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 Chanuka: Festival of Education .: Viewed: 3228 times :.
There is an interesting Talmudic passage in Tractate Shabbat: 23: "One who is careful about the Chanuka lights will have children who are talmidei Chakhamim (scholars)." Rashi explains this enigmatic passage by referring to the verse in Proverbs 6 which says: "a candle is a mitzvah and the Torah is light."On the basis of the mitzvah of the candles of the Sabbath and Chanuka, the light of Torah...
Published: December 6, 2011 |
SarahÂ’s Tent: The Original Mishkan .: Viewed: 3272 times :.
Sarah was the classic Jewish mother and one of the seven prophetesses quoted in Scripture. Her home was no ordinary tent. It had extraordinary qualities: a cloud of holiness, doors which symbolically proclaimed their openness to all passersby, a blessing in her dough, a Sabbath lamp that remained lit all week long. These miracles were not Abraham’s doing; they all ceased with...
Published: November 10, 2011 |
Escorting Guests: A Greater Mitzvah than a Sumptuous Meal .: Viewed: 5696 times :.
The Talmud states (Shabbos 127a) that receiving and hosting guests is greater than greeting G-d. We learn this from Genesis 18:3, “Avraham said, ‘My L-rd, if I have found favor in Your eyes, please do not leave your servant’.” Avraham asked G-d to wait while he attends to his guests. Â The Mitzvah of Hachnosas Orchim (receiving and hosting guests) consists of three...
Published: November 1, 2011 |
How to Know Your Mission in Life .: Viewed: 2791 times :.
Why are we here? What is the purpose and meaning of our existence? There is a perplexing verse in Genesis 2:18, God said, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make for him a helpmate who is against him.” Â At first sight this verse seems to be a paradox: a helpmate assists, she does not oppose. The Talmud (Bavli Yevamot 63a) phrases the question as follows. The Hebrew...
Published: October 27, 2011 |
The Helpmate Who Opposes! .: Viewed: 2703 times :.
God said, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make for him a helpmate who is against him.” (Genesis:2:18) Â At first sight this verse seems to be a paradox: a helpmate assists, she does not oppose. The Talmud (Bavli Yevamot 63a) phrases the question as follows. The Hebrew word, Ezer, is a “helper”, and K’negdo is “against him”?! The Talmud...
Published: September 27, 2011 |
Yom Kippur: A Taste of Eternity .: Viewed: 3243 times :.
Yom Kippur is the most solemn day of the Jewish year and it is also the strangest day, because it seems to negate all that makes us human. For this one day we step out of ourselves and become something else, something other wordly. We are no longer part of this world as we know it. Denying our bodies food, drink, sex and any possible physical pleasure, we act as if the normal impulses that...
Published: September 4, 2011 |
Yona's Sailors Dilemma: Kill One to Save Many? .: Viewed: 3861 times :.
Was throwing Yona into the sea to save the sailors on the boat in accordance with Halachah or not? Sanhedrin 74b teaches: Regarding any of the sins in the Torah, if a person is told "Violate it and you will not be killed, " he should violate it. The only exceptions are idolatry, sexual sin and murder…And how do we know that this applies to murder? It stands to reason… Can one...
Published: September 4, 2011 |
Days of Awe or Awesome Days .: Viewed: 2105 times :.
We will begin to observe a period of time that has come to be called the Days of Awe, hayamim hanoraim . What is the implication of the term "awe"? In popular Hebrew parlance today it seems to mean something terrible ( ayom v'nora ). On the other hand American slang has taken "awesome" to mean something extrodinarily wonderful and fantastic. Which is it?
Although the term Days of Awe does...
Published: August 25, 2011 |
Israel's Long And Winding Road .: Viewed: 2685 times :.
Moshe wrote their goings forth, stage by stage, at the commandment of G-d. (Numbers 33:2) This sidra opens with a list of the forty-two places where the Israelites encamped during their forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Forty verses record nothing more than the names of places where the people encamped and from which they journeyed. To highlight the fact that these verses recall...
Published: July 25, 2011 |
How To Find The Lost Keys of the Holy Temple .: Viewed: 2794 times :.
Four days a year Jews fast and mourn, commemorating different historical events of the destruction of the Holy Temple. The 17th day of Tammuz is one of the four days, and it begins a three week period of limited mourning that climaxes with Tisha B'Av, the day of the destruction of the bothTemples. These four days of fasting are found in the prophet Zechariah. Consistent with Judaism's...
Published: July 20, 2011 |
The Mitzvah to Redeem Captives: Symbol of The Entire Torah .: Viewed: 2793 times :.
Gilad Shalit has now been held captive for over 5 years by our "peace" partners. Throughout history, Jews have gone to remarkable lengths to retrieve their brethren from hostile hands. This mitzvah is referred to in rabbinic literature as "pidyon shivuyim" (redemption of captives). It is the only precept designated by the Talmud as a "mitzvah rabba" (great mitzvah). Its special status in...
Published: July 6, 2011 |
The Red Heifer's Great Secret .: Viewed: 3474 times :.
Rashi in Parshat Chukat quotes a Midrash that explains that the red heifer is a tikun for the sin of the golden calf.  "To what can this be likened? To a maid that worked in the palace of the king.  One day her child came and soiled the palace with his filth. The king said: 'Let the mother come and clean up her child's filth' " This is the concept of atonement for the golden calf,...
Published: June 27, 2011 |
The Heroine of the Korach Mutiny .: Viewed: 3361 times :.
In his revolt against the authority of Moses and Aaron, Korach was supported by Dathan and Abiram and by On, the son of Peleth. The opening verse of this sidra is the only place where On ben Peleth is mentioned; and his name does not occur in the more detailed narrative that follows. Noting the absence of the name from the subsequent account, the Talmud states, that On, the son of Peleth,...
Published: June 20, 2011 |
The Sin of the Spies: Defeatism and Despair .: Viewed: 2623 times :.
The covenant between the Land and People of Israel began the moment G-d told Abraham, “Go forth from your land…to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). From the very start, the relationship between these two was full of hardship because Eretz Yisrael is acquired through suffering (Talmud Berachot). Before Abraham had succeeded in setting down permanent roots in...
Published: June 12, 2011 |
Flags of our Fathers .: Viewed: 3075 times :.
Throughout their travels in the desert, the Israelites were commanded to set up their tents around tribal flags: "The Israelites shall encamp with each person near the banner carrying his paternal family's insignia. They shall encamp at a distance around the Ohel Moed (Bamidbar 2:2). What is the significance of these banners? The Midrash (Bamidbar Rabba 2:3) says that the inspiration for the...
Published: June 1, 2011 |