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Making G-d's Will Ours "Behold you have sinned against G-d. And you your sin will find you." ~~ Numbers 32:23 THE PROCESS OF 'I'-DENTIFYING If G-d were the sun each of us would be a ray of His divine light. The goal of the spiritual disciplines of daily Torah (Bible) life - study, prayer, meditation, and the performance of mitzvas (religious duties; plural for mitzvah), is to serve G-d and, thereby, become one with our true essence. Through these practices we experience our self an aspect and individualized expression of the Timeless Universal Self - G-d. The 20th century Kabbalist Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan explains in his book Inner Space that in order to feel this powerful truth, we must learn to disengage our inner self from its outer trappings. In other words, we have to get in touch with our soul as distinct from our persona, thoughts and feelings. The goal of disengaging the self from the outer trappings is to realize...

In 2016, as reported by Jeffrey Heller (Reuters March 8, 2016), the Pew research center released a poll suggesting that most Israelis, Arabs and Jews alike, appeared to have lost hope in a two-state solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict over the land of Israel. Further, according to the poll: “Nearly half (forty-eight percent) of Israeli Jews agreed with the statement that Arabs should be expelled or transferred from Israel, where they (then) make up 19 percent of the population of 8.4 million. While 54 to 71 percent of Jews who defined themselves as ultra-Orthodox, religious or “traditional” supported such a step, only 36 percent of the secular community did. President Reuven Rivlin called the findings a “wake-up call for Israeli society”. Where does this idea, of expelling a population of people come from? And, notwithstanding that polls are easily misinterpreted, why would a poll ask such a question?  Imagine one of your five children tells you they all took a vote and...

Can You Forgive G-d? How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. ~~ Anne Frank This imperfect world is the perfect place for a dynamic life filled with challenge, growth and love. That’s the way G-d planned it. Here is what the Torah tells us: “In the beginning G- d created heaven and earth. And the earth was chaos and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep....And G-d said: ‘Let there be light’: and there was light....G-d divided the light from the darkness. G-d called the light ‘Day’ and the darkness He called ‘Night’...Let there be firmament in the midst of the water...Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear...G-d called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of waters He called Seas, etc.’ (Genesis 1:2-10) G-d intentionally created the world in a state of chaos, void, and darkness. This...

In 1801, Thomas Jefferson had finally had enough. For the better part of twenty five years Americans had been paying ransom and tribute to the Arab nations of the Barbary coast (Yemen, Morocco, Tunisia, and the Algiers, amongst others) to avoid having their ships taken and their sailors enslaved.  But by 1801, when Jefferson was inaugurated as President of the United States, America was paying ten percent of its national budget in payments to the Pirates. There were many, John Adams amongst them, who believed paying the Tribute was the best option. Still recovering from the American Revolution, with barely a navy to speak of, the Americans had attempted negotiations with the Pirates to no avail.  When asked by Jefferson (when still Ambassador to London)  and Adams by what right the Barbary states preyed upon American shipping, enslaving both crews and passengers, Tripoli’s Abd Al-Rahman responded that nations who had not accepted Islam were sinners and that  the Koran mandated war...

When the Loser is a Winner The Talmud teaches that King Solomon wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes after he saw prophetically that his kingdom and the Temple that he worked so hard to build would be destroyed. Imagine what a devastating realization that must have been to know that what you invested your entire life will be destroyed. We can understand why he bemoaned, “Futility of futilities ... what profits does a man have from all his work under the sun.” However, his ultimate resolution was “Revere G-d, live by His commandments -- for this is all man is.” King Solomon realized that our real accomplishments in life is not building the kingdom or the temple on earth, but what we make of ourselves -- the kingdom and temple we build in our inner world. This does not mean that you should not build in this world but rather that you should recognize that what you build on the outside is not the goal...

On one of my frequent trips, after a long flight, I suddenly realized I had forgotten my tefillin on the plane. I rushed back to the gates only to discover I could not get through without a valid boarding pass, which I no longer had. Personnel at lost and found (in baggage control)patiently explained they only dealt with items lost in the airport or in baggage, and sent me to the check in counters, where they explained I had no boarding pass and could not get back on the plane, which was now being cleaned, and did I have identification? Finally, a supervisor with a security guard came out to see what was going on and asked me to describe the lost object. And so, a few months after September 11th, with all of the heightened security, I explained it was a small velvet pouch, with two leather boxes and straps inside. Although my name was on the bag, it...

Beating Jealousy Jealousy, that dragon which slays love under the pretence of keeping it alive. --Havelock Ellis In this week’s Torah portion Korach, a member of Moses' tribe the Levites and other communal leaders challenge Moses’s leadership and the appointment of priesthood to Moses’ brother Aaron. Motivated by envy toward Moses and Aaron they argue for equality. We are all holy. How can there be a hierarchy in holiness within Israel? They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD's assembly? Moses responded to Korach: Now listen, you Levites! Isn't it enough for you that the G-d of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near Himself to do the work at the Lord's tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to...