WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM DEEP SADNESS
Tisha B’Av is a Hebrew date that has marked a mysterious curse and/or punishment of the Jewish people for thousands of years. The greatest tragedies to befall the Jewish people, from the death of the first generation in the desert during the Exodus, to the destruction of the first and second temples, to the Spanish […]
EICHA, אֵיכָ֣ה, HOW?
Jews never forget the Holocaust. It is just that this is when we remember it. Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, is a solemn day dedicated to the memory of the six million Jews who perished during the Holocaust. It is a time to reflect not just on the atrocities committed, but also on the indifference […]
THE AFIKOMAN MYSTERY
Pictured in this post is a single piece of handmade “shmura matzo” and three pieces of the more common matzah. During the modern Passover celebration there is an old Jewish tradition of putting aside 3 whole matzot. The center matzah is broken into two parts and the larger half is removed, wrapped in a napkin. […]
I SHALL RAISE UP MY EYES
An Israeli coach watching his children players WHEN IT COMES TO ISRAEL … TIMING IS EVERYTHING. Yesterday was the 10th of Nisan on the Hebrew Calendar! Tonight is Shabbat HaGadol (“The Great Shabbat” שבת הגדול), the Shabbat immediately before the Passover. The first Shabbat HaGadol took place in Egypt on the 10th day of the first month, the month […]
TREES AND LIFE
This photo was taken by friend of native Dogwoods blooming in Beacon NY. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Revelation 2:7 With the […]
BET – 2
A Story With the Letter BET King Ptolemy II (283-246 BCE) wanted a Greek translation of the Torah (the Septuagint). He gathered 72 Israelite elders and sequestered them in 72 different houses.1 He visited each of them and instructed, “Translate for me the book of Moses your teacher.” Miraculously, each Sage’s translation was identical, even […]
COLORS IN THE TABERNACLE
Genesis 1:3-4 God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. In Exodus, God instructs (the word Torah means instruction) Moses on precisely how to build the Tabernacle. Parshat Pekudei (Exodus 38:21–40:38) describes the manufacture of the […]
I MISS HIM ALREADY
I suppose I can call this blog post a remembrance in honor of my good and loyal chaver (friend), Benji. It has been a long night. At 3 am on the 13th day of the 3rd month – The 3rd day of Adar II – I lost my very dear friend. Our family pet (member) […]
EXERCISE YOUR 6TH SENSE
Take events in America and around the world since around the start of this millennium, the year 2000. Imagine these as images. They could be people, headlines or even a concept. The images do not need to be in chronological order. Your thoughts can be random. They will be random. Scan the globe — The […]
WHAT COMES AFTER CHANUKAH
With Chanukah 2023 (5784) in the books I was thinking about the New Year. For the Maccabees the “religious new year” started on the 1st of Nisan, the Passover month. That is actually the beginning of the ecclesiastical New Year. Looking back to look ahead reminds me of the prophet Daniel, especially around “the holidays.” The […]