The Gift of Giving: Love
In this week...
Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality From Rav Binny Freedman Portion of Tetzaveh
Sometimes, the experiences that impact us the most are the ones we almost miss.
After finishing my regular army service, I was back in Yeshiva (An institute of higher learning), having recently begun my studies for the Israeli Rabbinate. I was on my way up the stairs to the Beit Midrash (study hall) when I noticed a student whose face I did not recognize coming out of one of the telephone booths in the hall. He appeared to be upset, and looked as though he had been crying. I asked him if he was OK, and he nodded in the affirmative, and as I didn...
Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality From Rav Binny- (Portion of Terumah)
There are some lessons you learn the hard way, and they are never forgotten.
In Infantry Officer...
Sparks by Rabbi David Aaron – Is G-d Beyond Us or Within Us?
The Torah recounts that G-d instructed the Israelites to build a sanctuary, telling Moses, ...
Sparks – Rabbi David Aaron
Is G-d Just a Cosmic Party Pooper?
How to Find Our Mission in Life
I recall a cute comic strip depicting Moses coming down from Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments written in stone. ...
Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality From Rav Binny Freedman – Yito
Friday night. The sun has long since set, dark clouds hide the stars, and the wind is howling off the Shouf mountain range in central Lebanon.
I had managed to quietly sing the Kabbalat Shabbat service, while en-route to the ambush site, and even pray the evening service while in the staging ground, before giving my men a final inspection, but I had no idea what to do about Kiddush. In such situations we usually ate from our packs, one or two at a time, and we had a system to ensure that we didn...
Sparks – Rabbi David Aaron
Love Thyself!!
Secrets to Your Ultimate and Everlasting Net Worth
Just as a person must believe in G-d, so too, he must afterwards believe in Himself. That is to say, that G-d is involved with him and he is not a waste...
Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality From Rav Binny (Beshalach)
It is hard to imagine, looking down at the dry, windswept desert floor far below, what it must have been like two thousand years ago, to be a Jewish rebel soldier atop the isolated fortress of Masada. What kept you going, as you gazed down at the might of three full Roman Legions, all bent on your destruction?
In the year 70 CE, with the Temple (the Beit HaMikdash) in flames, Jerusalem breached and destroyed, hundreds of thousands of Jews dead, and hundreds of thousands more sold into slavery, the Romans announced that the great revolt had finally been put down. They even minted a coin to communicate their victory to the entire Roman Empire. The coin, known as ...
Sparks – Rabbi David Aaron
To Serve with Joy
Is your life ...
Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality From Rav Binny Freedman – Parshat Bo
Wake up an Israeli tank commander in the middle of the night and flash a picture of a BMP-1 APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) at a distance of 5 kilometers, when it appears to be little more than a speck in the distance, and he will instantly recognize it as a Soviet- made troop carrier that fires armor-piercing Sagger anti-tank missiles. He will also be able to rattle off to you their effective range, and threat capacity (the amount of time it takes to aim and fire, as well as which Israeli tanks will effectively pierce). He will also know instantly that this carrier is most likely to be seen in the Syrian theater of war.
The Israeli army takes the topic of enemy weaponry very seriously, and has a variety of often-sadistic methods for ensuring that its commanders become extremely proficient in this particular expertise....