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 Can Evolution and the Torah's Account of Creation Coexist? .: Viewed: 4152 times :.
There are remarkable similarities between the account of the creation as given in Breishit and the theory of evolution. First, light was created, then the firmament, followed by sea, land and vegetation. The creation of the heavenly bodies was followed by fish and birds, and then by land animals. Only finally, as the culmination of G-d's work, was man created. Indeed, the Torah's description...
Published: May 24, 2011 |
The Four Sons: Four Blessings .: Viewed: 4150 times :.
כנגד אבעה בנים דברה תורה (הגדה של פסח) The four sons occupy a key place in the Haggadah. The author states their questions and then spells out the answers, both of which are based on Biblical texts. The Torah is realistic;...
Published: May 24, 2011 |
An Educational Magic Moment Lost .: Viewed: 4148 times :.
The recent prayer rally in Jerusalem was one of the largest gatherings of Jews praying since the Mount Sinai revelation where over 600,000 Jews came together in prayer and supplication. There was even a special blessing recited for a gathering of 600,000 Jews. This was a golden opportunity for the Chareidi public to communicate directly with their secular brethren, allay their fears, and...
Published: March 10, 2014 |
Is Hamas the Present-Day Amalek? .: Viewed: 4145 times :.
Over 6000 rockets and mortar shells have been fired at Israel since the Gaza withdrawal and the expulsion of almost 10,000 Jews from their homes in the summer of 2005. This is including hundreds of missiles that were launched at Israel while the supposed truce between Hamas and Israel was in effect. Actually, it was a one-sided cease-fire. While we ceased, they continued to fire. Why does...
Published: May 24, 2011 |
The Rabbis' Seder – For Men Only? .: Viewed: 4124 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 |
Tisha Bav During The Second Temple: Feast or Fast? .: Viewed: 4106 times :.
The prophet Zechariah, who lived towards the end of the Babylonians exile after the destruction of the first Temple, says in chapter 8, that G-d tells him that all the feast commemorating the destruction of the Temple shall become to the house of Judah days of joy, gladness and holidays.
The Tamud explains this passage that all these fast days will become feast days when the Messiah comes....
Published: May 24, 2011 |
The Exodus from Egypt: Road Map of the Final Redemption .: Viewed: 4099 times :.
“And Moshe took his wife and sons and mounted them on the donkey.”(Shemot 4:20) Rashi makes the cryptic comment, “The donkey that Moshiach will utilize to usher in the Final Redemption.” How do we understand this strange comment of Rashi? Can a donkey live for thousands of years? The explanation is that Rashi is speaking metaphorically. Rashi means that when G-d...
Published: January 15, 2012 |
The Heroine of the Korach Mutiny .: Viewed: 4097 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 |
Human Cloning & Halacha .: Viewed: 4086 times :.
Human cloning is making headlines around the world, as something of a new phenomenon. But actually there was a human clone 5762 years ago. As we read in Genesis 2:21-22, “G-d cast a deep sleep on man and while he slept, G-d took one of his ribs and closed up the wound with flesh. And G-d cloned the rib that he had taken from man into a woman.” While the cloning of Adam to create...
Published: May 24, 2011 |
Yom KippurÂ’s Mysterious Scapegoat: SatanÂ’s Bribe? .: Viewed: 4070 times :.
What is the meaning and purpose of the strange ceremony of the scapegoat which involves pushing a goat off a cliff on Yom Kippur? Â Ramban explains according to the Kabbalah that it is a symbolic pay-off or bribe to the Satan to prevent him from prosecuting Israel on Yom Kippur. That’s why the ceremony of the scapegoat is done through a lottery which is determined and controlled by G-d....
Published: May 24, 2011 |
Will Moshiach Reveal a New Torah? .: Viewed: 4062 times :.
"And Moshe took his wife and sons and mounted them on the donkey."(Ex. 4:20) Rashi makes the cryptic comment;" the donkey that Moshiach will utilize to usher in the Final Redemption. How do we understand this strange comment of Rashi? Can a donkey live for thousands of years? The explanation is that when G-d appointed Moshe to be the Redeemer of Israel, He set those cosmic forces in motion...
Published: May 24, 2011 |
Tu B'Shvat: Why the Torah Compares a Human Being to a Tree .: Viewed: 4048 times :.
The source for Tu B'Shvat is the opening Mishnah of the Talmudic Tractate Rosh Hashana: "The Academy of Hillel taught that the 15th of Shvat is the New Year for the Trees." Â What does that mean, "New Year for the Trees?" Â Tu B'Shvat is technically the day when trees stop absorbing water from the ground and instead draw nourishment from their sap. In Halacha, this means that fruit which has...
Published: January 31, 2007 |
Purim: G-d's Jigsaw Puzzle .: Viewed: 4047 times :.
Amazingly, G-d's Name does not appear in the Megillah – because precisely that is its lesson: G-d's ways are not always obvious. His miracles are most often not illuminated by lightning nor by thunder as by the Giving of the Torah. In the concisely written 167-verse Megillah, no seas split and no dry bones come to life. But in the truest sense, the greatest of all miracles is narrated in...
Published: May 24, 2011 |
A Tikkun for the Spies Syndrome .: Viewed: 4039 times :.
What was the sin of the Spies? It cannot be that the sin was the very fact that they were sent. On the contrary, we find the use of spies against the enemy camp in many places. For example, it says, “Moshe sent out men to spy on Ya’azer” (Bamidbar 21:32). Likewise, Yehoshua sent out two spies to see the Land and Jericho. Regarding Gideon we...
Published: June 13, 2014 |
Avraham's Legacy: Escorting Guests? .: Viewed: 4038 times :.
"Avraham walked with them to escort them" (Genesis 18:16) The Rambam writes ( Hilchos Aveil 14:1), "There is a mitzvah enacted by the Sages to visit the sick, to comfort the bereaved, to conduct a funeral for the dead, to marry off a bride and to escort guests as they are leaving."
The Rambam gives us a short list of five mitzvos that we are required to do for other people. If you would...
Published: May 24, 2011 |