by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Aug 12, 2015
“Perceive! I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse”, when life is a blessing and also a curse. Here the catchword “re’ah” (perceive, comprehend) directs us to discern that what is transpiring in front of our eyes is a blessing disguised as a curse.
For example:
The Israeli public and, certainly, our political leaders who are more privy to what is happening, are angry and frustrated at the double standard being applied by the “enlightened” peoples of the world against the Jewish State.
Many Western European institutions and personalities are leading the movement to isolate Israel by boycotts, divestments and sanctions. The problem is that they assert their moral indignation only against the Jewish State.
Where are the demonstrations on behalf of the Tibetans, Syrians, Kurds, Armenians, and Ukrainians? Where are the boycotts against the Chinese, the Russians, the Cubans or the Turks?
by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Aug 6, 2015
For the LORD your God brings you to a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, springing forth in valley and hills;
A land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and honey;
A land where you will eat bread without scarceness, you will not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig brass.
And you will eat and be satisfied, and bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.
The blessed land of Eretz Yisrael – God’s eternal gift to the Jewish nation.
by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Jul 30, 2015
Chazal teach us that God tried Abraham ten times. The sacrifice of Isaac was the ninth test, and the difficult negotiations with Efron, the Hittite, in Chevron over the purchase of the Cave of Machpelah as a burial place for Sarah, our Matriarch, was the tenth and ultimate test.
In the accepted order of testing, each test is progressively more difficult. Why was the difficult financial negotiations with Efron more challenging than the ninth test of sacrificing Yitzchak?
Let’s understand Avraham’s situation at the time.
by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Jul 21, 2015
There is a growing feeling of discomfit among Israelis and many good people in the world regarding President Obama’s immutable obsession of signing an agreement with Iran. And despite the dramatic, humanistic rhetoric, the obsession is very obvious also among Obama’s partners in the deal: The European Union, England, France, Germany and China.
They all know that the Iranians cannot be trusted, just as the Iranians themselves know that they are energized by fanatical Islam, which sanctions and even advocates lying, stealing and murder in order to advance the interest of Islam inc.
All of those who were involved in the deliberations involved knew that behind the facade of diplomatic smiles there were unsurmountable differences of race, religion, national interests and whatever else keeps people apart. Yet they are signing, even blindfolded, since they don’t care what the little letters say, because they all have a shared, unspoken agenda which will not appear in the history text books or in doctorate dissertations.
What is that agenda?
by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Jul 13, 2015
Human events are following the plan set down by Chazal (our rabbis of blessed memory). The United States and the European States will sign an agreement with Iran. It will be a bad one for free people, the result of an American President who is himself a closet Jihadist, or is simply incompetent with a narcissus complex.
by Rabbi Nachman Kahana | Jul 8, 2015
There is an apparent difficulty with our parasha.
Pinchas was not born a Kohen. Neither was he appointed to the kehuna as was his grandfather Aharon, his father Elazar, and his uncles Nadav, Avihu and Itamar.
Pinchas was appointed to the kehuna by virtue of his killing Zimri ben Salu, head of the tribe of Shimon and Kazvie the daughter of Tzur, one of the princes of Midian. His act fulfilled the obligation of imposing just punishment for their severe sin; thereby relieving the Heavenly Court of Justice from imposing a much more severe punishment on the entire nation of Yisrael.
But was an appointment to the kehuna the proper reward for taking two lives?
