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 Jerusalem: What's in a Name? .: Viewed: 3500 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 |
A Tikkun for the Spies Syndrome .: Viewed: 3490 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 |
Chanuka: Festival of Education .: Viewed: 3488 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 |
Tu B'Shvat: Why the Torah Compares a Human Being to a Tree .: Viewed: 3484 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 |
Yom Kippur: A Taste of Eternity .: Viewed: 3481 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 |
What is Kabala? .: Viewed: 3402 times :.
The Ramban in his introduction to his Torah commentary says that every field of knowledge – whether it be science, agriculture, medicine of palmistry – can be learned from the Torah. The Torah given to Moshe at Mount Sinai consists of the Written Law (the Five Books of Moses) and the four levels of the Oral Law (some of which was recorded in the Talmud):
Peshat – the...
Published: May 24, 2011 |
Nadav & Avihu - The Divine Kiss of Death .: Viewed: 3375 times :.
"And Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron, took both of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense, and offered strange fire before Hashem, which He did not command them. And there went out fire from Hashem, and devoured them, and they died before Hashem." ( Vayikra 10:1-2). Many Torah commentators have pondered why Nadav and Avihu died.
Was the "strange fire" sufficient cause for...
Published: April 17, 2012 |
Our Task as Jews: Unity, not Uniformity .: Viewed: 3370 times :.
At the Sinai Revelation, "the people all responded with a single voice, "We will keep every word that the L-rd has spoken'" (Exodus 24:3). Was this one-time phenomenon, in which every Jew was identical to every other in his conduct and thought, an ideal situation? Alternatively, might it not be that beyond every Jew's obligation to fulfill the 613 mitzvot and to believe in the tenets of...
Published: May 24, 2011 |
The Menora – Symbol of the 7 Branches of Science .: Viewed: 3366 times :.
The Torah commands Aharon, the High Priest, "When you light the lamps, towards the center of the Menora shall the seven lamps cast light." (Bamidbar 8:2) According to the Maharal and Rabbi Yonatan Eybishuts, the seven branches of the Menora represent the seven pillars of secular wisdom, knowledge and science. The Rambam in Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah Ch. 2 states that when you study nature and the...
Published: May 28, 2014 |
HaChodesh: The Mitzva to Re-JEW-venate .: Viewed: 3348 times :.
Why was Rosh Chodesh the first mitzva given to Israel as a nation while still in Egypt? Why is Parshat HaChodesh so important that it precedes the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai?
The Zohar, in explaining the importance of the new moon and our celebration of its renewal each month, states: "The Jewish nation is com- pared to the moon. Just as the moon wanes and seems to disappear into...
Published: May 24, 2011 |
Did G-d pray when He gave us the Torah? .: Viewed: 3346 times :.
At the giving of the Torah we find that G-d utters a prayer that we should always fear Him and observe His Mitzvot, for our own good (D'varim 5:26).
The Talmud in B'rachot 7a, brings another verse to prove that G-d prays: "I will bring them to My holy mountain, and make them rejoice in the house of My prayer, [for My house is a house of prayer for all nations]" (Yeshayahu 56:7). The pasuk...
Published: May 24, 2011 |
Chanuka: Ongoing Miracle of Israel's Eternity .: Viewed: 3344 times :.
By lighting the Chanuka Menorah, each and every Jewish home becomes a virtual Bet Hamikdash. We are transformed into virtual Kohanim for the eight days of Chanuka. Thus, the miracle of Chanuka continues forever.
Chanuka is the symbol of the Divine spark in the human soul, as Shlomo Hamelech says in Mishlei, נר ה ' נשמת אדם ," the...
Published: May 24, 2011 |
Human Cloning & Halacha .: Viewed: 3343 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 |
Flags of our Fathers .: Viewed: 3338 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 |
Rosh Hashanah's Mysterious Cover-Up .: Viewed: 3334 times :.
Why is it that we Jews celebrate the New Year at the beginning of the seventh month? Jewish tradition actually recognizes four New Year days (Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:1), but only the first of Tishrei, the one we know as Rosh Hashanah, is a major holiday. Â The mystery only increases when we remember that the Torah specifically identifies the month of Nisan, the month in which Passover falls,...
Published: September 20, 2006 |
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