Metzora- Shabat Hagadol 5776

by | Apr 14, 2016

Many of our people here and in the galut, as well as the political elite in many countries, are asking what the outcome will be regarding the Israel-Arab conflict as both sides have locked horns in a stalemate with no political solution in sight.

Each side evokes his God to intervene, as we wait for HaShem to repeat His miracles of the past for us at this very time.

Tazri’a 5776

by | Apr 7, 2016

Our parsha deals with the laws of tzara’at (a whitish blemish on the skin wherein the hairs have turned white and renders the individual to be a potential metzora). When a Kohen examines the sufferer and declares him to be so, the metzora must leave a walled city and live as a recluse until the signs disappear.

However, if the blemish expands to cover the sufferer’s entire body, he is tahor (pure and opposite of tamei or impure) and may return to his former life free of any halachic constraints.

Even within the world of unexplained mitzvot, this situation is conspicuously strange. The limited sign of tuma (impurity) renders one tamei, but the maximum sign renders him to be tahor?

Shemini 5776

by | Mar 31, 2016

Our rabbis have taught that when the Mashiach will appear, he will stand on the roof of the Beit Hamikdash and announce to the nation, “Humble ones! The time for your salvation has arrived. And if you do not believe, look at the light which has shined upon you… upon you alone, and not upon the other nations of the world.”

Tzav – Purim 5776

by | Mar 24, 2016

The Gemara (Megila 7a) tells of Esther’s request that the miraculous salvation of the Jewish people and the events leading up to it be included in the TaNaCh (Bible) as its 24th book, to be an everlasting remembrance of HaShem’s intervention for the Jewish nation in our miraculous victory over the forces of Amalek.

The rabbis rejected her request, basing their rejection on a verse in Mishlay (Proverbs 24:20)

Vayikra 5776

by | Mar 16, 2016

I am often asked why I dwell on the Chareidi communities with their anti-Zionist ideology or indifference to the miracles we see daily in the Holy Land, rather than taking the non-observant elements in our nation to task?

The answer is twofold: 1- The non-observant have little or no relevance on the future destiny of the Jewish people. For the most part, they will not remain within the Jewish fold for more than one or two more generations. Whereas the Religious-Zionist and Chareidi communities will have to live together until the Mashiach comes and declares who is correct or resolves our differences.

2- The conduct and ideas of the non-observant do not reflect the Torah in any way. But Chareidi rabbis claim to speak for classic Torah Judaism, which from the religious-Zionist view is often a distortion of the Torah’s truth. This is major issue within our nation to which we cannot be oblivious; it reflects in almost every aspect of our lives together in Eretz Yisrael.