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קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua
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פורסם בשישי, 27 אוגוסט 2021 11:57
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Portion Key Tavo ... of Curses and Songs
It's not easy to explain a torah portion filled with blessings - and also curses.
Just the historical side could take volumes.
It says ...
Blessed are you in your towns and in the country -...
Which soon leads into
Cursed are you in your towns and in the country...
And what did the Israelites understand from these words of Moses anyway,
Remanded to them again on entry to Canaan - with 14 tough years Staring at them in the face ?
As we now look to the imminent High Holy Days
Also staring at us in the ongoing pandemic
I would like to borrow a few words from my teacher Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach
Who said
For the King's birthday party the rich people brought expensive gifts
But the poor people had nothing
So they decided to sing and dance their way into the party
And the King waa happy with their song
Entering Canaan or
Entering a Synagogue
Or entering the new Jewish Year
Go with a song in your hearta and on your lips
And grab the blessings
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Andy Eichenholz
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קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua
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פורסם בשבת, 21 אוגוסט 2021 19:32
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Portion Key Tay Tzay: the Warrior and the Woman
Life - it mimics the Torah - or it loses!
The torah has the SPIRITUAL SIDE
And also the Rules of Engagement!
So while waiting in the sun for my bus today, after reviewing the weekly OU portion commentators,
I look up to see a young father trying to jam a
Baby carriage into a stuffed bus baggage compartment. But he didnt succeed, and sat there in the gutter , looking perplexed.
.
After 2 minutes of other busses honking and trying to get around that " number 402", I gave one last look at the 50 people ignoring the guy, walked over, moved a couple of bags, and helped the thankful father put in the carriage
As it says in the middle of the portion if you see the donkey of your brother not fitting into the baggage compartment ...uhhhh ... faltering under the burden ...
ITS IN THE TORAH THIS WEEK
Where was the wife n baby? Probably doing their part, keeping the driver from driving off.
What's that to do with the portion? That starts out "if you go to war and capture a woman ..."
Some Rabbi I Heard this week quoted the RamBaN (not Rambam maimonide s ) who reminded us (900 years ago) that since the portion always comes before the High Holiidays, that we should take a look at our maybe not best spiritual ways -
In preparation for the spiritual introspection part of
"getting holy for the high holy days"!
Note: the torah rule:
If a warrier decides he wants to marry a captive she has to live in a Jewish home for 30 days with no makeup and recant and renounce and mourn her parentage...
And then he can marry her or release her but Not Abuse or Enslave
Okay - in war a lot goes down,
The portion also talks about divorce rules ... and
Zohar (kabala) goes deep as always - into the supernatural forces ,
The Dark Side -and "the other" ...
And the Fixing - when possible
If a divorcee remarries....
"The Other"- is the "dark side" from him or from her...
But which is the left side amd which is the right side...?
Right there is enough To Start for all my High Holiday teachings...no?
Torah Rules
And the Spirit
And preparation for High Holiday Introsoection
Shabbat Shalom - stay healthy
Rabbi Andy Eichenholz
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קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua
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פורסם בשישי, 13 אוגוסט 2021 14:12
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Portion Shoftim – Judges? Need Judges OR - ?
The Portion begins with Judges and Policemen – as with the whole 5th book of the Torah the commandments of the first 4 are repeated and enhanced the month before Moses passes.
In the middle of warning Israel not to follow the witchcraft of the Canaanites, there is ALMOST lost in the middle a POSITIVE COMMANDMENT to be TAMIM – huh? Translate:
"Be Simple- or be Perfect – IM HASHEM – with the Almighty your G-d."
Everyone reads the RASHI commentary which says "be Simple" in dealing with G-d and his ways and Mitzvas. DON'T BE A WISE GUY. And Rashi speaks to ALL generations.
But in MY understanding – you need to Connect to those Simply close to G-d – so here's what I wrote(in Hebrew) to someone going for a major test this week . (In English! Now)
Years ago my friend M was doing his military service – assigned to Guarding the Western Wall – 10PM to Dawn! IMPORTANT! But pretty boring, huh?
So, like a friend, I would sometimes hang out with M for a few hours – usually the last few hours of his shift.
We are friends since 2nd grade. But mostly we talked about "TODAY". He would tell me of the various wierdos who came out to THE WALL at midnight. I told him my experiences living in Crown Heights for a few years.
He once SIMPLY said: Wow! Living with all those (Lubavitcher) Hassidim, you (I) must have gotten very deep into PRAYER.
M is a genius and a Rabbi/Teacher – not a simple guy but a VERY perfectly close-
I am in Israel, trying to simply stay close TO those simply close to the Almighty, Blessing all.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Andy Eichenholz
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קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua
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פורסם בשישי, 06 אוגוסט 2021 06:47
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Portion Ru-aiy : Is the Torah Speaking to ME?
Okay. RUAIY means SEE not LisTEN -
THAT WAS in LAST WEEKS PORTION
But did anyone ever say to you, SEE WHAT I MEAN?
Did you Ever feel that some portions
of the Torah ARE,
and some portions just
Aren't Speaking to YOU?
Maybe you didn't SEE the MEANING!
It's not just the 3000 years since it was given us as a present.
But isn't there a fence (not a wall)
inside of us, that makes us
sometimes jump and Connect -
to a kitten, a puppy, a child, a sunset? -
and Sometimes NOT?
So the portion SHOWS us ALL and says:
WHEN you Go Up to the Land of Israel -
and look UP at
these 2 mountains
(surrounding where you shall bury Joseph-
that Jew that Saved the World from Famine,
Something to Think About!)
You will be given the chance to become
Har Grizim people ( a hill of lush growth)!
But Then Turn around and look at non lush
Har Eyval - where to this day nothing grows!
See- you dont want to be that way!
SEE If you want to grow, says the portion,
Or Not to grow
That is the question.
But you will all be happier
As Jews and As Humans
If yes to the Blessing of Grizim
And
No to the sadness in Eyval Mountain
Rabbi Andy Eichenholz
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קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua
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פורסם בשישי, 30 יולי 2021 14:49
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Portion Aykev in the Park Hotel
the portion says "if It happens that you will listen. (To my commandments)
One Passover night - while fulfilling the SEDER commandments
A few naval Arabs floated in to where we are praying now
You shouldn't know from this here now -
let's hope for the future,
but we need to understand....
Evil ... The Kabbalists call it " the Primordial Snake "
Cursed in the Garden of Eden to be our enemy ... for "tripping us up".
The Kabalists say "the snake" (or its surrogates)
weasels into our minds that
We should demean some commandments ... And
that leads to eventually dropping them all!
Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach says,
We Jews fight the Snake - but how?
We do it with Simcha! Doing even LITTLE mitzvas with JOY!
Especially stuff that "doesn't look important" -
do it for the Almighty with JOY!
Do it for the Shabbos - with JOY!
Say gutt shabbos to 10 people this week -B Simcha - with JOY!
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קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua
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פורסם בשישי, 02 יולי 2021 14:02
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Portion Pinchas - who counts after catastrophes? The Daughters?
After 40 years of wandering and worrying - and after all the "elders" had passed on.
The Almighty has Moshe and Eliezer COUNT THE TROOPS - but NOT the WOMEN-
so who "counts"?
Actually not all the elder women passed on in the desert - it was the men who were always
complaining and causing trouble ... maybe for good reasons - but in a bad way,
and the Almighty had "enough with them" after the spies complained about Israel
Okay - was their survival the only blessing the women received?
So in the portion
right between the "counting of the troops"
and the "ordering of the Holiday sacrifices - the Korbanote" at the end of the portion
5 women speak up AND The Almighty CHANGES JEWISH LAW FOREVER!
the daughters of Zelafchad ask for portions in the Land of Israel
and the Almighty tells Moshe - they are correct - and should inherit
Okay - and what's that to us today?
The women speaking up in the middle of Moses teaching Laws of Inheritances
can show us it's never too late to turn your life around - as per a
Torah thought from Rebbe Nachman of Breslav
As extended by my perhaps limited understanding (AE)
So those entering the Land of Israel become A
Different Generation - and even if for 40 years not everything went smoothly -
EVEN THE MEN got it right - and worked together with Joshua for 14 years
to deal with the local inhabitants -until Israel was firmly settled - 3000 years ago
(based on section 31 of likutay moharan)
Shabat Shalom
Rabbi Andy Eichenholz
