Korach 5779

by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Jun 26, 2019

A letter to HaShem from my forthcoming book “Reflections From Yerushalayim”

BEHA’ALOTCHA 5779

by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Jun 13, 2019

There is No Replacement for the Torah or the Land of Israel

Eight times in his commentary on the Torah, Rashi asks, “Why was Section X juxtaposed to the section before it?”

Although this question can be asked about all the sections of the Torah, we can derive from Rashi’s eight sections that they possess a special character.

In the last chapter of Parashat Be’ha’alot’cha, Miriam criticizes her brother Moshe for having divorced his wife Tzipporah. Miriam is severely punished with biblical leprosy.

Naso – Yom Yerushalayim 5779

by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Jun 5, 2019

Two parshiot, Be’chukotai in Vayikra and Ki Tavo in Devarim, contain the harsh reproach and severe punishments that await the Jewish nation if they violate the eternal covenant entered into with the God of Israel.

Devarim 28, 45-47:
45: All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you.
46: They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.
47: Because you did not serve the Lord your God with simcha and tuv lev (good heart) even in good times.

“Simcha and u’betuv lev” do not refer to simple joy and appreciation. Moshe was referring to the absence of exuberance and enthusiasm when serving Hashem.

Yom Yerushalayim 5779

by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | May 28, 2019

IN HONOR OF THE 52nd YEAR OF RE-UNIFICATION OF YERUSHALAYIM – YOM YERUSHALAYIM

The following is a translation of a composition by Mr. Yitzchak Navon, in honor of Yerushalayim, written when he was serving as our 5th president.

In June 1967, the Six Day War broke out. Israel’s soldiers fought bravely and won many victories. Soon they reached the Old City of Jerusalem. They prepared to fight for it, and to take it back from Jordan. But they did not know through which of the seven gates to enter. As they tried to decide what to do, each gate begged, one louder than the other, “Enter the Old City through me. Enter the Old City through me.”

Bechukotai 5779

by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | May 22, 2019

“The report notes that the United States now faces five rising challenges—China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and transnational terrorism; yet has fewer military forces than at any time since the end of World War II.”

A report of the National Defense Strategy Commission contains conclusions with profound implications for U.S. national security. In sixty-four pages of plain language, the commission paints an extraordinarily troubling picture of the state of U.S. national defenses, calling our present situation a “grave crisis” demanding “extraordinary urgency.”

Behar 5779

by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | May 14, 2019

Last week I received a disturbing video regarding a kosher sandwich shop in Lakewood New Jersey. The proprietor had hung an Israeli flag on the roof next to a US flag in honor of Yom Ha’Atzmaut. He received a call from the rabbi who gives the hechser on kashrut; that if the Zionist flag was not removed immediately, he would cancel the kashrut certification of the shop. He was not an OU kashrut rabbi but was sanctioned by one of the chareidi organizations in the area.

This “rabbi” reminded me of an interview I heard a while back with a chareidi leader of Yerushalayim who said on the radio that the Israeli flag was just “a shemata (rag) on a stick”.