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To Pray the Jewish Way
At first glance prayer seems to be about whining and begging G-d, "Please heal this person ... please bring me my soul-mate ... please help my business, etc." One could mistakenly think that G-d is holding out on us and gets pleasure watching us grovel.
When we are faced with some very serious problems, it is customary to ask others to join together in our prayers. What is that all about? It seems as if we hope to move G-d through force: "G-d, if you don't respond to my prayers, then I will recruit through the e-mail thousands of others to pray."
Do we think these strategies really work? What are we actually doing here? If G-d is all knowing then why am I telling Him my problems? He already knows them. If G-d is good then why am I asking for Him to change my situation? Obviously whatever happens to me is for...
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Some time ago I had the privilege of meeting a World War II veteran with a fascinating story to share:
Born in Germany, he was lucky enough to be born to parents who saw the writing on the wall, and sent him away for High School to boarding school in England. Visits home, while full of the wonderful memories of family and home cooking, were also filled with tension, as he watched Adolph Hitler...
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A few years ago, when the new wave of violence broke out in Israel, our unit was drafted for nearly forty days as part of an emergency draft order attempting to stem the tide of the violence.
It is difficult to describe how challenging it is to be completely uprooted from your life, literally overnight, with no idea of how long you will be needed, or when you will be able to get back to the routine of job and family. It was more than a challenge; it was often overwhelming. One day I was struggling to keep up with e-mail, and preparing classes for upcoming programs, and the next I was struggling to keep up with the pace of shootings, daily intelligence briefings and preparing briefings for men going out on patrols.
But what we had to deal with was nothing compared to what some of the regular army soldiers and officers , trying to...
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Chanukah
The Drama of Light and Darkness
I was once sitting and learning Torah with the Hollywood Actor, Kirk Douglas, when suddenly he turned to me and said, "You know, Rabbi, I love being Jewish."
"Oh, yeah? Why?" I asked.
"Because being Jewish is dramatic!"
I was surprised by his unusual answer and thought to myself, "I guess for these big time actors, everything is showbiz." Instead, I said, "Dramatic? I am sorry but I don't get the connection."
"Rabbi, I know drama, and let me tell you, Jewish life and Jewish history is dramatic. In fact, there are several archetypal themes to all films, and they are all from the Bible. Here, let me show you what's drama."
Kirk then jumped out of his chair and began to improvise a dramatic scene.
"Now, watch this. Let's say we are shooting a scene and it's about a guy named Jerry who is going to get some bad news about his mother. How do...
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A time comes in your life when you finally get it...when in the midst of all your fears and insanity you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out "Enough."
Enough fighting and crying or struggling to hold on. And, like a child quieting down after a blind tantrum, your sobs begin to subside, you shudder once or twice, you blink back your tears, and through a mantle of wet lashes you begin to look at the world through new eyes.
This is your awakening.
You come to terms with the fact that he is not Prince Charming and you are not Cinderella (or visa versa) and that in the real world there aren't always fairy- tale endings (or beginnings for that matter) and any guarantee of "happily ever after" must begin with you-and in the process, a sense of serenity is born from acceptance.
You stop complaining and blaming...
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Why is life so difficult?
Making Peace with Our Battle
In this week's portion, Jacob asks for peace and relaxation but G-d had another plan.
"Jacob settled (down) in the land of his father's dwellings, in the Land of Caanan"
~~Genesis (37:1)
The commentary Rashi explains:
"Jacob wanted to settle down in tranquility but then the ordeal of his son Joseph (sale into slavery) fell upon him. The righteous seek to dwell in tranquility but G-d says 'Is it not enough for the righteous what has been prepared for them (reward) in the World to Come that they need to seek tranquillity also in this world!'"
Why is life so difficult?
Some people turn to G-d and religion, hoping to find refuge from all the turbulence of life, from doubt, from inner conflicts and mental turmoil. They want instant inner peace, spiritual contentment, and tranquillity for their troubled souls.
According to Kabbalah, that is not the purpose of life on earth. In fact,...
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A Weekly Byte... from Isralight
(Vayeshev)
Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality
From Rav Binny
Compromise: such a challenging word; ranging from the very noble, to the very na...
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Real Love Means Embracing Conflict
The Secret of Jacob
The Torah (Bible) teaches us that Jacob went to the house Laban, his uncle, and dwelt there for many years. He married Rachel and Leah, Laban's daughters, and had eleven sons there. After years of struggling with Laban constantly deceiving him he finally left to return home and face Esau who hated him. In the middle of the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two handmaids and his eleven sons, and sent them across the Jabbok River shallows. After he had taken them and sent them across, he also sent across his possessions. Jacob alone remained on the other side of the river. It was there that the famous "stranger" appeared and wrestled with him until just before daybreak:
When the stranger saw that he could not defeat him, he touched the upper joint of Jacob's thigh. Jacob's hip was dislocated as he wrestled with...
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Cold. So cold it cuts through the rags that were once clothes, straight to the bone.
There was a time this cold so occupied your very being, that you could concentrate on nothing else. But that was long ago.
Darkness. So dark it sometimes seems more than the mere absence of light; it feels almost tangible. You vaguely recall a time when you were obsessed with determining exactly where you were, pacing in the darkness to examine your environs. You figured out you were in some sort of a concrete cell, perhaps six feet square, but not much more than that. You used to wonder what color the walls were, never having been allowed to see them, but that curiosity has long ago been replaced with more basic needs.
Something scurries across the stone floor, running across your bare foot. There was a time your screams would then echo into the darkness, but you no longer...
