In this week’s parashat Shemini my attention was drawn to two specific personalities: Aharon HaKohen in the parasha, and Yehoshua bin Nun whose yahrzeit (date of death) falls in this week on the 26th of Nisan. Although the specific crises facing these holy men were vastly different, both were made to bear profound burdens which would have felled lesser men.
We have undergone enormous suffering at the hands of Christianity and Islam over the last 2000 years, with the epitome of our suffering during the 6 years of the European Shoah. As a survivor of the American Shoah, I wish to make a proposal to the large orthodox organizations in the galut like the RCA, OU and Young ISRAEL
This is being written on the 23rd of March 2021 on the fourth election day in two years. But from my angle of vision as a retiree from active participation in Israeli life, now perched high above the din, babel, cacophony, and discordance of our political system, I can say that it really doesn’t matter who wins or loses the election!
The Hagada instructs every Jew to see himself and herself as if they were enslaved in Egypt and were freed by the hand of HaShem. The most effective way is to stand before a mirror and imagine that you are looking at a Jewish slave.
After reading the following story of two brothers, stand before a mirror and ask yourself two questions: Which of the two brothers and their respective families are living a life closer to the word and spirit of the Torah? Where do you and your family fit into the story?
This week, as we close the book of Shemot — still under the spell of our miraculous exodus from Egypt — joined together with our waning memories of last week’s Purim, a bittersweet Purimdika story comes to mind that has relevance to the lives of many Jews today…
Why is the present American administration, in concert with major Christian countries of Western Europe, continuing the ways of the bad old Obama days? They are running amok to appease the deranged and despicable ayatollahs of Iran; the ones who shout “death to America” whenever a camera appears.
