Sometimes, it's that one extra word that makes all the difference. It was only a fraction of a moment of my time in the army, but it was a lesson I never forgot, though to this day I am undecided as to whether I agree with it.
I was desperate to get a day off; we were still in basic training, and I had barely been in the army three months, but my folks were landing at the airport the next afternoon, and I was hoping my commanders would give me a break as I had not seen head or hair of any family in the two months since I had joined up.
My folks had done me the enormous favor of landing on a Thursday afternoon, which was the best possible day of the week for a tank crewman to get extra leave. Thursday was "Tipul She'vui" day, which meant the weekly servicing and cleaning of every last inch of every...
Successful People Are Unaccomplished
Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy, a day of solemn rest to the Lord. (Exodus 35:2)
During the forty years that the Israelites wandered in the desert they carried with them a portable temple referred to as the Tabernacle or the Mishkan. The creative acts that are forbidden on Shabbat are those acts similar to the skills that went into building or assembling the Mishkan. The Talmud outlines 39 different categories of such creative acts that are forbidden to do on Shabbat. They represent our ultimate power of creativity which is to build a temple that accommodates the presence of G-d on earth. Of course we know that G-d does not literally dwell in the Mishkan, however, the Mishkan symbolizes our ability to serve G-d and infuse every moment and every place with the presence of G-d. In other words, the greatest accomplishment of a human being is to serve to make manifest G-d’s presence...
There are sounds that you hear and things that you see that will always make you stop whatever you are doing. People yelling, the sound of an ambulance racing down a Jerusalem Street, or even the backfire of a car, if you’ve just finished reserve duty...and always, the sound of a child crying.
I recall one time I was standing at the entrance to a supermarket, and saw a little girl, who couldn’t have been more than three or four, sobbing her eyes out. I didn’t see any adults near her, and she didn’t seem to be physically hurt, so I walked over, figuring she was lost and looking for a parent... as I got within a couple of feet, a man standing on the side, whom I hadn’t noticed before, took a few steps closer and gently nudged me with his hand as if to say ‘don’t trouble yourself’, while continuing to speak on his cell phone. I assumed he...
Shabbat: Rest Assured
Keep the Shabbat for it is holy unto you.....
because in six days G-d made heaven and earth: and on the seventh day
He abstained from work and rested. (Exodus 31: 14-17)
Most people know what you don’t do on Shabbat: you don’t tear toilet paper, you don’t drive, you don’t write, you don’t turn on lights, you don’t shop, etc. But they don’t know why, and they don’t know what it is you, in fact, do on Shabbat.
And of course, when you just focus on what you don’t do on Shabbat, the experience—which is supposed to be joyous and fulfilling—basically ends up sounding like torture. You have to ask yourself, “Is this the way I want to celebrate a holiday? Is this how I want to spend my weekend after working hard all week long?”
In order to understand the real meaning of Shabbat, let’s explore the first place it is mentioned in the Torah. This paragraph is from the Book of Genesis and...
“Make it count”. Words that would stay with me forever.
Lying on a hill not four hundred yards from two terrorists who were firing indiscriminately on the local Jewish civilians behind us, it should have been simple. It’s you or them, on top of which you are protecting civilians; women and children taking cover in the homes behind our position. But sometimes life is not so simple.
It was getting darker, and as the sun dropped lower on the horizon, and the light mixed with shadows, it was clear why we could not open fire. Literally in between and all around the two terrorists who were firing were about twenty or thirty little kids.
The local Arab school they were firing from was one that was familiar to me, such that I knew this school was never open at 5 in the afternoon. They had brought these children there for a reason: they were hoping we would respond with fire so...
The Gift of Giving:
Love’s Secret Service
In this week’s Torah Portion we are commanded to bring pure oil to the tabernacle to light the Menorah (candelabra).
“And you (Moses) shall command the children of Israel, that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually.” (Exodus 27:20)
The Midrash, which part of Jewish Oral Tradition, asks an obvious question. The entire world is illuminated by G-d’s splendor and yet He tells the Jewish people to bring oil to light the Menorah before Him? The Midrash answers that G-d desires the works of your hands.
How can we understand that G-d desires the works of our hand?
How can G-d want something from us?
What can we give G-d?
Does G-d lack anything that we can provide?
The Kabbalah teaches that G-d created the world to give us goodness and yet it seems from the Midrash that G-d is not looking to give but really wants to receive. How...
It was known as ‘Shavua Tirgolot’ the ‘week of training drills’. It sounded pretty innocuous, but as it turned out, it was a week of hell.
The IDF prides itself on being prepared for any and every eventuality, and to that end, tank crews were trained to automatically respond in any given combat or stress situation. When such events actually
occur, you don’t have time to think about what to do, you have to already have it down to a T. If there is a fire in the tank you can’t start debating who gets the fire extinguisher (or activates the spectronics system) and who opens up the engine doors, it all has to be automatic with everyone knowing exactly what they are meant to do, and even what to do in the event someone is injured and their role needs to be filled by someone else.
To this end we practiced endlessly what to do in the event there was a fire,...
Is G-d Beyond Us or Within Us?
The Torah recounts that G-d instructed the Israelites to build a sanctuary, telling Moses, “Let them build a sanctuary and I will dwell in them.” Note that G-d did not say, “I will dwell in the sanctuary.” G-d said, “in them.”
Is G-d beyond us or within us?
One day my son Ananiel and my two daughters, Leyadya and Ne’ema, burst into my study. They had obviously been fighting over something and were very upset. I could see that I was chosen to be the lucky arbitrator to resolve another case of sibling rivalry. They shouted at each other, “You go, you ask Daddy.” “No, no! You go, you go.” Finally Ananiel, who was age five at that time, took the challenge and said, “O.K., O.K. Daddy, isn’t it true that G-d is a boy?” Ne’ema and Leyadya, ages eight and nine, had tears in their eyes. I could hear them silently pleading with me,...
Many years ago, long before we founded Yeshivat Orayta, I was privileged to direct a program called Isralight, which was primarily what some would refer to as a ‘Kiruv’ or ‘outreach’’ program. The students, mostly post-College and young professionals, usually came from a very limited Jewish background seeking spirituality and meaning in their lives.
I recall one day as we were beginning a new three-week program, a student walked in who looked vaguely familiar. Bare-headed, with a lumberjack beard and wearing jeans and a tee shirt, it took me a minute to realize he was a boy who had been in yeshiva with me, though a few years younger.
He came with his non-Jewish girlfriend with whom he was living, and as he did not introduce himself, I decided to pretend I did not recognize him.
After a few days of classes and discussion we spent Shabbat with the group in the Old City, and I decided to do something...
The Divine Wants You to be Happy
When Rules Become Delicious Recipes for Your Soul
“And these are the judgments that you shall place before them.” — Exodus 21:1
"You shall place before them, that is, like a table that is set and ready for eating." — Rashi
“Taste and see that G-d is good.” — Psalms 34
LAWS YOU CAN EAT, ENJOY AND SAVOUR
The job of a teacher of Torah is not to be a philosopher, ethical guide or law giver but rather a gourmet chef. A gourmet chef has the ability to bring the taste out of every ordinary cabbage, every simple bean sprout, as well as present it all in a delicious tantalizing way.
Once, I went to someone's home to raise funds for my institute. I thought we would have about a ten minute discussion. Instead, we were talking for five or six hours. I hadn't eaten all day, and I was starving. Finally I decided that instead of asking for...
