With All Your Might Volume 2
On The Torah
by Nachman Kahana
Based on carefully selected weekly parasha and holiday messages from 5770 and 5771, the title is taken from the verse in the kriyat shema prayer.
Excerpt from the Foreword by Rabbi Chaim Richman
“For Rabbi Kahana, a chacham, a Kohein, and a navi, is kol ku’lo Eretz Yisrael, his entire essence is the Land of Israel, and the embodiment of our sages’ adage, “Whoever resides in the Land of Israel is likened to one who has a God” (Ketubot 110:b). Indeed, the reader will find that studying Rabbi Kahana’s Torah is truly to see the Torah through the pure, unadulterated eyes of Eretz Yisrael.”
Great effort has been invested in producing an esthetically-pleasing Torah work whose profound ideas are clearly and easily conveyed. The hardcover edition – On The Torah contains 394 inspirational pages plus a glossary for those who may not be familiar with all the terms.
Approbation by Rabbi Dr. Sholom Gold, shlita
Founding Rabbi Kehilat Zichron Yoseph, Har Nof
Dean Avrom Silver Jerusalem College for Adults
“Rabbi Nachman Kahana has produced a work that will engage the reader in an uplifting adventure of the spirit. This sefer bears a wrenching message that is absolutely vital for the Jewish people now. There are no secrets here, there is no hidden agenda that lurks beneath the surface, and no subtle nuances that have to be discovered. Rabbi Kahana has a very clearly defined purpose that is the theme of this sefer and is evident from the very beginning. He pulls no punches, gives no quarter, brooks no excuses , and no holds are barred.
This sefer is permeated with a message that is at once compelling, distributing, haunting and yet soaring with religious intensity. Reb Nachman speaks from his heart to his fellow Jews. He is propelled by three intense loves – the love of Eretz Yisrael, the love of Torah and the love of the Jewish people. He craves for these three to finally be joined together.
Rabbi Kahana’s message is presented through the medium of beautiful and brilliant Torah insights on Parshat Hashavua, that are oftimes simply startling in their depth and creativity.
We are the generation that has merited to be the beneficiaries of Hashem’s great gift to His people — Medinat Yisrael. Rabbi Kahana calls on Jews everywhere to rise to the challenge.”
Excerpts from the INTRODUCTION
The title is taken from a verse we recite three times a day in the Kriat Shema declaration of acceptance of our special role as God’s chosen people (Devarim 6:5):
“One day I came upon my close friend, Reb Aryeh, who was crying. ‘Are you crying because of tomorrow’s inspection?’, I asked. Reb Aryeh replied that sadness overcame him because tomorrow will be Sukkot and ‘…we don’t have a sukkah to sit in, nor the four species to hold (lulav, etrog, hadassim and aravot)’.
The following morning Reb Aryeh came to me with a happy look. He cried out ‘Thank HaShem, we have a sukkah and the four species to hold. I thought Reb Aryeh was losing his mind. ‘Where are we to get a sukkah and the four species in this hell-hole?’, I asked.
Then Reb Aryeh took my hand and said very slowly, as a teacher would to his student, ‘The Gemara says that one of the reasons for sitting in a sukkah is to recall the clouds which covered the Jewish camp in the desert. Look! A cloud is covering our camp. It is the cloud of smoke ascending right over us from the crematoria.
We shall sit under that cloud and it will be our sukkah. And the Midrash states that the four species parallel the major organs of the body. The etrog represents the heart; the lulav the spine; the hadassim the eyes and the aravot the lips. So I will hold you and you will hold me and we will fulfill the mitzva of the four species while under the cloud of the crematoria.’
That day Reb Aryeh was taken away to the gas chamber.”
This is to love HaShem “with all your might”.
Excerpts from WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT Volume 2
Bereshiet 5770
From Big Bang to Big Gang
Within the scientific community, the accepted explanation of what transpired at the exact moment of creation is known as the Big Bang theory. It is not a sudden awareness in laboratories and campuses around the world that there is a Creator that we Jews call “Elokim” that has brought the acceptance, but rather discoveries in astronomy and physics have shown beyond reasonable doubt that our universe had a beginning…
…Despite the apparent dangers facing the Jewish State today, the fact is that the Big Bang contains within it a very different scenario, as described by the prophet Yishayahu (chapter 2):
This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.
This is the new world that will appear at the end of all human folly.
Parashat Vayechi 5771
… When one says “I trust in HaShem” (as on the US bills “In God we trust”) the implication is that one is certain that a specific promise made by HaShem will be kept. The promise of a Mashiach, of techiyat hamaitim (resurrection) and all HaShem’s commitments, as voiced by the prophets, will some day become realities. Because I believe in God and His integrity.
Whereas, the phrase “I trust Hashem” implies total, unqualified confidence that Hashem will be merciful and compassionate to His people Yisrael even when a specific promise was not made. Just as a child blindingly trusts his parent’s dedication to his well-being.
One who lives in Eretz Yisrael with its myriad problems and enemies, voices a thunderous statement that he “trusts” that HaShem will be merciful to His loyal people here, even without a specific promise via a prophet.
But after hearing the fretful whining of so many spiritual leaders from the galut , especially from the US, the only conclusion that I can make is that they are suspicious of HaShem’s motives and intentions.
How many times have I heard rabbis and bnei Torah who are here for a year or less to fill their spiritual batteries, claim: “Who can predict what the future holds for the five and a half million Jews surrounded by hundreds of millions of primitive, hate obsessed Arabs and Moslems? Why should HaShem protect the Jewish State when a large minority of Jews there are less than traditional? Who says that the Medina is the end of the 2000 year old galut and beginning of the final redemption? …
Parashat Vayakhel 5771
In the deafening cacophony engulfing the world at this time, what contribution can the shrill voice of this message have for the Jewish mind?
Plenty!
The world is aghast at the violent bloodshed being carried out by Arabs against Arabs. In Egypt close to 100 were killed in the ten days of uprising. In Yemen about 10 were killed, in Libya about 10,000, in Morocco 5, and in Bahrain about 20.
The conscience of the civilized world is inflamed by the numbers which could reach about 20,000, and demand the end of the barbaric treatment of innocent demonstrators. And as the numbers rise, so too does the motivation of the masses in their demands for the downfall of the established leaderships.
If we cannot understand HaShem’s intentions, we can perhaps glean some understanding from His timing.
All this is going on in and around the days of Purim katan in Adar One.
The Megila records that Achashverosh permitted the Jews to defend themselves on the 13th of Adar against their murderous neighbors in the 127 areas under the King’s control; on that day, the Jews killed 75,000 of the enemy in the outlying areas. An additional 800 were killed in Shushan, the capital, in the two days of fighting there on the 13th and 14th of Adar.
75,800 in two days. That number is vastly larger than what we are seeing today in the Arab countries, yet there is no recorded call by the people for Achashverosh’s head or for the end of the monarchy.
Why not? …
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See also: With All Your Might Volume
