Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron
(print)
Isn...
Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron
(Print)
Prophecy 101:
Ego is a Non-Prophet Venture
This week we begin to read from the fourth of the five books of Moses. Although this book is referred to in English as the Book of Numbers, in Hebrew it is referred to as Bamidbar because of the opening verse; "And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness (Bamidbar) of Sinai ..."
The Midrash, Jewish Oral Tradition, derives a somewhat puzzling insight from the fact that G-d spoke to Moses in the wilderness :
Unless one makes himself hefker (open and ownerless) like a wilderness he cannot acquire wisdom and Torah. (Bamidbar Rabbah 1:7)
In other words, to be receptive to the revelatory word of G-d you must be like the wilderness completely open and ownerless ...
Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny Freedman
(Print)
Numbers; such a simple concept; too often taken for granted. But every once in a while you get the opportunity to appreciate all over again the significance of each and every number....
Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron
(print)
Bonding or Bondage
Why Serve the Divine?
...
Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny Freedman
(print)
The last execution at Auschwitz...
Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron
(print version)
Dating the Divine
Celebrating love
...
Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny Freedman
(print version)
Counting The Omer; an Enormous Opportunity
It was our first Masah...
Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron
(print version)
Achieving Sacred Selfishness
Happiness through holiness
I had a student that once came into my office and said, "My father who passed away was an atheist and a fantastic human being. He was such a moral human being. He was such a good human being. I don't believe that had he been a believer, he would have been any better. He was the epitome of being a good person. So I have a problem with Torah because I really don't believe that it would have made a difference."
So I told him that it isn't the goal of Torah to merely become a moral person. There is a lot more to it.
Morality is important, but morality is a stage in the journey. The destination is holiness ...
Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny Freedman
(print version)
Loss: a void that can never really be filled; a loss which is much more than personal; it is generational. We have lost the greatest of us, and now truly, we are an orphaned generation....
Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron
(print version)
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:
R. 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...