Isralight Blog – Page 82

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

March 1, 2018 by admin Comment Closed

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...

Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny Freedman – Portion of Ki Tisah

March 1, 2018 by admin Comment Closed

This past week I spent the week in Poland with Orayta and there an experience we had that I cannot get out of my head, shared with us by Rav Yitzchak Rubenstein our incredible guide for the week: The wind was howling as we walked into the forest of Zvilitovska Gora, a suburb of Tarnow, but we could not have imagined what awaited us there. How do you make a people die? You kill all the children. We came to a clearing in the forest and saw a mass grave surrounded by a blue fence with a Magen David where 800 children lie buried, brothers and sisters forever. Eight hundred children all below the age of ten; because of what use were children in the German empire; they would not have even made good slaves... We all fell silent as the trees swayed as if in mourning, and you could hear the moaning of the wind in the trees.... we had no words. So Rav Yitzchak helped us fill in the picture: he showed us...

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

February 22, 2018 by admin Comment Closed

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...

Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny Freedman – Portion of Tetzaveh

February 22, 2018 by admin Comment Closed

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...

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

February 15, 2018 by admin Comment Closed

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,...

Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny Freedman – Portion of Terumah

February 15, 2018 by admin Comment Closed

WHY ARE THE LUCHOT HIDDEN? Last year on Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) at Orayta, we were privileged to meet Mrs. Marta Weiss, a Holocaust survivor who shared her incredible story with us. Born in Bratislava, in Czechoslovakia, she eventually ended up in Hungary, hiding in plain sight from the Nazis until June 1944 when she was deported along with her sister to Auschwitz. She was crammed along with 120 people into a cattle car, and pretty soon there were many bodies of 'dead men standing'; but they were driven back and forth for three days because there was no room at Auschwitz; she actually recalls being relieved when they were finally let out of the cattle car and arrived at their destination; who knew? Marta arrived in Auschwitz when she was ten years old. She remembers when they tattooed a number on her arm, it was extremely painful... but she was told: 'don’t cry: it means you will live at least a week’. Her camp number was A27...

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

February 8, 2018 by admin Comment Closed

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...

Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny Freedman – Portion of Mishpatim

February 8, 2018 by admin Comment Closed

We had an Aunt in our family who was a very special person and had been a kindergarten teacher for many years, with a lot of experience in child education. Although she passed away a number of years ago I still have fond memories of some of the discussions I had with her regarding educational questions. One that stands out in my mind was how she dealt with a child whom she termed a ‘biter’; perhaps seeking attention, he would sometimes bite other children. No amount of explanation and cajoling seemed to work, and one can imagine the impact this must have had on other children and their parents. So, one day when he was caught biting a fellow kindergarten classmate, she promptly took his arm… and bit him back! After a moment of shock, the boy burst into tears, but as she described it to me, it was the last time he bit another child! I wonder what the...

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

February 1, 2018 by admin Comment Closed

Ready to HotSync Your Soul? Secrets to a Super-Natural Life of Freedom and Synchronicity Years ago, I saw these sandals I really liked. At the time, I knew nothing about these shoes other than I just liked the way they looked. So I went into a store and I tried on a pair, but they didn't feel right. They had all these funny bumps inside of them. I told the salesman, "There is something wrong with these shoes." He said, "No there is something wrong with your feet. You must understand that these shoes are designed to support the shape of a natural foot." "What's unnatural about my feet. They're in their natural place — at the end of my legs." He laughed. "You don't understand. Your feet have taken the unnatural shape of the shoes you've been wearing. And the shoes you've been wearing are good for killing cockroaches in tight corners, but they are not meant to contain feet." I felt insulted so I took...

Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny Freedman – Portion of Yitro

February 1, 2018 by admin Comment Closed

Recently, I attended the wedding of the daughter of very old friends and was enjoying the palpable joy at the chosson’s tisch (the gathering where the marriage document, the Ketubah, was witnessed and signed with the groom before the ceremony) when the father of the bride approached me and asked me to daven Maariv (lead the evening service). I had a moment of angst as I did not have a siddur (prayer book) on me nor did it seem anyone else did. But as he seemed pressured to move things along I did not want to hold things up and so elected to lead the prayers by heart from memory. Thinking about it later it was interesting that the prospect of davening from memory caused me angst; after all, I say these prayers every day and almost always do it from memory; and had I not been asked to lead the service would have done so again, so why the sudden...

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