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קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua
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פורסם בשבת, 11 ספטמבר 2021 19:41
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נכתב על ידי Super User
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כניסות: 322
Portion VaYay Lech - Joshua takes over ... and With Yizkor coming up ...
Changes in life - and the antidote-
In the portion Moses blesses JOSHUA in passing him the baton ...before leaving this world.
SO - Did Moses' kids say Yizkor for their Dad? And for all those that died in the 40 years in the desert?
But here the portion takes on another direction -
Getting the people together - as a jump start to "moving on"- and Moving into Israel
it's the Mitzvah called Hakhel (the King would read the Torah in the Temple every 7 years)-
where for TODAY the Lubavitcher said - we must set up groups to study together - read Torah - and call it HAKHEL -
It's a MITZVA for US - and it KEEPS THE JEWISH PEOPLE MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER
(because the desert years are NOT a paradigm for the Jews
(as it IS for the children
of Ishmael who to this day are a desert people -BUT they received a gift of OIL... -
so was that to reward Abraham their forbear?)
SO WHAT IS THE PARADIGM FOR NOW?
HAKHEL - COME TOGETHER-
MOVE AHEAD - AND AS Reb Shlomo CARLEBACH SAID FOR this next holiday
Yom Kippur we ask G-d to forgive us for not going "through the (spiritual) gates".
(At the time of) Neila, G-d tells us, “Nvo’a sharekha” Come inside,
Stop standing at the gates asking for forgiveness. Come Inside” (close to the Almighty)
based on an article from AISH - in memory of Rabbi Packouz Kalman Moshe ben Reuven Avigdor
problematic about Yom Kippur: how can anyone honestly come back year after year and say the exact same words, asking God for forgiveness for the same sins time and time again? At what point is it no longer believable?
The problem is rooted in trying to change their behavior –
when they really should have been focused on trying to change their perception of themselves!
Our mission on Yom Kippur is to explore who we really want to be and commit to being that type of person.
That is, once we define what we want our essence to be then we can naturally align our behavior to meet that new reality.
This is exactly what repentance is supposed to accomplish.
Because Yom Kippur is the day when we search for who we are and commit to living a life that follows our self-definition,
Ultimately, when the work of Yom Kippur is done correctly, it leads one to self-fulfillment. This is why the Talmud describes it as one of the most festive days on the Jewish calendar. Reconnecting with who you truly are leads one to incredible self-satisfaction and a sublime sense of joy.
SEE AT
SHABBAT SHALOM
RABBI ANDY EICHENHOLZ
- פרטים
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קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua
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פורסם בשבת, 04 ספטמבר 2021 17:54
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נכתב על ידי Super User
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כניסות: 335
Portion Nitzavim - Standing (on line?) Before the Almighty
Questions from this week-
Are we here to teach others?
Are we here to make the world a calmer place?
Are we here to FIX the mess that is today's world?
and to all these and more questions - HOW?
In the portion Moses speaks to the people - at the time just before their entering Israel to fight the Canaanites
and settle the land of Abraham their ancestor.
So - there's a couple of million people- is Moses -who is 120 - SHOUTING to them?
He says "we are ALL here" - but Are We ALL Here? Is EVERYBODY listening? AND -
Is there a parallel for today - a warning message and a PRAYER for
a paradigm for communication as a healer - and for making Israel and the world BETTER?
So waiting on line at the airport to get my flight - with 2000 others -Wednesday night,
there was a lot of fighting and running ahead - because the security was NOT laid out properly-
and young understaffed security group kept moving groups ahead of the hundreds waiting to be checked patiently,
Until the throngs surged - and walked up to the El Al counters
It was midnight and boarding had started already on a few flights!
Security for El Al started yelling and telling the people at the counters NOT to process people THEY did not send in
I tried to talk some sense and calm into the security guys - who had messed up -
but they didn't listen - THEY COULDN'T LISTEN OR FIX THEIR MISTAKES
I went on with the surge - and was talking to
a few not-religious people who were being bullied by security
and with one Rabbi type who was telling young yeshiva guys to run ahead.
So we 4 talked a bit - calmly - about the above issues - while trying to move from line to line
UNTIL WE FOUND A FEW CALM ELAL counter people -
who assigned us seats and took our suitcases and let us go fast -
even though we couldn't all find all our approvals needed to board!
Was the push and the shouting a parallel to the Fire and Brimstone Messages of
Moses (who worked with no audio visuals?)
It MUST BE
Our talking calmly among our little group seemed to work be cause - well we all got here safely!
SO Are we Here to Teach the World or not?
Moses' words seemed to work
because for
14 years they all listened to Joshua!
AND NOW? HOW DO WE WORK THE PARADIGM OF CALM COMMUNICATION INTO THE WAYS OF CONFUSED 2021?
Maybe the Meditations of Rosh Hashing and Yom Kippur?
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Andy Eichenholz
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קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua
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פורסם בשישי, 27 אוגוסט 2021 11:57
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נכתב על ידי Super User
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כניסות: 475
Portion Key Tavo ... of Curses and Songs
It's not easy to explain a torah portion filled with blessings - and also curses.
Just the historical side could take volumes.
It says ...
Blessed are you in your towns and in the country -...
Which soon leads into
Cursed are you in your towns and in the country...
And what did the Israelites understand from these words of Moses anyway,
Remanded to them again on entry to Canaan - with 14 tough years Staring at them in the face ?
As we now look to the imminent High Holy Days
Also staring at us in the ongoing pandemic
I would like to borrow a few words from my teacher Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach
Who said
For the King's birthday party the rich people brought expensive gifts
But the poor people had nothing
So they decided to sing and dance their way into the party
And the King waa happy with their song
Entering Canaan or
Entering a Synagogue
Or entering the new Jewish Year
Go with a song in your hearta and on your lips
And grab the blessings
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Andy Eichenholz
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קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua
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פורסם בשבת, 21 אוגוסט 2021 19:32
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כניסות: 288
Portion Key Tay Tzay: the Warrior and the Woman
Life - it mimics the Torah - or it loses!
The torah has the SPIRITUAL SIDE
And also the Rules of Engagement!
So while waiting in the sun for my bus today, after reviewing the weekly OU portion commentators,
I look up to see a young father trying to jam a
Baby carriage into a stuffed bus baggage compartment. But he didnt succeed, and sat there in the gutter , looking perplexed.
.
After 2 minutes of other busses honking and trying to get around that " number 402", I gave one last look at the 50 people ignoring the guy, walked over, moved a couple of bags, and helped the thankful father put in the carriage
As it says in the middle of the portion if you see the donkey of your brother not fitting into the baggage compartment ...uhhhh ... faltering under the burden ...
ITS IN THE TORAH THIS WEEK
Where was the wife n baby? Probably doing their part, keeping the driver from driving off.
What's that to do with the portion? That starts out "if you go to war and capture a woman ..."
Some Rabbi I Heard this week quoted the RamBaN (not Rambam maimonide s ) who reminded us (900 years ago) that since the portion always comes before the High Holiidays, that we should take a look at our maybe not best spiritual ways -
In preparation for the spiritual introspection part of
"getting holy for the high holy days"!
Note: the torah rule:
If a warrier decides he wants to marry a captive she has to live in a Jewish home for 30 days with no makeup and recant and renounce and mourn her parentage...
And then he can marry her or release her but Not Abuse or Enslave
Okay - in war a lot goes down,
The portion also talks about divorce rules ... and
Zohar (kabala) goes deep as always - into the supernatural forces ,
The Dark Side -and "the other" ...
And the Fixing - when possible
If a divorcee remarries....
"The Other"- is the "dark side" from him or from her...
But which is the left side amd which is the right side...?
Right there is enough To Start for all my High Holiday teachings...no?
Torah Rules
And the Spirit
And preparation for High Holiday Introsoection
Shabbat Shalom - stay healthy
Rabbi Andy Eichenholz
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קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua
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פורסם בשישי, 13 אוגוסט 2021 14:12
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Portion Shoftim – Judges? Need Judges OR - ?
The Portion begins with Judges and Policemen – as with the whole 5th book of the Torah the commandments of the first 4 are repeated and enhanced the month before Moses passes.
In the middle of warning Israel not to follow the witchcraft of the Canaanites, there is ALMOST lost in the middle a POSITIVE COMMANDMENT to be TAMIM – huh? Translate:
"Be Simple- or be Perfect – IM HASHEM – with the Almighty your G-d."
Everyone reads the RASHI commentary which says "be Simple" in dealing with G-d and his ways and Mitzvas. DON'T BE A WISE GUY. And Rashi speaks to ALL generations.
But in MY understanding – you need to Connect to those Simply close to G-d – so here's what I wrote(in Hebrew) to someone going for a major test this week . (In English! Now)
Years ago my friend M was doing his military service – assigned to Guarding the Western Wall – 10PM to Dawn! IMPORTANT! But pretty boring, huh?
So, like a friend, I would sometimes hang out with M for a few hours – usually the last few hours of his shift.
We are friends since 2nd grade. But mostly we talked about "TODAY". He would tell me of the various wierdos who came out to THE WALL at midnight. I told him my experiences living in Crown Heights for a few years.
He once SIMPLY said: Wow! Living with all those (Lubavitcher) Hassidim, you (I) must have gotten very deep into PRAYER.
M is a genius and a Rabbi/Teacher – not a simple guy but a VERY perfectly close-
I am in Israel, trying to simply stay close TO those simply close to the Almighty, Blessing all.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Andy Eichenholz
