Parashat Hashavua

Portion R Aiy - Holy Women, BATMAN

פרטים: קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם בשלישי, 01 דצמבר 2020 14:25; נכתב על ידי Super User; כניסות: 293

Portion R Aiy - Holy Women, BATMAN

(dedicated to the couples whose weddings I will be attending in the next couple of weeks)

The portion starts off warning us Israelites against false prophets

and against being led astray from our closeness ( to the L-rd and to EACH OTHER)

The Almighty brought us out of Egypt and does so many wonderous things -

see the Blessings he has given us !!!

Then the portion sends us Mitzvas ... and tops it off with Holiday Celebration details!

The Great Commentator Rashi explains about one mitzva in this portion

"It is a special Mitzva to DECLARE a firstborn domesticated animal HOLY- Kadosh"

So too at a wedding we call the ceremony Kidushin and the groom DECLARES to the bride

"you are CONSECRATED to me (meKuDeshet)" - a HOLY woman

CONSECRATION says Rashi REQUIRES you to SAY IT OUT LOUD

MAKE a STATEMENT in this world that THERE IS HOLINESS

In a marriage

and in every child

even a newborn animal

there is a cause to celebrate-

and in everything we are blessed with -

which should give us reason to celebrate

Don't be led astray by those who may want to drain the holiness or the excitement from you

As Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach used to say

"Mr Devil says - yeah it's nice but it won't last ..."

But Rashi TEACHES US - declare how every little thing is Holy and how to

connect it to the Holy Shabbos

and MAKE it LAST

And you will ALWAYS have things to celebrate ...

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

Portion Eykev - hunger in the world? Pray after eating a heavy meal on Yom Kippur!‏

פרטים: קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם בשלישי, 01 דצמבר 2020 14:25; נכתב על ידי Super User; כניסות: 397

Portion Eykev - hunger in the world? Pray after eating a heavy meal on Yom Kippur!‏

Only inJewish Law!

The Law says one has to say Grace After Meals ( Birchat Hamazon )

if you eat a meal on the Holy Fast Day of Yom Kippur.

My first child was about to be born on Yom Kippur.

I went to the synagogue on the corner to pray a bit but my friends sent me home.

The LAW says a woman starting labor needs to drink -

and there is no basis for the husband to delay going to the hospital!

In this week's portion we are told by the Almighty

"You will eat and be satisfied and you will bless the L.rd your G.d"

Thanks.

IT is one of those things that Make Us Human! My daughter wanted to feed a kitten today but the kitten just wanted to play.

The Sefer ha Chinuch (not Chanoch my name) declares this a Doraita Mitzva -

commanded directly by the Almighty - for after eating a full meal

Many rabbis later added making ALL blessings for thanks.

Their purpose seems to be to get us consistantly to GIVE THANKS

So even those that are diabetic hypoglycemic or whatever - if they eat on Yom Kippur

for ANY reason

should say AT LEAST THE BASIC THANK YOU GRACE:

Brich Racha mana Malka D Alma Mari D Hai PITA (even if it is rye bread).

(thank you ruler of the world for this food)

Rav Shlomo Carlebach used to sing the words of the prophets:

"there will be a hunger in the world ... not a hunger for bread ... not a thirst

for water ... but to Hear the Words of the Almighty"

Rabbi Neria (zatzal) wrote (and I paraphrase)

"food (or its lack ... or feeling its deprivation)

can turn people into animals

and so the Torah teaches us THE ACT OF THANKS CAN KEEP US HUMAN

WHICH IS WHY WE WERE CREATED HUMANS not animals or angels ...

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

Portion Va EtChaNan ... Take em Out Take em Out...

פרטים: קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם בשלישי, 01 דצמבר 2020 14:24; נכתב על ידי Super User; כניסות: 354

Portion Va EtChaNan ... Take em Out Take em Out...

While the Fifth of the Five Books packs in so many things

And this portion as well is packed with

Shema Yisrael

Ten Commandments

History and Warnings

and

Just think :

we are over 500 years after he Jews were thrown out of Spain on Tisha Baה

(which we commemorated by fasting his week)

and

There are also especially the promises we should rememeber:(see chap 4 verses 32-40)

Remember: theTorah speaks to us all every day and in the portion

It says that we must remember how the Almighty Took Us out of Egypt... and says

"has anyone (ever) seen such a thing ? ... Taking a nation out of the surrounding Nation ..."

So what you might ask?

But it is NOT about leaving Egypt - but about TODAY AS WELL!

Hashem will take you out! Now! like then ... WHAT?

I was just with a group of returning Jews in Central America.

Some were descended from Jews who were pirates in the Caribbean

Others joined in Jewish practices in he last few years

Those ejected from Spain 500 years ago this week!

SO TOO WILL THE ALMIGHTY EXTRACT US FROM OUR ISRAELITE EXILE

A FEW HERE A FEW THERE

So the Torah speaks to all of us - every day every week

And it was great honor to be a small part of Hashem's promise to Israel

and work with his orders to us in such a clear way.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

Portion Devarim when 1000 is not a number

פרטים: קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם בשלישי, 01 דצמבר 2020 14:24; נכתב על ידי Super User; כניסות: 261

Portion Devarim when 1000 is not a number

In this portion Moses blesses וus all with a blessing to Israel to "become 1000 times"

And moses follows it saying "and the Almighty will give you his blessings too"

Most of the commentaries keep it numerical:

That israel should become 1000 times its desert population

And that Hashems blessing is unlimited in number

But if we look beyond the straight translation

And look back and forward in history for the hidden meaning

It might be a blessing that

1000 times we might be struck down like on Tisba Bav

but 1000 we bounce back

And 1000 blessings our people have bestowed on the world

like the idea of liberty from slavery: AND

through our geniuses like medical

and science (and NOBEL) prize winnners

And 1000 places in e world where our people

may have been scattered to and have STILL

enlightened those around them

and 1000 blessings like the great Rabbi Akiva and the Lubavitcher Rebbe

( 2000 years apart )

And 1000 great moral leaders

who remain the

The moral standard bearers

in a world often bought off or lured off course by short

term glitz and spins and PR marketing

Mose's 1000 times blessing is maybe on our impact on the world around us

And his reminder of

the Almighty' s blessing maybe is to show us the whole path of the Blessings of Israel

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

portion matos masei IS YOUR TEMPLE BURNING or your HEART?

פרטים: קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם בשלישי, 01 דצמבר 2020 14:23; נכתב על ידי Super User; כניסות: 530

portion matos masei IS YOUR TEMPLE BURNING or your HEART?

We all love inspiration even though our people is supposed to mourn the Great Temple during this period

In this double portion Mohe Rabaynu looks over. His flock

and reviews what he needs to inspire the people

because

They soon will start a NEW journey into the Promised Land and face new challenges

I am writing this from the small Jewish community in Nicaragua and I must say they face every conceivable challlenge

but they are inspired by all things Jewish in 2017

including the Torah they study over the INTERNET!

Amazing and so inspirational to me coming from Israel!!!

The holy Torah teaches us both commandments and stories

And our lives are both

And our legacies are both

And SHABBAT is BOTH

SO while we are mourning the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem this 3 weeks

I just read about something that can be a sad item or can be inspirational

A director of excavations on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), said of a giant reservoir from the First Temple Period just discoverd

that

“it is difficult not to be impressed by the sight of the immense underground reservoir quarried out so many years ago.”

( while Professors want to impress -

good teachers want to INSPIRE!)

I am inspired that 3000 years later we find a project that PROVIDED PURE WATER TO THE AREA WHERE I NOW LIVE!!!

The excavations reveal that the reservoir was built beneath a large structure with walls that are all nearly 50 meters long. Some of the potsherds found on the floors of the rooms probably belonged to vessels used to draw water from the reservoir.

Researchers believe that it is highly likely that the structure and the reservoir were built at the end of the Iron Age, the late 8th or early 7th century BCE.

While the building was abandoned during the Persian period, the reservoir was still in use until modern times.

SO TOO THE WORDS AND ACTIONS OF MOSES as we see in the portion

AT THE HEIGHT OF HIS CAREER

FINDS TIME TO ORGANIZE WEDDINGS FOR 5 ORPHANS

AND THE TORAH RECORDS THIS AT THE END AND HEIGHT OF THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE TORAH

AND WE SAY CHAZAK CHAZK V NIT CHAZEK meaning

BE STRONG AnD INSPIRED

Shabat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

Portio Pinchas: Why Partyat the Temple

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Portio Pinchas: Why Partyat the Temple

The latter part of the portion describes the Public National Sacrifies for Each Jewish Holiday.

An interesting insight is that the

People are told

(but not here)

to Visit Jerusalem during our holidays and bring their own

Personal Sacrifices ...

and bar.b.que - and share with friends and family!

The connection is clear ... that we should have our parties in a place of sanctity

With connectedness to ALL our people, public and private sacrifices TOGETHER

In a surrounding of majesty love and hope for our TOGETHER FUTURE.

In the seventies and in college I remember seeing a lot of dark-side strobe light revolutionary gatherings

- and also the bright side of gatherings in Synagogues.

While youth in the crazy world around us sometimes joins in anti-this-and-that-

and protest and revolt

There is nothing more spiritually uplifting FOR ALL AGES -

and life enhancing

than being connected to majesty with wisdom as where we celebrated - and celebrate TODAY AGAIN

the atmosphere of the HOLINESS in Jerusalem-

around our whole holiday cycle

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

Portion Balak -Talking Donkey, Red Herring (uh Heifer), Sink Holes and – Holiness?

פרטים: קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם בשלישי, 01 דצמבר 2020 14:23; נכתב על ידי Super User; כניסות: 286

Portion Balak -Talking Donkey, Red Herring (uh Heifer), Sink Holes and – Holiness?

What More could you ask for in a 40-year desert adventure?

This week the commentary Rashi (Rabbi and Vintner from 800-years-ago-France) tries to explain WHAT Bilam's talking donkey said – but not WHY the Torah put this story in here!

In the last few weeks' Torah Portions we hear of LARGER THAN LIFE miracles or events.

They are part of the FABRIC of our TORAH LIFE!

Whatever happened there in the desert happens to us all in different ways – and as King David Wrote so long ago "Hayeenu K cholmim" (we are like dreamers) –

Because Strange Reality happens all around us and even as we sleep!

There is life in every animal and a miracle in every sink hole (and pot hole) –

and if we remember that the Red Heifer Mitzva was given to us (last week's portion)

to "clean up our act (spiritually as well)

and here (this week's portion shows) evil Bilam is acting like a donkey …

And that there are pitfalls (even sink holes) in life but

if we don't complain about them

but turn them into flowers and almond trees –

what a healthy life the Torah is Teaching us to LIVE.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

Portion Chukat - "So you 3 had a pretty good run ...huh ... Moses Aron and Miriam..."

פרטים: קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם בשלישי, 01 דצמבר 2020 14:22; נכתב על ידי Super User; כניסות: 328

Portion Chukat - "So you 3 had a pretty good run ...huh ... Moses Aron and Miriam..."

When Joshua is about to enter Israel the Almighty appears to him and says the

same words that Moshe Rabaynu used to Bless Joshua with Leadership of Israel -

"Chazak ... Chazak... Chazak ..." (said it 3 times) (Chazak means be strong)

MAYBE Joshua was in doubt of his ability to lead the cantankerous Israelites -

And maybe he wished he had a Miriam and an Aron to help out like Moses!

So he hears from the L-rd THREE blessings to BE STRONG !!! Strong like the THREE LEADERS!

We need to hear what the portion is telling us this week-

(and what the Almighty sends)

sanctify yourselves with the Red Heiffer ...(FAITH)

stear clear of death (a whole nother lecture)

honor those great leaders who came before you

(Aron and Miriam both pass on in this portion - and the Israelites wept)

Moses sends word to our cousins Edom - but they don't let us pass thru to Israel

then

THE ISRAELITES then send word to the other nations surrounding Canaan -

and they don't let us through-

So we the ISRAELITES defeat them in Jordan and the Golan Heights.

Gotta be Joshua the leader - still under guidance of Moshe Rabaynu ...

with the support of All the People of Israel

May we be blessed CHAZAK and may we protect the whole People of Israel

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

Portion SheLach - Why I Spy and Wind Up Dry

פרטים: קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם בשלישי, 01 דצמבר 2020 14:22; נכתב על ידי Super User; כניסות: 345

Portion SheLach - Why I Spy and Wind Up Dry

Who volunteered to go spy for Moses? And

What was their REAL plan? Did some of them plan to check things out,

and just STAY in Canaan if things looked GOOD to them - like Moses had described - and forget the rest of the nation?

What happened to them so that they came back and told everyone to stay in the desert?

There are many theories - but I have one which follows on the thoughts of my Master Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach.

He said " the spies just didn't see the REAL Israel, The REAL Potential, the TRUE Holiness"

(I always tell people to come to Israel NOT for the beautiful beaches but for the Holy Sweet people and the Torah...)

Maybe Moses sent Joshua with the others - his faithful second-in-command -

because he KNEW the others were NOT only interested in THE NATION OF ISRAEL-

but that JOSHUA had eyes SEEKING HOLINESS AND GOODNESS and the WELFARE OF THE NATION.

But despite the miracles of G-d saving them from Egypt

and despite the 10 Commandments and Sinai

and the Manna and Miriam's well-

MOST of the people forgot WHAT THEY THEMSELVES HAD SEEN-

and followed the lead of the 10 spies and decided NOT to go to Israel -

and so they died in the dry dry desert and never taste the clean spring waters of Israel!

Only Joshua and Calev say "

we saw the land is good - let's take our gift from the Almighty"-

and they lead our ancestors into Israel

and the Milk and Honey and the peace (whenever our ancestors followed the Rules of the Almighty).

So maybe we need more (all) Jews to visit Israel and see the beauty of the Holiness in Israel

and refresh themselves from our Israelite holy heritage.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

Portion Korach - Leaders Rebels Peace and Perfection

פרטים: קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם בשלישי, 01 דצמבר 2020 14:21; נכתב על ידי Super User; כניסות: 333

Portion Korach - Leaders Rebels Peace and Perfection

Are there any, REALLY? LEADERS rebels etc.

I once heard a lecture from a PhD psychologist about

"leadership" - which really was ridiculous

in my graduate studies I took courses in MANAGEMENT which

covered all the leadership research of 50 years -

and not one study or finding was mentioned by the person who gave

the "lecture"

In Yeshiva High School I had a Rock Band - it was under the

radar of the Rabbis -

so maybe I was a little rebel but I have ALWAYS prayed with a minyan - even in the afternoons

and even in SUMMERTIME .

Rebels also need to be part of their community or they are just crackpots.

And Leaders - true Leaders have to know who and where things a trending - or they will

lose their followings.

Rebels are not leaders - but they sometimes set trends.

Today there are danger signs in the world - that many of the world

leaders seem to be ignoring. So maybe they need to study this Tora Portion!

Moshe Rabaynu - Moses -

did not miss what was going on (trends) - not in Egypt and not in the desert -

and

not in Canaan - where Israel was to settle.

He led the Israelites from one hot spot (joke intended) to another and

through many hot issues.

His purpose in ending the Korach spiritual rebellion was

not to bring peace, and not to perfect the practice of Judaism

but to protect the MISSION of ISRAEL.

So here's a

Thought by Rabbi David Aron of Israelight (with my interpretation)

...

You can be a great leader or a regular person ...but

Everyone has his calling - his Mission in life...

but what is different is "who is Calling!"

Moses kept saying "All Israel's Mission is from the Almighty".

SO - Is our soul fully engaged in our life calling -

then it can be a calling from a HEAVENLY place!

And may the Almighty bless us all to be Part of the Almighty's "calling"

(Otherwise the calling is not going to bring call us to peace on this planet)

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

מאמרים נוספים...

עמוד 29 מתוך 53

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Parashat Hashavua

Portion R Aiy - Holy Women, BATMAN

Portion Eykev - hunger in the world? Pray after eating a heavy meal on Yom Kippur!‏

Portion Va EtChaNan ... Take em Out Take em Out...

Portion Devarim when 1000 is not a number

portion matos masei IS YOUR TEMPLE BURNING or your HEART?

Portio Pinchas: Why Partyat the Temple

Portion Balak -Talking Donkey, Red Herring (uh Heifer), Sink Holes and – Holiness?

Portion Chukat - "So you 3 had a pretty good run ...huh ... Moses Aron and Miriam..."

Portion SheLach - Why I Spy and Wind Up Dry

Portion Korach - Leaders Rebels Peace and Perfection

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