Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny

Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny

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(click here for print version) Few things in this world are as beautiful as the night sky in the desert. Most people rarely get the chance to see this beauty, far away from the bright lights and cacophony of sounds in the city: the black velvet of a dark night sky full of stars that seem so close you can reach out and touch them. It never fails to fill me with a deep sense of awe. In the army, no matter how challenging the particular situation, I was always able to take comfort from the familiar constellations and quiet power that seem to emanate from the stars at night. I remember the wave of relief that would wash over me as the big dipper rose high in the night sky, making it easy to find the North star, the most constant point of reference for navigation at night. No matter where you are, if you can find that star, you...
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Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

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(click here for print version) Prophecy 101: Ego is a Non-Prophet Venture This week we begin to read from the fourth of the five books of Moses. Although this book is referred to in English as the Book of Numbers, in Hebrew it is referred to as Bamidbar because of the opening verse; "And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness (Bamidbar) of Sinai ..." The Midrash, Jewish Oral Tradition, derives a somewhat puzzling insight from the fact that G-d spoke to Moses in the wilderness : Unless one makes himself hefker (open and ownerless) like a wilderness he cannot acquire wisdom and Torah. (Bamidbar Rabbah 1:7) In other words, to be receptive to the revelatory word of G-d you must be like the wilderness completely open and ownerless ...
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Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny

Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny

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(click here for print version) Numbers; such a simple concept, too often taken for granted. But every once in a while you get the opportunity to appreciate all over again, the significance of each and every number. I remember the first time, as an officer, I ever came under fire...well, sort of.... I even remember the date: it was the night of December 31st, and we were stationed on the edge of the Bekaa valley, in Lebanon. Intelligence had received information that terrorists might try to infiltrate south through the valley, under cover of darkness, and we had orders to mount an ambush in an effort to stop them from getting over the border into Israel. We set out at about 10 PM. A light rain had begun falling, and there was a heavy fog in the valley. This made for a lot of tension, as these were classic conditions for terrorist penetration. A couple of kilometers from the designated ambush site,...
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