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קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua
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פורסם בראשון, 22 נובמבר 2020 16:35
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Portion Of Key Tavo - talking blessings curses and a Torah Carved in Stone (and in our SOULS)
In this week's portion G-d tells Moshe to tell the people
"G-D SAYS CARVE a copy of the Torah IN STONE -
write it AT THE TOP OF THE SHECHEM MOUNTAIN"
Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach used to teach -
what it says in the Torah - WE HAVE TO DO
SO
CLOSE YOUR EYES - and
Listen to MOSES TALKING -
AND WATCH all those thousands of workers setting up stones and carving the words of the Torah on the mountain.
where are the stones today - when the Arabs are even destroying any artifacts on our Holy Temple Mount -
the WORDS " carve it in stone" must echo to us
But this Portion also has the curses - carried out at the time of the Second Temple destruction -
what would Reb Shlomo say?
I remember he said -
Key Tavo - curses NOT set in Stone - happiness set in Stone
Rabbi Mendele Vitebsker always wanted that Aliyah -
he was not well-
but Reb Mendele said
"in the sickness described in the Torah - is hidden 'THE HEALING qualities ..."
This is our TORAH - all hidden blessings!
So open your hearts -
a regular Torah is written on skins of kosher animals - softened to accept the ink-
BUT the TORAH in STONE
(I believe) IS IN EVERY STONE OF THE HOLY LAND!
REB SHLOMO USED TO SAY
" TELL THE WORLD - that the TORAH is CARVED in STONE on the Shechem Mountain-"
for hundreds of years it was visible-
but now WE must remind the world that the Shechem Mountain was BOUGHT by our forefather Jacob and our 4 foremothers and the 12 tribes!
To tell us and all the world about the hidden blessings in everything from G-d!
Let it be written gently in our softened hearts like a PARCHMENT Torah -
so that it will be strong as STONE - for the world to "see" and understand!
Shabbat Shalom from Israel
Rabbi Andy Eichenholz
- פרטים
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קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua
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פורסם בראשון, 22 נובמבר 2020 16:35
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Key Tay Tzay - mitzvas we can do, mitzvas we can't do - and those we MIGHT do
There are so many commandments in this portion Key Tay Tzay,
it's not an easy read ...
and there are so many ideas for thought - especially now, the month of Elul -
preparing for Rosh Hashono-
The portion starts with "the captive woman" - who must be respected,
continues with "if your enemy's animal is collapsing under it's load" - do not allow it to be in pain,
and
WHEN YOU GO INTO ISRAEL (but not when you are outside Israel-
destroy the memory of Amalek - the CRUEL tribes - the wanton killers -
So what do we learn to do, how do we deal with the many things we can't do (ever see your enemy's donkey?)
and what's a mitzva and what's a sin?
So here's a word of wisdom from Rabbi Shlomo:
"I want you to know that the tshuvah (repentance) of (the month of) Elul is not tshuvah for sins.
That is for the ten days between Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur.
In Elul the important thing is, I am doing tshuvah for
all the gates (opportunity to do mitzvas)
that were open to me and that I didn't enter." Reb Shlomo Carlebach zt"l
Shabbat Shalom from Israel
and Let's get ready for Rosh Hashono
Rabbi Andy Eichenholz
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קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua
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פורסם בראשון, 22 נובמבר 2020 16:34
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Judges and People
Where do we connect to G-dliness?
Who influences us into a closeness to the spiritual in the world?
And where does the Torah direct us to get spiritual nourishment from?
My friend Rabbi Josh Hoffman wrote this week " the Torah says, “and you shall not cut it (fruit trees)....and quoted the Ibn Ezra
as connecting that commandment to the later wording in the portion
“for a man is a tree of the field.” Then Rabbi Josh writes that "Maharal,... gives an elaborate explanation of this imagery, explaining that a man, like a tree, grows and bears fruit, namely, the actions that he does in his lifetime."
I once had a problem and needed to cut down a fruit tree on my property. In a quandry I delayed - and the All-mighty sent me an answer -
a good bid on the house and I sold it! What a way to teach me that MITZVA! Thank you Hashem!
In this week's portion the Torah tells us to appoint uncorruptable judges. Don't we know what to do when we appoint judges?
I'm not so sure. I was once at a judicial convention (as a computer support peson)
and a judge gave a talk about his "buying a TV cheaply that was stolen off a truck". Was he being "resonsible"?
Reading the Torah through the eyes of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach we would see
"you need to have judges who teach and direct you to do everything with love and joy" - and we should learn from them.
Do what you do honestly - and be happy - and make your world better that way.
Again - the words of Rabbi Carlebach:
"The most important things between my wife, my children and I are always the things I don’t have to do.
If I don’t, it's also okay, but gevalt are they important, gevalt are they important....
Rashi says that the tora portion Eikev is talking about Mitzvos Kalos (basic mitzvas)...
You know what that means? We are talking about mitzvahs you step on, mitzvahs which I don’t have to do.
(so) Let me ask you something. I see a poor man and I give him ten dollars, do I have to smile at him? I don’t have to.
Let me ask you something else. When I say good Shabbos ... (to someone), where does it say that I have to say it besimcha
(with joy)? It doesn't say it anywhere."
But if we had teachers and judges who taught us that lesson - imagine what a great world
imagine what a great Shabbos
we could all have.
Love and Shabbos
Rabbi Andy Eichenholz
- פרטים
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קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua
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פורסם בראשון, 22 נובמבר 2020 16:34
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strike one, strike two, and - Torah portion of Re-ay
definitions:
strike - in baseball, trying to get the other side "out"
strike - to hit
strike - to attack
strike - to stop work in protest
So why in the portion of Re-ay does it say -
how to react to a city which turns to IDOLS (something that NEVER happened)
where it says
"strike, and strike it..."
yet elsewhere in the portion it so sweetly says
"open your hand (to the poor)"...
Latest news from here - America says Israel's air strike against the Russian Missiles in Syria missed a few. So?
Let's look at a little Israel history here:
The Arabs under the British Mandate held a general strike from April–October 1936.
It was part of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine.
Among demands of the strike were Independence for Jerusalem.
The British ordered the demolition of hundreds of homes in Jaffa ...and authorised the Zionist Movement to build a port in Tel Aviv.
Strike - and strike again ...the Arabs, the British - and here we are still today...2013
Now as Reb Shlomo Carlebach used to always say - open your heart...
And this week his student Reb Sholom Brodt of Jerusalem quoted the famous Ohr Hachaim on this portion:
... receive Me into the deepest depth of your heart,
such that your Neshama (soul) will radiate with My light
... it is your choice ... If you will ‘hearken’ to the mitzvot of Hashem,
you will bring His holy light into the world,
then all the nations will stream to Yerushalayim and join you in amazing prayer.
But if you don’t, ... they will continue to attack you and blame you for all their ills.
We need to learn the lessons that sometimes you have to strike evil (like in Missiles)
and STRIKE IT AGAIN IF NEED BE (as quoted above fro this portion)
BUT
sometimes ...
we have to teach the world to LET LOOSE
OPEN YOUR (their) HANDS (and their hearts) TO HELP
and hopefully the world will some day join us in amazing prayer ...
Thank you Reb Shlomo, then you Reb Sholom, thank you Ohr Hachaim and thank you G-d ...
Shabbat Shalom from Israel
Rabbi Andy Eichenholz
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קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua
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פורסם בראשון, 22 נובמבר 2020 16:34
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Portion of Eikev 5773
Moshe, Moses, the 2 Tablets Man (10 Commandments - given twice) has the 7 portions of Torah leading up to Rosh Hashono mostly to himself.- and throws in some new tidbits here and there which explain things - but sometimes raise questions - and today I had a few.
So it was funny after prayers this morning to study Eikev - the portion we read tomorrow - and Rashi - the medievil Rabbinic commentary - and then getting an email from my old study-partner Rabbi Joshua Hoffman (when we were in Yeshiva together in Israel) - who was concerned by the same issue!
He wrote a beautiful comprehensive essay - but I will try in a few words to bring his conclusions and mine to this page.
He wrote "The first luchos (tablets - later broken by Moses) were both made and written by God, while the second luchos were made by Moshe and written by God. (For) the second luchos, God told Moshe ... to build an aron, or ark of wood, in which to store them.... Rashi... says that it is not the same ark as the one for the Temple...(which) Betzalel built. ... According to Rashi, the broken luchos remained in the aron (ark) made by Moshe, and that aron, with the broken luchos inside, went out to war with the people (when they conquerred Israel)."
Rabbi Josh quotes Rav Amnon Bazak and others who discuss which Tablets were holier. Some say,the second luchos were on a higher level than the first, because the second set was made by Moshe, thus adding the human element to G-d's work. (This is the Jewish explanation of why we are here on Earth - to add a human element to G-d's Creation).
This "human element that assured their permanence ... in God’s realm, indicating that the covenant He made with the Jewish people would remain forever. "
But I had another issue. The portion quotes Moses saying "I had to go up on the MOUNTAIN again for 40 days and nights to bring you these tablets". Moses went up there 40 days for the first tablets. Then after the Golden Calf he went up AGAIN 40 days to pray that G-d forgive the people.
And then G-d says - come up again 40 more days toprepare the second set of Tablets which will last forever - and not be broken. Why the 3 forties?
So I think that fits in with what Rabbi Josh says - that WE ADD OUR SPIRIT TO G-D'S CREATION AND IT BECOMES HOLIER.
Moses did that - and that effort created the permanent BOND of ISRAEL and G-d and TORAH.
May we be blessed to keep it strong and a light to the world.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Andy Eichenholz
- פרטים
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קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua
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פורסם בראשון, 22 נובמבר 2020 16:33
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shabat devarim - shabbat before the fast of 9 Av
The Temples - 1st and 2nd - were destroyed on Tisha Bav (9 of the month of Av) -
and this week's portion Devarim is always read the Shabbat before 9 Av
So what's the deep connection between the 2?
We all have heard the Psalm that says "Though I walk in the shadow of the Valley of Death..."
How did King David get into there? Okay - he experienced it ALL -but
How do WE fit into that FEELING? Why does the whole world know that Psalm?
What is the MIRACLE of the destruction of Israel? THAT IT CAN'T HAPPEN !!!
But we all face tragedies, failures - and sometimes FEAR -
and King David taught us HOW to deal with these:
to know (as the Psalm continues) "Because YOU are with me"
Even during the Temple Destruction we were not destroyed!
WE FAST in sadness on Tisha Bav - and hope we LEARNED OUR LESSON from the horrible events of the day
- BUT it's not a simple fast for penitence like YOM KIPPUR
Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach taught:
The holy Reb Elimeilech of Grodzisk says that Moshe Rabeini said these lectures (lessons or criticism of the Israelites' complaints over 40 years -recited in the Portion of Devarim) in a hidden way....
(To teach us to RETURN- that is) Tshuva ... from Ahavas Hashem (love of G-d, and) then all the Aveiros (sins) become ...(counted as) Mitsvot, ...
so when we say Mussar (constructive criticism ONLY) in a hinting way like Moses in this portion
(it shows) we do it with Ahavas Hashem and Ahavas Yisroel (love of G-d and Israel)
...(and) this is the real fixing... that will bring the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdosh (Holy Temple)
and (may) this very day Tisha beAv that we so mourn ... be turned around (as was prophesized) for the day Moshiach is born -
(to fix the world)
omein,
- פרטים
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קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua
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פורסם בראשון, 22 נובמבר 2020 16:33
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Portion of Matos-and-Masay
What a week – Egypt in turmoil again, the world ignoring civil war in Syria, Tunisia starting it’s own re-revolution – and the world keeps claiming ISRAEL is the problem, and ISRAEL should give half of Jerusalem to the Fatah leaders in Ramallah – etc.
So too at the time of the Israelites coming to Canaan - Moab and Midian and Canaanites were all at war with each other - and ALL TURNED ON MOSES AND THE TRIBES - because they feared the MORALITY of Israel
So after the wars with Balak and Og and Sichon, after 40 years wandering the desert, the Israelites are told by G-d to appoint 1000 soldiers from each tribe to conquer the Midianites who tried to help Balak destroy the Israelite people before they got to Canaan.
Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach explained the words of the Apter Rav –
that hidden holy people were chosen by their peers – to win the war and protect Israel’s Eastern flank when the tribes entered the Promised Land. (see below the Hebrew text).
And who are the holy hidden people ? Their neighbors knew – because they were ALWAYS there to HELP – and asking nothing in return.
- Rabbi Norman Lamm - retiring from Yeshiva University -wrote this week about Jewish Courage:
Biblical Judah was big enough to admit that he was small. He confesses a mistake. He can experience guilt and confront it creatively. He does not offer any tortured rationalizations to vindicate himself. He says simply and forthrightly: tzadkah mimmeni (Gen. 38:26), she was right and I was wrong.
And with that statement Judah is transformed into a Jewish hero, a role model - and a self-critical man of moral courage. He concedes guilt. He knows that he is guilty with regard to Joseph, and together with his brothers he says aval ashemim anachnu, "indeed, we are guilty.”
You dont see that with the political leaders of the world who blame Israel - and the Jews - for the troubles they themselves propagate.
So after the Torah Reading this week we have to say " Chazak Chazak v Nit Chazek -
be strong and strengthen each other"
say YES to Israel
say NO to pressure on Israel
say "we will be there to help one another"
WE'RE JUST SOME NOMADIC ISRAELITES TRAVELLING IN THE
CONTINUUM OF TIME -
- and that is what we are here for.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Andy Eichenholz (in Israel)
