What if Moshe had not veered off the track in order to view the incredible sight of a burning bush which is not consumed? Or if Moshe would not have yielded to the call of his conscience to return to Egypt and challenge Paro face to face? Would we still be slaves in Egypt to this day?
Looking back, it is difficult to grasp what the situation was with our people at the end of World War II. We were on the brink of national insanity. How did we get to where we are today and where are we headed?
Across the United States, a “cyclone bomb” storm, nearly unprecedented in its scope, stretching from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande along the border with Mexico has caused downed power lines, deadly accidents, and mass flight cancelations. I never expected my prediction from last week to happen so fast!
On Chanuka, we commemorate the Jews who were loyal to the Torah and Jewish history. What can happen when Jews don’t live up to the example set by the Maccabees? And what is the relationship between Messi’s FIFA win and The Temple Mount?
Confusion reigns – not much different now than it was during the time of Chanuka. Then, as now, Am Yisrael was faced with an existential threat. Each Jew was faced with the personal challenge to the depths of his soul: join with the Maccabim at the risk of your life or be a bystander in the life-and-death struggle for the soul of Am Yisrael.
One of our grandsons was married this week. Halachic marriage is performed in two stages. The first is called “erusin” which alters the personal status of the couple from “unwed” to “wed”. The second and last stage is “nisu’in” (marriage) when the kalla enters into an area belonging to the chatan or in his possession.
The following is a translation of my message at the ceremony.
