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Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

November 11, 2016 by admin Comment Closed

Abraham: The Master of Personal Transformation In reading the Torah's (Bible) account of Abraham, we cannot but be surprised and disturbed by the obvious omissions. Abraham appears upon the stage of history as a virtually anonymous character, without lengthy introduction or background or any real character references. The Torah recounts his genealogy and the migration of his family from one Mesopotamian city to another. It mentions his wife Sarai (who is later renamed Sarah) and her barrenness. It also mentions the death of his father and brother. But these are all mundane vital statistics that do not hint at Abraham's spiritual status. Suddenly, yet in an oddly matter-of-fact way, the Torah relates a momentous revelation, one of the most crucial scenes in the entire Torah. G-d bursts into the personal life of this one man, calling to him, demanding of him a radical renunciation and promising that he will become prosperous, famous, the progenitor of a great nation which will be no...

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

November 11, 2016November 11, 2016 by admin Comment Closed

Why was Abraham the first Jew? What happened to Noach? Last week at Orayta, we met a living legend, who, less with his words and more by the glint in his eye, provided the answer. On October 6, 1973, Effie Eitam was a commander in the elite reconnaissance unit of the Israeli army, Sayeret Matkal. Known simply as ‘the Sayeret’ (recon unit), they were deployed along the line of defense in the Golan Heights and their mission in the weeks leading up to Yom Kippur had been to observe and report back on the obvious buildup of Syrian forces in the area. Hundreds of tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery guns, anti-aircraft and anti-tank units were observed, and with increasing urgency Effie’s unit was reporting back on the dangerous enemy buildup, but it seemed no one was listening. And then, late morning on Oct 6, 1973, to quote Effie Eitam’s exact words: “The gates of Hell opened up”. The Syrians unleashed an artillery barrage...

Emunah B’Iyun – An Advanced On-Line Course with Rabbi David Aaron

November 8, 2016October 23, 2017 by admin Comment Closed

Infuse new vitality and spiritual inspiration into your Avodas Hashem. Explore the profound meaning of Yichud Hashem. Master secrets to living a soulful life of devaykut. Get sophisticated sensitive answers to the most complex questions of life. (apply here) Rabbi Aaron probes the profundity of the essential sugyos in Emunah and offers systematic, transformational, yet down-to-earth clarity drawn from classical works of Sifrei Machsahava, Emunah, Chasidut and Kabbalah. This extraordinary course is available to Torah educators, Outreach professionals and advance students (men and woman with a minimal of 3 years study in Yeshiva Gavoah/Seminary) by application only. [complete application here] Course Fee: $799 Topics include: מגמת לימוד אמונה בעיון אמונה וקדושת הכפירה סוד שמות הקדושים יחוד השם אין עוד מלבדו סוד בריאת העולם ושליחות האדם הוא היודע הידוע והדעה שלמות והשתלמות צמצום יחוד קודשא בריך הוא ושכינתה These teachings enabled me to help my congregants and students develop a deeper and healthier relationship with Hashem and Torah life. What I have learned and shared from Rabbi Aaron has proven invaluable for both the spiritual seekers and those...

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

November 3, 2016 by admin Comment Closed

Are You Ready for the Ultimate Pleasure? The generations following the sin of Adam and Eve proceeded upon a path of moral degeneration. Cain, in a jealous rage, impulsively killed his brother Abel. In the next generation, Tuvel- Kain perfected the crime of Cain through manufacturing weapons. Then, Lemach boasted to his wives of committing pre-meditative murder. Idolatry flourished during the time of Enosh. Organized crime was established by a group of hoodlums called “The sons of Elohim.” Sexual perversion was rampant in Noah’s generation. Torah tradition teaches that there are three cardinal sins that a person should choose death rather than be forced to commit. They are: murder, idolatry, and sexual perversion. These offenses are the ultimate denial of G-d’s love and the values that make life worth living. They are a complete violation of living within the context of G- d’s oneness and love and therefore cut humanity off from the source and ground of life. In a span...

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

November 3, 2016November 4, 2016 by admin Comment Closed

Clearly, I had been stood up; today I would have just sent him a text, but this was back in the days before cell phones, when a meeting over a cup of coffee was just two people with no distractions, and I had no way of reaching him nor could I be sure he might not still arrive so I ordered the grilled cheese sandwich and decided to wait a bit longer. There was a fellow sitting at the table next to mine with his back to me, telling a funny story and I could not help laughing, causing him to turn and smile in my direction. The fellow he was sitting with was getting up to leave but he himself seemed to be in no hurry so we started a conversation which seemed entirely ordinary, until he asked me a rather odd question: ‘Is the sun setting?’ Which was when I realized he was blind. It was indeed a beautiful...

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

October 27, 2016 by admin Comment Closed

Created in the image of love The power to be who you are In the very opening sentences of the Torah (Bible) we are told that the first human being was created in G-d's own image. And what was that image? The first human being was actually a man and a woman — a single entity that included the two sexes. "And G-d created man in His own image, in the image of G-d created He him; male and female created He them" (Genesis 1:27). In this union of male and female, in this oneness of opposites, the first human being reflected the image of G-d — a oneness that includes otherness and yet remains one. This is a very important concept. A lone individual does not reflect the image of G-d; an individual in unity with another individual does. So until an individual makes a space to include another, and allows that other to do the same, we do not have the...

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

October 27, 2016 by admin Comment Closed

He was a tough kid, with obvious ‘stuff’ going on inside; always getting into fights, spending a fair amount of time in the hallway, and always with that sad, lost look. Many years ago, when I was first exploring the world of education and teaching, I decided to try my hand at different types of teaching to see who and what I would most enjoy teaching, and what really spoke to me. Formal and informal, in schools and summer camps, for a few years I taught just about every type of audience I could find, with an eye towards discovering the type of teaching I truly loved and could spend the rest of my life with . One year, I took a job teaching first graders; to see what it would be like. As part of that experience, I underwent a one day seminar designed to train young inexperienced teachers how to look for tell-tale signs of abuse at home …....

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

October 13, 2016 by admin Comment Closed

Sukkot and Simchat Torah Celebrating Wholeness, Spontaneity and Anticipation Off to a Right Start The holiday of Sukkot reminds us of the huts of the Israelites as they wandered for forty years in the desert after their miraculous Exodus from Egypt . It would stand to reason, then, that Sukkot should be celebrated right after the holiday of Passover. However, the Talmudic sages explain that since Passover is in the spring, living in the sukkah would not be anything special. It is common to be outside during the warm months of the year. After Yom Kippur, however, when it starts to get cold, people generally take shelter inside. We go outside, only because G-d commands us to do so. Leaving our homes precisely when we are not naturally inclined to do so, internalizes one of the important lessons of Sukkot-G-d is our only true shelter, and we must trust in Him. We often transgress the will of G-d, because we mistakenly think we...

Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny Freedman – Portion of Ha’azinu

October 13, 2016 by admin Comment Closed

May 4, 2009; Seconds, then minutes; the overturned boat remained upside down in the murky waters of the Yarkon River, trapping the woman who had been energetically rowing moments before; even the air bubbles had ceased…. Incredibly a small crowd of onlookers had gathered along the banks of the narrow river watching and pointing, even exclaiming, yet none seemed willing to brave the waters and attempt to rescue the woman whose life was clearly in danger. It was not a raging river, nor were the waters particularly deep, nor wide; rather it was well known how polluted these waters were and none seemed willing to risk the potential illness that might result from entering the waters, even for such a worthy cause. Finally, nearly four minutes after the woman had capsized, Avi Toibin, a sixty two year old passerby, apparently realizing the stakes and ignoring the danger, jumped in and managed to wrest the woman’s now limp body from beneath the...

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

October 6, 2016 by admin Comment Closed

Getting the Forgiveness You Want and Need Yom Kippur is all about love and forgiveness. It's about how we are always inseparably close to G-d. On Yom Kippur we get a glimpse of ourselves, our choices and our relationship to G-d from another perspective--G-d's perspective. This is the transformational power of Yom Kippur that makes it into a Day of Atonement and forgiveness. There is a cryptic verse in the Book of Psalms (139:16), which, the Sages say, refers to Yom Kippur: The days were formed, and one of them is His. Every day of the year we see the world from our perspective but there is one day -- G-d’s day -- when we get a glimpse of the way the world looks from His perspective and everything changes in light of that perspective. On Yom Kippur we see it all from the perspective of the World to Come where you get to see the whole picture. The Talmud teaches that in this...

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