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Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

May 1, 2025 by admin Comment Closed

Sick Minds, Sick Bodies The power of our beliefs to heal or harm The Jewish Sages gave a spiritual rather than physiological explanation for the disease tsara'as (generally translated as "leprosy") which affected not only the body but also clothing and the walls of houses. According to one source several sins could possible be the cause: Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of R. Yochanan: Because of seven things the plague of leprosy is incurred, namely, slander, the shedding of blood, a vain oath, incest, arrogance, robbery and envy. (Arakhin 16a) However, most Sages concur that the main cause for tsara'as was slander and gossip. HOW CAN WE UNDERSTAND THE PHYSICAL IMPACT OF OUR MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ACTIONS? The Kabbalah teaches that the world you and I live in is a product of our perception of reality. The philosopher Immanuel Kant probed this concept. He asked: Do we see reality or do we see our perception of reality? Kant's answer is that we do...

Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny Freedman – Portion of Tazria-Metzora

May 1, 2025 by admin Comment Closed

Walk into the Ashkenazi synagogue of the Ari Hakadosh in Tzfat, and if you look carefully, you will notice a strange detail that begs a story. On the side of the bimah (the prayer lectern from where the Torah is read), directly opposite the door, there is a small hole filled with small pieces of paper. It appears to be a sign of wear and tear, that needs to be fixed, until you take a closer look and realize the small pieces of paper are actually prayers and requests with the names of hundreds of sick and needy Jews asking for miracles, similar to the ones that are found in between the cracks of the stones in the Kotel. In 1948, in the middle of the War of Independence, the Jewish quarter of the Old City of Tsfat came under heavy shellfire. In the middle of the afternoon prayers, a shell landed in the courtyard, and a piece of shrapnel came...

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

April 24, 2025 by admin Comment Closed

Why Eat Kosher? The Talmud tells a story about the famed author of the Mishna, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. The rabbi was walking down the street one day, when a little calf ran up to him and hid under his cloak. Apparently, the calf had run away from the slaughterhouse. The rabbi said to the calf, “Go back to be slaughtered, for this you have been created.” At this point, a Divine decree was made against him because he had not shown pity on the creature. As a result he became sick and suffered for many years, until one day he showed pity on a family of young rats and was suddenly healed. We know that Judaism permits us to eat meat as long as the animal was slaughtered properly, so what did Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi do that was so wrong? He incorrectly said, “for this you were created.” The Talmud is teaching us that, contrary to his declaration, animals were not created...

Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny Freedman – Portion of Shemini

April 24, 2025 by admin Comment Closed

There is a little-known test that officer cadets undergo in one form or another during Infantry Officer’s training that they almost always fail; which is precisely the point. It takes many forms so that one class will never be forewarned by the previous one. Mine was administered near the midpoint of a horrible experience known as bochan Aricha. We were dropped in the middle of the desert and after a ten-kilometer run (more like a jog), within sight of a tent we presumed to be our objective, we were suddenly told we were under chemical attack and made to don our gas masks. Our commanders would often change the rules of the game and throw unexpected surprises at us, to test our resilience and ability to cope with unexpected situations. It is hard to describe what it is like to run and fight in a gas mask; you are already exhausted, running on little sleep and in the heat of...

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

April 10, 2025 by admin Comment Closed

Passover - In the Name of Love Passover commemorates the miraculous exodus of the Jews from Egypt. After 210 years of oppression and cruel servitude, an entire people leave in astounding record time, faster than it takes dough to leaven into bread. We celebrate this event with a festive meal and ceremony called the Seder, during which we recite the Haggadah—the telling of this wondrous historical episode. The Exodus from Egypt, however, is not just another milestone in the history of the Jewish people. In fact, every holiday is actually a memorial to the Exodus. Even Shabbat is referred to as a “Zechar L’Yitziat Mitzraim,”a remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt, although it has no apparent connection to the Exodus. In addition, every Jew is obligated to see himself as if he personally had left Egypt and to recount it every day. The first of the Ten Commandments is: “I am YHVH your G-d Who took you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”...

Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny Freedman – Portion of Tzav

April 10, 2025 by admin Comment Closed

IF you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; IF you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; IF you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools: IF you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!' IF you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, ‘Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch, if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If...

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

April 3, 2025 by admin Comment Closed

SOUL-UTIONS TO PAIN The archetypical story about pain is recorded in the book of Job, who experiences horrible tribulations. Job's friends try to give him answers to explain his pain, but Job is not satisfied with any of their answers. In the end, G-d Himself speaks to Job and gives him resolve. Job's friends tell him that there is no such thing as pain without justice. This means that when a person goes through pain it is simply the fulfillment of justice. Pain is not haphazard or accidental. In some way-even if we cannot possibly fathom why-we have deserved our pain. But Job does not accept this answer. Maimonides, the great Torah sage known as the Rambam, says that this answer is actually the true position of Jewish tradition. In fact, when the Rambam discusses the meaning of "pain" or "suffering," he quotes the verse in the book of Job recording the answer of Job's friend who said that there is no pain...

Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny Freedman – Portion of Vayikra

April 3, 2025 by admin Comment Closed

What do you do when you can’t do what you want to do, and what you have to do, you really don’t want to do? Sound confusing? That was actually our reality during Covid, as the world turned upside down and we all found ourselves suddenly, in an entirely new reality. It reminds me of the story of my cousin, Aryeh Yakont z”l, who was a Holocaust survivor. His family lived in Antwerp and he and his brother Ephraim were just boys when the Nazis occupied Belgium. Very quickly, things went from bad to worse, their father Betzalel was taken away by the Gestapo, and their mother Shoshana (my Aunt) went into hiding with her two small boys in the house of a kind Christian neighbor. Eventually, as things got worse, they had to stay hidden and quiet, all day, in a tiny hidden room the size of a closet, with no windows, for two years before they were eventually...

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

March 27, 2025March 27, 2025 by admin Comment Closed

How Can an Argument Bring People Closer? The Unexpected Sound of Spirituality Imagine someone who has spent months in silent meditation, immersed in peaceful introspection. Now, bring them into a beit midrash, the heart of Jewish learning. What would they expect? A sanctuary of calm, quiet reflection? Instead, they’d be shocked. The room is alive with intensity—voices rising, hands gesturing, students leaning into each other, arguing over a passage in the Talmud. At first glance, it looks more like a heated dispute than a spiritual experience. How can such passionate disagreement be part of a path to wisdom? This, however, is the Jewish way of learning. Torah study isn’t a solo practice of silent contemplation. It’s a dynamic exchange, a pursuit of truth through rigorous discussion and debate. A War of Ideas, Not of Egos In Judaism, learning isn’t just about absorbing information—it’s about engaging with it. The Talmud describes Torah study as milchamta shel Torah, the “battle of Torah.” But this battle isn’t about ego or winning an argument....

ll Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny Freedman – Portion of Pekudei

March 27, 2025 by admin Comment Closed

Sometimes, it's that one extra word that makes all the difference. It was only a fraction of a moment of my time in the army, but it was a lesson I never forgot, though to this day I am undecided as to whether I agree with it. I was desperate to get a day off; we were still in basic training, and I had barely been in the army three months, but my folks were landing at the airport the next afternoon, and I was hoping my commanders would give me a break as I had not seen head or hair of any family in the two months since I had joined up. My folks had done me the enormous favor of landing on a Thursday afternoon, which was the best possible day of the week for a tank crewman to get extra leave. Thursday was "Tipul She'vui" day, which meant the weekly servicing and cleaning of every last inch of every...

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