1310 essays
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Essays on the weekly Torah portion, the holidays and Jewish thought.
Parsha Bo – Windows 5778 The model of true freedom is the Exodus from Egypt. The Israelites were not liberated to be free. They were liberated to become a nation that would stand at Mount Sinai and receive G-d’s constitution—the Torah with all of its commandments. Parsha Voeira – A Line on the Wall In the days of old, there were those people whose lives were devoted to one area of Jewish expression. Today, as we prepare for the dynamic period of the future Messianic Age, we must all become eclectic. While we must resist dilettantism, we must learn to combine the best of all the worlds of goodn Parsha Voeira – A Tale of Two Cities The introduction of the counter intuitive perception of G-d’s role in everything—began with Abraham and culminated with Sinai. At Sinai the world was temporarily given a flash of lightning view of the reality of G-d’s presence. But even after that flash dissipated, it left us with the potential to r Parsha Voeira – Acknowledgment First Step to Freedom The instrument we need for Moshiach is acknowledging what goes on in our lives. Acknowledging leads to appreciation. This is what preparing for Moshiach entails. Opening our eyes to see the cataclysmic events that have occurred, as well as the more subtle changes that are happening. To become sensit Parsha Voeira – Divine Micromanagement The entire future of the world, the ultimate age of Redemption, is not necessarily dependent on some earth shattering gesture on our part. One minor act of kindness and goodness, one more Mezuzah on our door posts, one more dollar to tzedakah, can be the one act that will transform the entire world. Parsha Voeira – Four Redemptions Plus One One can be freed from torture, but can still be plagued by inner turmoil and anguish. One can be freed as a slave, but still have others who act like one’s masters. One can be free from a given country, but still have no country to call their own. One can have Torah which provides us with inner free Parsha Voeira – Four to the Fourth Power The number four, in conjunction with the Seder (which is full of fours, such as the Four Questions, the Four Sons, etc.), has been associated with the four letters of the Divine name, known as the Tetragrammaton. This name of G-d contains the force responsible for creation in general and the human c Parsha Voeira – Hot and Cold There is a time when indifference can be a virtue: When we remain cool and collected in the presence of people whose passions are misplaced. Parsha Voeira – Miracles: Escaping the Galus Fumes! Jewish law never included imprisonment as a standard punishment. If the sanction doesn’t bring the criminal to atonement then it is simply punishment for the sake of punishment. Punishment that actually causes one to degenerate further and fall deeper into the moral abyss and denies the prisoner the Parsha Voeira – Seventh Generation Sensitivity We are living in the most refined generation of history! Thousands of years of collective observance of the Mitzvos, and Torah study practiced with incredible self-sacrifice, have rendered the spiritual air far more pure and holy. By this reckoning, we are the most suitable generation in history to Parsha Voeira – Synthesis, Not Sin-Thesis Moses, who is known to us as the Giver of the Torah, represented the ultimate intellect. His role was to think, probe and understand. If Moses would have dismissed G-d’s mysterious actions as being above the capacity of the human mind to grasp, he would have been remiss. G-d expected of him to quest Parsha Voeira – Staff Eats Staff For education to be worthy of its name the teacher, mentor, parent et al. must employ tough love on occasion. However, the way we administer this love can make the difference between success and failure. It can determine whether the student will have a future or will his or her potential forever rem Parsha Voeira – Ten, Forty or Fifty Plagues R. Eliezer’s “four level” approach to getting rid of evil means that we must work on all conscious levels of our soul, making sure they are not paralyzed. This means that we must get our actions, attitudes, intellect and will-power, to not be contaminated with negative influences and to not stagnate Parsha Voeira – Ten Plague Therapy One of the greatest obstacles to growth is the desire to make great strides, so that one can realize their goal quickly. If one cannot rise to the top one is disappointed and frustrated. In Judaism, however, the belief is that every little, incremental, action has cosmic value. Once one has eliminat Parsha Voeira – The Eighth Step: Arbeh-Locust – Covering the Eye of the Land Locust was the most devastating plague to date because it destroyed all of Egypt’s food supply, portending a famine of historic… Parsha Voeira – The Bird of Knowledge Galus is punctuated with pain, suffering, discord, strife and concealment of G-d’s presence. On the other hand, Galus has provided us with the greatest opportunity to accomplish what we could not when we lived in the Land of Israel beside our Beis Hamikdash. The suffering in Galus has exposed and re Parsha Voeira – The Fifth Step: Dever-Pestilence – The Holy Animal The plague of dever-pestilence was the first to actually do more than just serve as a nuisance or a source of fright, but it… Parsha Voeira – The First Step: Blood – Destroying Icons The first impediment to emotional and spiritual health is our belief in false icons. The first plague that turned the Nile River… Parsha Voeira – The Five Expressions of Redemption By not changing their names, the Jewish people in Egypt never lost their identity as Jews. Corresponding to this virtue, the Torah states that G-d took them out of the burden of Egypt. The greatest burden is when you lose your identity because it is subsumed within the identity of your tormentor. Th Parsha Voeira – The Fourth Step: Arov-Mixture of Wild Animals – Don’t Undersell Yourself The fourth plague known as arov involved a mixture of wild animals coming together to terrorize the Egyptian populace. It was more…