During this period of social distancing, I was scrolling through pictures saved on my computer. I saw some photos of a trip that my wife and I had taken to Australia to visit my parents, A"H. As we were boarding the flight I handed our boarding passes to the stewardess, but it was not obvious that my son was standing with me, so she pointed to him and said, “Does he ...
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We celebrated Lag B’Omer this week, marking, among other events, the transmission of Kabbalistic teachings by Rav Shimon bar Yochai to his students. The Zohar, written by Rav Shimon and his students is the central text of Kabbalah and is a vast, wide ranging work arranged around the Chumash, Five Books of Moses and the Five Megilot, the five scrolls. The language of the Zohar is a poetic, Aramaic, much ...
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On Friday this week we will celebrate Pesach Sheni, the second chance for those who were not able to celebrate the Passover offering in its correct time. This event has me reconsidering and thinking about Passover once again, even though the festival is over. Let us focus on the crossing of the Red Sea and its significance. Water is an interesting substance. It is named in Hebrew using a plural ...
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We will be celebrating the State of Israel’s 72nd Independence Day very soon (April 29nd), an occasion for gratitude to G-d and also to the people who sacrificed so much to create a homeland and a Jewish state for the first time in over 2000 years. However, this upcoming event raised a question in my mind, “Is independence a Jewish value?” It struck me that there are (at least) a ...
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For the Jewish people who came out of Egypt, the period between the Exodus and the Revelation at Mt. Sinai was one of continuous spiritual awakening. Their relationship with God grew stronger and closer. Miraculous events occurred daily. For the Jewish people in subsequent generations, this period continues to be one of the greatest of times of the year, in which we prepare ourselves for a renewal of our commitment ...
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Kashrut and Anthropology Anthropologists have viewed the laws of Kashrut as superstitious taboos, or as a reflection of the eating habits and norms of the ancient Near East. One author explained the prohibitions of Kashrut as purely a matter of economic necessity. A number of scholars explain the laws as being an ancient attempt at a health-food diet. The law against consumption of pork for example, is explained as an attempt ...
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Merely remembering the pivotal events of Jewish history or reading about them occasionally is not sufficient to imbue ourselves with these messages. God established Pesach and the other festivals as interludes in time designed to focus our attention and pick up on specific ideas and values that the ordinary activities of life usually prevent us from contemplating. They are times when we are totally immersed in a specific concept basic ...
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One of the most famous Haggadahs in the word, is the Sarajevo Haggadah. It is believed to have been taken out of Spain by Jews who were expelled in 1492. It was sold to the National Museum in Sarajevo in 1894. During the Second World War, the Haggadah was hidden from the Nazis by the Museum's chief librarian, Derviš Korkut, who at risk to his own life, smuggled the Haggadah out of ...
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(Mostly from my book, Gateway to Judaism) Now that I have been at home for over a week, teaching via Zoom, communicating via WhatsApp, not negotiating the traffic on the George Washington Bridge, I have had the time to look around our house. The symbol that looks back at me from virtually every door is the mezuzah. So, I thought it would be relevant to offer a few ideas about the ...
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Despite the coronavirus concerns and despite all the hardships that so many people are experiencing, we are still in the month of Adar, the month of joy. It may sound strange to speak of simcha, happiness, at this time, but it makes pragmatic and religious sense. This is especially true for those who are now homebound. Will you be a better spouse, parent, sibling, child, caregiver if you are happier? ...
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