April 16, 2021
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There have been several impacts from the increasingly powerful pocket computer we all carry. Perhaps the most detrimental of them is that it has grabbed our attention when we walk around the world. Many of us have walked and texted to our own detriment. Apart from running into poles and who knows what else, the other problem is that we no longer see our environment or the people around us. It is an unintended self-absorption, it is the ultimate narrowing of our eyes as all we see is the small de...
January 29, 2021
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Life is a process of highs and lows and these highs and lows can come close together. Many families have had births that occur right after a funeral and vice versa. The question is will the high enhance the bitterness of the low or, the opposite- can we make the highs be a safeguard to the lows? Or even better, can we turn these temporary lows into long term highs?
A perfect illustration of this process happens right after the Jewish people’s greatest moment. The sea has just split in front...
January 22, 2021
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The value we place on family began early on during the exodus. For the first few encounters between Moshe and Pharoh, Moshe asks for three days in order to have a holiday for G-d. The first time, and for subsequent times, he asks that the people should be able to leave in order to celebrate G-d. It is not entirely clear if he means all the people or the people that are involved in the actual service of G-d, including sacrifices, which at the time was done by men (it was a bloody procedure).
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January 15, 2021
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An article in the Harvard business review tracked an interesting change in our culture over the last 100 years. In the old days, being able to afford leisure time was a status symbol. It meant that a person was wealthy enough not to work and it was viewed favorably. A new trend, however, has changed all that. What is now perceived as high status is when a person says they are busy. It is a sign of success and value that a person is constantly busy. It must be they are always wanted for their tal...
January 8, 2021
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The origins of our greatest hero is shrouded in mystery. An anonymous Jewish man meets an anonymous Jewish women from the house of Levi and they have a child who is described by the general adjective as ‘good’. The Talmud wonders what this multi- purpose adjective alludes to and settles on five different possibilities. Interestingly, the first two possibilities are that this was Moshe’s actual name- Tov or the other opinion, Tuvia. But why were these names hidden in the Torah and never spelled o...
December 25, 2020
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How did Jesus get off the ground according to the Talmudic tradition (there is some debate as to whether this was the Jesus, but the simple reading is that it is)? The Talmud states that the issue was that the Rabbi didn’t communicate properly to Jesus. When Jesus erred (he accused his Rabbi of having improper thoughts), he was too harsh in his rebuke and didn’t bake into the rebuke a hint of love that if Jesus were to repent, he’d be welcomed back with open arms. The Talmud is quite critical ...
December 4, 2020
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If we think getting the land Israel has been difficult, perhaps, as difficult was getting the name Israel. It took a dusty wrestling match and an acute injury. But the real question is why the name change and why the name Israel? Granted, Abraham needed to change names from Avram to Avraham because his name came from a place of idolatry. But Isaac born into holiness didn’t go through any name changes, and ostensibly, Yakov was born into holiness too, so why did he undergo a name change?
If ...
November 20, 2020
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Isaac called over his eldest son Esav and told him, ‘grab your hunting gear, your sword and bow and go to the field and trap me a hunt.’ There are many strange things about this. We have known for quite some time that Esau was a capable hunter- he spent his youth in the field trapping. Why did his father need to remind him to grab his hunting gear and then spell out the weapons? But even stranger, why ask Esav to hunt at all? Isaac is a wealthy man and has his own flock that could be eaten. W...
November 7, 2020
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There is a strange way we describe our silent prayer- the standing prayer. Aside from the fact that many traditions do just the opposite, Buddhists sit and Muslims kneel, it is a strange moniker for the prayer. Standing happens to be how we do the prayer, but isn’t the content of the prayer a more telling aspect of what it is?
Furthermore, if we contrast that with the beginning with the service we see a major difference. The service begins almost intentionally with sitting when we say the ...
October 31, 2020
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The Torah is mum on how Avraham gets his start. Why him? What did he do to merit the greatest mission mankind has ever seen? Once he is picked we admit it is a fine choice. His tent is open, he stands up even for those who appear evil, and he is willing to follow G-d to the frontiers of human morality. But prior to that the Torah stays silent on why Hashem decides to set him on the most consequential journey in human history.
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