by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Feb 26, 2015
Today the 7th of Adar, is the date of Moshe Rabbeinu’s birth and the day of his passing away 120 years later. Moshe died on the mountain of Nevo in the tribe of Reuven, and his body was moved by HaShem to an unknown location in the tribe of Gad.
Beginning with parashat Shmot, Moshe’s name is mentioned in every parasha until the end of the Book of Devarim, except for one – our parasha Tetzaveh. HaShem dictated to Moshe every world to appear in the Torah and He commanded Moshe to omit his own name from this parasha in order to serve as an everlasting memorial to Moshe’s self-sacrifice when he declared to HaShem, that if the Jewish nation would be destroyed because of the Golden Calf episode, then his own name should be omitted from the Torah. Interestingly, the 7th of Adar falls out every year in parashat Tetzaveh.
by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Feb 18, 2015
It is natural for people to revere individuals who stand head and shoulders above the crowd, paragons of virtue; they are our “heroes”. They are role models who we wish to emulate, even when we know that our capabilities do not match theirs. We also villainize individuals who we believe betray the virtues we hold dear.
This week in Eretz Yisrael, we had the opportunity to undergo a “role model” experience centered around 7 people.
by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Feb 11, 2015
Is it possible to perform an act that does not appear in the criminal code of Am Yisrael, yet its implications are an affront, an indignity; indeed, an abuse of the Holy One Blessed Be He?
by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Feb 5, 2015
I am often criticized, or by more genteel people “asked”, that since there are 613 mitzvot in the Torah with another 7 Rabbinic ones, each with its many details and related minhagim (customs), why are my writings centered on the single mitzva of living in Eretz Yisrael?
Indeed! I do center on a single mitzvah of the Torah, but not the one relating to living in Eretz Yisrael. The mitzva which I believe is the most important at this time appears in Vayikra 19,16.
by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Jan 28, 2015
This week’s devar Torah is dedicated to the survivors and the painful questions: Why does HaShem not punish the Germans and their very willing European accomplices? What is He waiting for? With every passing day, many of the now elderly victims pass on and the murderers are escaping with no earthly punishment. Why did HaShem not give the victims the opportunity to see their oppressors suffer?
No one can even begin to unravel the metaphysical secrets of God’s world. A philosopher once visited the home of a well-known rabbi, and asked: Why did God create the universe? To which the rabbi replied: “Would you like another cup of tea?”
by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Jan 22, 2015
HaShem chose Moshe Rabbeinu as the “mission head” to revert our ancestors’ dispirited mental state of mere “survival” impelled by 210 years of being downtrodden slaves, back to their normative, aristocratic status as the children of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov.
Moshe was the original “I have a dream” person. But, even more. He was sent to make the “dream” real in a very short period of time. It occurred when Moshe received the Torah for the Jewish nation at Mount Sinai, only 50 days after the Exodus. This was an extra-ordinary feat.
