Isralight Blog – Page 91

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

April 20, 2017 by admin Comment Closed

Why Eat Kosher? The Talmud tells a story about the famed author of the Mishna, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. The rabbi was walking down the street one day, when a little calf ran up to him and hid under his cloak. Apparently, the calf had run away from the slaughterhouse. The rabbi said to the calf, “Go back to be slaughtered, for this you have been created.” At this point, a Divine decree was made against him because he had not shown pity on the creature. As a result he become sick and suffered for many years, until one day he showed pity on a family of young rats and was suddenly healed. We know that Judaism permits us to eat meat as long as the animal was slaughtered properly, so what did Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi do that was so wrong? He incorrectly said, “for this you were created.” The Talmud is teaching us that, contrary to his declaration, animals were not created for...

SMALL TASTINGS OF TORAH, JUDAISM AND SPIRITUALITY FROM RAV BINNY FREEDMAN – Portion of Shemini

April 20, 2017 by admin Comment Closed

Decision Moments: What Makes a Person a Leader Explosions; gunfire; the sounds of battle; ‘lashab’: (lechima be’shetach banui) urban warfare: fought in close quarters; no place to hide, nowhere to run, very little room to maneuver, and no time to think. There are many things the army teaches you; especially in officer’s training. One of the most valuable is the ability to make decisions often of life or death in seconds. Such was the moment Lieutenant Eitan (full name with-held for security purposes) of the elite recon unit of the Givati Infantry Brigade found himself in this past summer in Gaza. The point reconnaissance squad (Palsar Givati), led by Company Commander Benayah Sarel, had just located the entrance to a Hamas tunnel, on the edge of Rafiach in the Gaza strip. Almost immediately the men came under heavy fire from Hamas terrorists who most probably had been lying in wait, waiting for a patrol to come across the exposed tunnel. In the ensuing battle...

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

April 6, 2017 by admin Comment Closed

Wonder Bread Tapping the Transformational Power of Faith During the seven days of Passover we are required to eat only Matza-- unleavened bread that looks somewhat like a cracker and is made of just water and flour. The Matza reminds us that we were slaves to the Egyptians who treated us as if we were subhuman and fed us brittle and tasteless unleavened bread. The Matza is therefore referred to as the “bread of affliction.” However, Matza also reminds us of how we left Egypt in an astounding record time, faster than it takes dough to leaven into bread. How can Matza be both a sign of our painful affliction and our joyous freedom? The Zohar, the Kabbalah classic, refers to Matza as the “Bread of Faith.” In other words, when we eat the Matza, we are internalizing the message of faith that it embodies. That message is -- know that even if you hit rock bottom and feel far and alienated from G-d, G-d is right there to help you and free you from...

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

April 6, 2017 by admin Comment Closed

(Why) Does G-d test us? Yom Kippur; the Jewish day of Atonement; we must have needed a lot of atonement that year, because over those dark days of October in 1973, over two thousand of our boys would be the sacrifices the Jewish people offered to atone for … what, exactly? The position on Mount Bental had a commanding view of the entire Northern Golan Heights, and the Syrian forces that overran the Israeli positions on the Yom Kippur afternoon were well aware that capturing this position was critical to a successful advance in the Golan Heights. After an overwhelming and unabated Syrian artillery barrage that forced the small contingent of Israeli soldiers manning the position to take cover deep in the underground bunker, the men in the bunker suddenly heard shouts and dialogue in Arabic above their bunker, and realized their position had been captured. Seven men, including one who was seriously wounded from the artillery barrage managed to barricade themselves inside...

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

March 30, 2017 by admin Comment Closed

SOUL-UTIONS TO PAIN The archetypical story about pain is recorded in the book of Job, who experiences horrible tribulations. Job's friends try to give him answers to explain his pain, but Job is not satisfied with any of their answers. In the end, G-d Himself speaks to Job and gives him resolve. Job's friends tell him that there is no such thing as pain without justice. This means that when a person goes through pain it is simply the fulfillment of justice. Pain is not haphazard or accidental. In some way-even if we cannot possibly fathom why-we have deserved our pain. But Job does not accept this answer. Maimonides, the great Torah sage known as the Rambam, says that this answer is actually the true position of Jewish tradition. In fact, when the Rambam discusses the meaning of "pain" or "suffering," he quotes the verse in the book of Job recording the answer of Job's friend who said that there is no pain...

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

March 30, 2017 by admin Comment Closed

Visiting Poland is an overwhelming experience; it is a country that serves as a mass memorial to European Jewry; a Jewish community that flourished for a thousand years, and is no more. To attempt to comprehend the enormity of millions of lives taken in such a brutal fashion; of one and a half million children and thousands of Jewish communities, is simply beyond comprehension. So one attempts instead to focus on an individual story; on the details. A visit to the Jewish cemetery of Warsaw is a case in point. With hundreds of thousands of Jewish graves buried there over hundreds of years, including some of the greatest Rabbis of Jewish history, it is an overwhelming experience. At one point, on our recent visit to Warsaw, we stopped in front of a large gravestone with the name Adam Czerniaków (pronounced Cherniack; November 30, 1880 – 23 July 1942) It was immediately clear there was a story here; he was buried in 1942, when...

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

March 23, 2017 by admin Comment Closed

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...

Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny Freedman – Portion of Vayakhel-Pekudei

March 23, 2017 by admin Comment Closed

They were all so different; how would I ever be able to turn them into a cohesive unit? It was my first command, and this was my first mission. After finally completing Officer’s course I was assigned to the 430th battalion of the 500th armored Brigade which at the time was still stationed in the Jordan valley. Given a few days to rest up after 11 grueling months of infantry officer’s training and then tank officer’s course I reported for duty to my new base with visions of commanding men under fire. After meeting first the battalion commander and then my new company commander, I was assigned my quarters, where I met Chaim and Ohad, my two fellow platoon commanders. Having spent most of the past year sleeping in the field or in a tank it was awesome to have my own bed and cupboard in an actual room in officer’s quarters. It was late evening by the time I got my...

Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron

March 16, 2017 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 16, 2017 by admin Comment Closed

Jerusalem; 722 BCE: the mightiest army on the face of the earth has surrounded the city; bent on conquest and determined to put an end to the Jewish people once and for all. Approximately 35,000 people, all that remain of the Jewish people after the destruction and conquest of the North and the exile of the ten tribes, are crowded inside the city walls as the Assyrian army lays siege to Jerusalem. The Assyrian general Saragon, also known as Sanhereb, the Destroyer, has never been defeated, and has amassed the largest army the world has ever known: 185,000 men. Hizkiahu, the Jewish king, has no army to speak of; it would seem we are in the verge of the final solution to the Jewish people, 2,700 years ago. And then G-d performs a miracle, and according to the book of Kings, on the first night of Passover, an Angel smites the Assyrian army and all 185,000 Assyrian soldiers die, saving the city of Jerusalem....

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