by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Aug 29, 2018
Our parsha begins with the mitzvah of “bikurim”. A landowner who grew any one of the seven species of flora which are indigenous to Eretz Yisrael: wheat, barley, grape, fig, pomegranate, olive or date, must bring a sampling of the first growth to the Bet HaMikdash starting after the holiday of Shavuot.
The landowner declares his recognition and thanks to HaShem for the bountiful blessings he received as an owner of land in Eretz Yisrael and presents the fruit to a kohen who places it near the altar.
by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Aug 14, 2018
Countries the world over have armies but in Israel it is the army that has a country, where every important decision takes into account security implications.
We love our soldiers. The young people begin their private physical training while still in high school in preparation for army service. And how great the disappointment when a youngster does not make it into a highly dangerous special unit of Tzahal. And the adults willingly report for reserve duty with great loyalty.
However, things could be better…
by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Aug 7, 2018
It is apparent from these verses that there are three possible situations in the Creator-Yisrael relationship:
Verse 27) “…if you obey…” – life will be a blessing
Verse 28) “…if you do not obey…” – then life will be a curse
Verse 26) “Perceive! I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse” – when life is a blessing imbedded and disguised as a curse, as is transpiring today in front of our eyes.
by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Jul 31, 2018
Questions:
1. Why is the first paragraph of kri’at shema (the standardized recitation of Shema Yisrael) worded in the singular, while the second is in the plural?
2. Why did HaShem not give the Torah to the Patriarchs — Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov?
3. Why must a Gentile convert in order to be obligated to keep the Torah?
by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Jul 18, 2018
The Gemara (Chagiga 5b) quotes the pasuk (Yirmiyahu 13,17):
If you do not listen, I will weep in a secret place because of glory;
My eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the Lord’s flock will be taken captive.
Rav Shmuel bar Inia said in the name of Rav, “HaShem has a place On High and it is called Mistarim (literally mysteries, concealment), where HaShem cries each day because of His lost glory”. In yeshiva they asked, “What is ‘the lost glory’ referring to?”
by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Jul 9, 2018
Our parasha enumerates the 42 stations where the Jewish nation encamped in their 40 years of wandering in the desert; some are well known, others are just markers on a map.
Wandering is the essence of Jewish history when HaShem banished us from His holy land.
To have to leave the land in which you and your parents were born, in order to begin a new life in foreign surroundings, with the knowledge that in three or four generations your descendants will also have to leave for a new place, is traumatic. But these situations also held within them the survival of our people. The feeling that we are “permanently temporary” decreased the degree of assimilation into the cultures of our “host” countries. Some might argue that the “treatment” was much too harsh in combating the disease. Perhaps! But it worked.
