...
Published: April 18, 2013 |
Aaron's Moment of Silence (and Mine) .: Viewed: 3594 times :.
In Loving Memory of Our Dear Son, Asher Shmuel Chaim ben Ephraim V'Tziona Z"L.
After Aaron's two sons were struck dead by G-d, the Torah records Aaron's reaction, in Vayikra 10:3, "And Aaron was silent." The Ramban notes that Aaron maintained his silence only after first breaking into sobs. The Abarbanel disagrees asserting that Aaron did not react to the tragic death of his sons....
Published: April 10, 2013 |
How to Become Holy! .: Viewed: 2656 times :.
“Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy for I, Hashem your G-d, am holy” (Vayikra 19:2). Rashi comments on this verse that being holy means to separate your self from sexual immorality. But that is just the starting point of attaining a state of being holy.
In the non-Jewish world, to sanctify one's self, or to be holy, means to cut yourself off from...
Published: April 2, 2013 |
The Goal of the Exodus: Don't Eat Bugs .: Viewed: 2349 times :.
"You shall not defile yourselves through any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. For I am G-d who elevates you from the Land of Egypt."" (Vayikra 11:v.44,45) What is the connection between the Exodus from Egypt and the prohibition of eating insects? Why does the Torah juxtapose these two subjects? HaRav Mordechai HaCohen in his sefer, Al HaTorah, gives a profound explanation. Certain...
Published: March 6, 2013 |
Shir Hashirim:The Holiest Book in the Bible .: Viewed: 2471 times :.
We have a custom to recite Shir Hashirim (The Song of Songs) on the Shabbat during Pesach. Many reasons have been offered to explain why. One is that Pesach takes place in the month of spring (Chodesh Haaviv), and Shir Hashirim is a song about spring and renewal. The Brisker Rav says that the month of Nisan did not become the season of freedom because the events of Pesach fell in it, but these...
Published: March 6, 2013 |
The Rabbis' Seder – For Men Only? .: Viewed: 3360 times :.
"It happened that Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar Ben-Azarya, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarphon were reclining in Bnei Brak. They were discussing the Exodus from Egypt all that night, until their students came and told them: 'Our Rabbis! The time has come for reciting the morning Shema!'"(Pesach Haggadah). This story is read by all Jews on Pesach at the Seder. At first sight, it is a...
Published: February 26, 2013 |
Purim – No Pain No Gain .: Viewed: 2437 times :.
During the festival of Purim we recite the Al Hanisim prayer. The prayer reads, "and for the miracles and for the salvations and for the mighty deeds and for the victories and for the wonders and for the consolations and for the battles which You performed for our ancestors in those days, at this time." In this declaration of thanks, we use many expressions of gratitude for the wonders and...
Published: February 10, 2013 |
Living with Eyes Wide Shut .: Viewed: 2511 times :.
The Talmud in Megillah 13b explains that when Haman targeted the Jews for annihilation, he said to Achashverosh, "Let us implement the final solution to destroy the Jews." Achashverosh replied, "Not so fast. I am afraid of their G-d lest He do to me what He did to my predecessors, Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzer." Haman relieved the king of that fear when he said, "Yeshno Am Echad" which translates...
Published: February 5, 2013 |
Must One Honor Abusive Parents? .: Viewed: 3509 times :.
"Honor your father and your mother" (Shemot 20:12) and "Your mother and father shall you respect" (Vayikra 19:3) are the Torah sources for children's responsibility to their parents. Parents are due this respect because, "There are three partners in a person, G-d, the father and the mother. When a person honors his father and mother, G-d says, 'I consider it as if I had dwelt among them, and...
Published: February 5, 2013 |
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