Fall and Winter 

Fall and Winter 

As a young boy growing up in Melbourne, Australia, fall was almost non-existent and winter only meant that I had to wear shoes when playing outside and, occasionally, a parka. It never snows in Melbourne, and a brutal winter day can sometimes go down to the mid-40s. Immediately after I finished high school (in December,…

Shalom – Salaam

Shalom – Salaam

I was once at a resort near Sydney, Australia and it was close to sundown. There were six men in our group and we wanted a minyan for mincha. There were four elderly Jewish men nearby playing cards together, so I went over to ask them if they would join us for 10 minutes. They…

The Siege of Jerusalem

The Siege of Jerusalem

The Jewish calendar includes six days of fasting.  Four of these days are linked to the destruction of the Temples and the exile of the Jewish people.  These will be the focus of the following chapter.  The other two, the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, and the Fast of Esther, Ta’anit Esther, will be considered…

The Spiritual Battle

The Spiritual Battle

The underlying theme of the conflict between the Jews and the Greeks is the clash between two diametrically opposed worldviews.  [In the Jewish view of reality, everything in the physical world is a reflection of the spiritual.  A physical conflict is a superficial manifestation of a deeper spiritual conflict.]  There are, of course, many points…

Chanukah Background

Chanukah Background

Chanukah begins in a short time so here is a little historical introduction to the Chanukah festival, to which we will hopefully add some spiritual insights in the coming weeks. Approximately 200 years before the events of Chanukah, hundreds of thousands of Jews returned from the Babylonian exile to the Land of Israel.  In time,…

It’s Night and Day

It’s Night and Day

With the long winter nights now starting so early, I have started to think about day and night and their significance in Jewish thought.  We know that in secular law, the calendar day starts and ends at midnight, however, in Jewish tradition the day starts the evening beforehand. So for example, Shabbat, starts Friday evening…

The Honor of the Dead

The Honor of the Dead

The Jewish community and the entire world recently lost living Torahs, Rav Dovid Feinstein and Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. This week’s Torah reading Chayei Sarah discusses the first ever Jewish burial and Avaraham’s care for his deceased wife, Sarah.  I believe that it is appropriate to discuss the mitzvah of burial and respect for the…