Parshat Lech Lecha, Podcast #2 Parshat (Torah Portion) Lech Lecha – Learning from our forefather Abraham how to confront a confused and confusing world. Lech Lecha, Podcast #2 Welcome, Podcast #1 An introduction to our new podcasts and a look at the correlations between the situation before the Yom Kippur War and the current situation. … Read more
Rabbi Chanan Morisson ( based on the writings of Harav Kook)
Are our powers of logic and reason sufficient in order to know how to live a life of morality and holiness?
Solomon had finished building the Temple in Jerusalem, but there was an unforeseen complication. Everything was done; the entire structure and all of its vessels were complete. All that remained was the final act of placing the ancient Ark – containing the luchot from Mount Sinai – into the Holy of Holies.
The Ba’al Shem Tov the founder of modern day Hassidism said “Forgetting is the beginning of Exile; Remembering is the beginning of Redemption.”
President Shimon Peres said in an interview with David Hume (2000) the following chilling words, “You know, they say the Jewish people have a long memory. What we need is a rich imagination today, because the things that are going to happen-or did happen already-are so revolutionary that the past becomes pale-irrelevant.” We are living in a world that glorifies the present and denies its responsibilities of the past. As a result we continue to get mired in the same erroneous conceptions and mistakes that have plagued us for generations. This is because destiny and time do not run in linear fashion but rather as a cyclical spiral ascending to its climax. Yet as the spiral ascends the same challenges reoccur and the same points of decision reappear. It is at those junctures that responsible and destiny driven decisions must be made or else the same mistakes will reoccur.
“And ye shall keep it a feast unto HaShem seven days in the year; it is a statute for ever in your generations; ye shall keep it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in sukkot seven days; all that are home-born in Israel shall dwell in sukkot; that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in sukkot, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am HaShem your G-d.”
Our sages disagree as to the meaning of the verse, “that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in sukkot.” According to Rabbi Eliezer, the word sukkot refers to the Clouds of Glory with which God protected the Jews. Rabbi Akiva teaches that it refers to the actual booths that they lived in during their time in the wilderness.
The understood principle in all such disagreements is “these and these are the words of living Torah.”
Last week another chapter of Israeli-Palestinian “peace talks” began. It hasn’t gone very far yet, and it still could all break down. But for those who see a sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza as an intolerable security threat to Israel, it’s enough to induce unease.
Imagine cutting two chunks out of New Jersey, adding up to almost one-fourth of its land mass, and setting up a deeply hostile statelet in them with a population nurtured in hatred for generations. Rocket firings, sniper fire, and terror incursions are some of the problems that spring to mind. Not to mention—particularly since this “New Jersey” is in the Middle East—alliances with enemy countries, which could include inviting such countries’ armies into its territory. Collusions involving sabotage or even WMD attacks are not at all far-fetched.
Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year is marked by great intensity fervor and meditation. While it is true that the gates of the Divine Palace are always accessible to each individual every day of the year, nevertheless the gates are there, the guards are in place and the moat encircles the Palace. That is to say that “Life” and all of its continual flow continues to place obstacles in our way in our attempt to find the way within our soul , into the heavenly palace.
On these Days of Awe, the “King” is in the field. He is (metaphorically speaking) standing in the spot where we are standing and is within easy reach. As we reach the final day of the ten days of Awe the urgency of the moment overtakes of and the sense of the “closing of the gates” seizes our hearts in its dramatic grip.
by Rabbi Nachman Kahana (Israelnationalnews.com)
The year 5771 has begun, but it’s yet too early to judge if it entered as a lamb or a lion – time will tell.
The alphabetical symbols for the numerals 5771 are:
Tav Shin Ayin Aleph
which, in my mind, serves as a double acrostic. The first is:
Tiyeh Snay Aliyah Artsa
May this year be one of mass aliya to our land
The second acrostic will come later.
By Rabbi Chanan Morrison
The order of the shofar blasts on Rosh Hashanah may be understood as corresponding to major stages in the history of the universe. There are two basic types of shofar blasts:
The shofar blasts are organized in sets of “tekiyah, shevarim-teruah, tekiyah.” First we blow one long blast, then several broken and staccato blasts, and then a long concluding blast. What do the different blasts symbolize, and why this particular order?
