Parashat Hashavua

Portion LechLecha

How did our Father Abraham come to trash idol worship And believe in One G-d?

I saw an article this week about how in the fifties The Lubavitcher Rebbe taught that atomic theory

Teaches how to believe in G-d I a nutshell I extrapolate from what he said -

something like You think you see a wooden desk

But it really is a bunch of atoms

mostly energy but

Just empty space

And a few tiny particles

(creating that energy)

Which looks like a continuity

But its empty space

If you can imagine atoms you

can know there is an unseen G-d...

The energy of the univrse

Making empty space beautiful (my interpretation)

Soז Abraham theorized atomic physics

And read between the spaces

So if maybe you think you

DON 't SEE G-d...

But all you see is created by G-dly energy

Let's pray for a lot of that energy

Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

פרטים: נכתב על ידי Super User; קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם ב01 דצמבר 2020; כניסות: 1534

Portion LechLecha

Portion Key TayTzay - where we Goin' Out

Key Tay Tzay means "when you go out"

Rabbi Malka the Rabbi of my town gave an idea from these words

Which are Starting out in the Singular form

That the Almighty speaks to us all individually and WANTS us to always START AFRESH.

Rabbi Carlebach used to say ...

you get where you have to be - But you must know what you have to do!

So HOW DO YOU GET OUT OF YOUR ROUTINES AND START MOVING THINGS?

Last night at a wedding I was speaking with a

Mother of a five yr old down syndrome girl...

and was able to tell her of a special program in Bar Ilan University

working with such kids on a one-on-one basis,

Was that why I was at the wedding? Chance?

Later I was speaking with a Child Psychiatrist -

and when I got home I got an email about the need to help a family wih a troubled child.

Was that why I was at the wedding? Not Chance?

HOW to put the results of these "chance meetings" together...?

The portion Key Tay Tzay talks of punishing a very willful son -

but the Talmus says there never was such a case!

But our sages taught - the CONCEPT of the punishment

Is written to MAKE US Look ahaead to the end result -

And quite obviously to deflect the problem -

as historically the Talmud says there never was such a bad child!

How do we nip child problems in the bud?

How do we try to fix serious issues like those stated in the Torah?

With our families and with the joy of weddings and the friendships that grow from these!

That is the Jewish Way!

Shabat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

פרטים: נכתב על ידי Super User; קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם ב01 דצמבר 2020; כניסות: 1517

Portion Key TayTzay

Portion R Aiy - Holy Women, BATMAN

(dedicated to the couples whose weddings I will be attending in the next couple of weeks)

The portion starts off warning us Israelites against false prophets

and against being led astray from our closeness ( to the L-rd and to EACH OTHER)

The Almighty brought us out of Egypt and does so many wonderous things -

see the Blessings he has given us !!!

Then the portion sends us Mitzvas ... and tops it off with Holiday Celebration details!

The Great Commentator Rashi explains about one mitzva in this portion

"It is a special Mitzva to DECLARE a firstborn domesticated animal HOLY- Kadosh"

So too at a wedding we call the ceremony Kidushin and the groom DECLARES to the bride

"you are CONSECRATED to me (meKuDeshet)" - a HOLY woman

CONSECRATION says Rashi REQUIRES you to SAY IT OUT LOUD

MAKE a STATEMENT in this world that THERE IS HOLINESS

In a marriage

and in every child

even a newborn animal

there is a cause to celebrate-

and in everything we are blessed with -

which should give us reason to celebrate

Don't be led astray by those who may want to drain the holiness or the excitement from you

As Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach used to say

"Mr Devil says - yeah it's nice but it won't last ..."

But Rashi TEACHES US - declare how every little thing is Holy and how to

connect it to the Holy Shabbos

and MAKE it LAST

And you will ALWAYS have things to celebrate ...

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

פרטים: נכתב על ידי Super User; קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם ב01 דצמבר 2020; כניסות: 1449

Portion of RAiy

Portion Eykev - hunger in the world? Pray after eating a heavy meal on Yom Kippur!‏

Only inJewish Law!

The Law says one has to say Grace After Meals ( Birchat Hamazon )

if you eat a meal on the Holy Fast Day of Yom Kippur.

My first child was about to be born on Yom Kippur.

I went to the synagogue on the corner to pray a bit but my friends sent me home.

The LAW says a woman starting labor needs to drink -

and there is no basis for the husband to delay going to the hospital!

In this week's portion we are told by the Almighty

"You will eat and be satisfied and you will bless the L.rd your G.d"

Thanks.

IT is one of those things that Make Us Human! My daughter wanted to feed a kitten today but the kitten just wanted to play.

The Sefer ha Chinuch (not Chanoch my name) declares this a Doraita Mitzva -

commanded directly by the Almighty - for after eating a full meal

Many rabbis later added making ALL blessings for thanks.

Their purpose seems to be to get us consistantly to GIVE THANKS

So even those that are diabetic hypoglycemic or whatever - if they eat on Yom Kippur

for ANY reason

should say AT LEAST THE BASIC THANK YOU GRACE:

Brich Racha mana Malka D Alma Mari D Hai PITA (even if it is rye bread).

(thank you ruler of the world for this food)

Rav Shlomo Carlebach used to sing the words of the prophets:

"there will be a hunger in the world ... not a hunger for bread ... not a thirst

for water ... but to Hear the Words of the Almighty"

Rabbi Neria (zatzal) wrote (and I paraphrase)

"food (or its lack ... or feeling its deprivation)

can turn people into animals

and so the Torah teaches us THE ACT OF THANKS CAN KEEP US HUMAN

WHICH IS WHY WE WERE CREATED HUMANS not animals or angels ...

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

פרטים: נכתב על ידי Super User; קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם ב01 דצמבר 2020; כניסות: 1591

Portion Eykev

Portion Va EtChaNan ... Take em Out Take em Out...

While the Fifth of the Five Books packs in so many things

And this portion as well is packed with

Shema Yisrael

Ten Commandments

History and Warnings

and

Just think :

we are over 500 years after he Jews were thrown out of Spain on Tisha Baה

(which we commemorated by fasting his week)

and

There are also especially the promises we should rememeber:(see chap 4 verses 32-40)

Remember: theTorah speaks to us all every day and in the portion

It says that we must remember how the Almighty Took Us out of Egypt... and says

"has anyone (ever) seen such a thing ? ... Taking a nation out of the surrounding Nation ..."

So what you might ask?

But it is NOT about leaving Egypt - but about TODAY AS WELL!

Hashem will take you out! Now! like then ... WHAT?

I was just with a group of returning Jews in Central America.

Some were descended from Jews who were pirates in the Caribbean

Others joined in Jewish practices in he last few years

Those ejected from Spain 500 years ago this week!

SO TOO WILL THE ALMIGHTY EXTRACT US FROM OUR ISRAELITE EXILE

A FEW HERE A FEW THERE

So the Torah speaks to all of us - every day every week

And it was great honor to be a small part of Hashem's promise to Israel

and work with his orders to us in such a clear way.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

פרטים: נכתב על ידי Super User; קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם ב01 דצמבר 2020; כניסות: 1548

Portion VaEtChaNan

Portion Devarim when 1000 is not a number

In this portion Moses blesses וus all with a blessing to Israel to "become 1000 times"

And moses follows it saying "and the Almighty will give you his blessings too"

Most of the commentaries keep it numerical:

That israel should become 1000 times its desert population

And that Hashems blessing is unlimited in number

But if we look beyond the straight translation

And look back and forward in history for the hidden meaning

It might be a blessing that

1000 times we might be struck down like on Tisba Bav

but 1000 we bounce back

And 1000 blessings our people have bestowed on the world

like the idea of liberty from slavery: AND

through our geniuses like medical

and science (and NOBEL) prize winnners

And 1000 places in e world where our people

may have been scattered to and have STILL

enlightened those around them

and 1000 blessings like the great Rabbi Akiva and the Lubavitcher Rebbe

( 2000 years apart )

And 1000 great moral leaders

who remain the

The moral standard bearers

in a world often bought off or lured off course by short

term glitz and spins and PR marketing

Mose's 1000 times blessing is maybe on our impact on the world around us

And his reminder of

the Almighty' s blessing maybe is to show us the whole path of the Blessings of Israel

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

פרטים: נכתב על ידי Super User; קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם ב01 דצמבר 2020; כניסות: 1451

Portion Devarim

portion matos masei IS YOUR TEMPLE BURNING or your HEART?

We all love inspiration even though our people is supposed to mourn the Great Temple during this period

In this double portion Mohe Rabaynu looks over. His flock

and reviews what he needs to inspire the people

because

They soon will start a NEW journey into the Promised Land and face new challenges

I am writing this from the small Jewish community in Nicaragua and I must say they face every conceivable challlenge

but they are inspired by all things Jewish in 2017

including the Torah they study over the INTERNET!

Amazing and so inspirational to me coming from Israel!!!

The holy Torah teaches us both commandments and stories

And our lives are both

And our legacies are both

And SHABBAT is BOTH

SO while we are mourning the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem this 3 weeks

I just read about something that can be a sad item or can be inspirational

A director of excavations on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), said of a giant reservoir from the First Temple Period just discoverd

that

“it is difficult not to be impressed by the sight of the immense underground reservoir quarried out so many years ago.”

( while Professors want to impress -

good teachers want to INSPIRE!)

I am inspired that 3000 years later we find a project that PROVIDED PURE WATER TO THE AREA WHERE I NOW LIVE!!!

The excavations reveal that the reservoir was built beneath a large structure with walls that are all nearly 50 meters long. Some of the potsherds found on the floors of the rooms probably belonged to vessels used to draw water from the reservoir.

Researchers believe that it is highly likely that the structure and the reservoir were built at the end of the Iron Age, the late 8th or early 7th century BCE.

While the building was abandoned during the Persian period, the reservoir was still in use until modern times.

SO TOO THE WORDS AND ACTIONS OF MOSES as we see in the portion

AT THE HEIGHT OF HIS CAREER

FINDS TIME TO ORGANIZE WEDDINGS FOR 5 ORPHANS

AND THE TORAH RECORDS THIS AT THE END AND HEIGHT OF THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE TORAH

AND WE SAY CHAZAK CHAZK V NIT CHAZEK meaning

BE STRONG AnD INSPIRED

Shabat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

פרטים: נכתב על ידי Super User; קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם ב01 דצמבר 2020; כניסות: 1718

portion matos masei

Portio Pinchas: Why Partyat the Temple

The latter part of the portion describes the Public National Sacrifies for Each Jewish Holiday.

An interesting insight is that the

People are told

(but not here)

to Visit Jerusalem during our holidays and bring their own

Personal Sacrifices ...

and bar.b.que - and share with friends and family!

The connection is clear ... that we should have our parties in a place of sanctity

With connectedness to ALL our people, public and private sacrifices TOGETHER

In a surrounding of majesty love and hope for our TOGETHER FUTURE.

In the seventies and in college I remember seeing a lot of dark-side strobe light revolutionary gatherings

- and also the bright side of gatherings in Synagogues.

While youth in the crazy world around us sometimes joins in anti-this-and-that-

and protest and revolt

There is nothing more spiritually uplifting FOR ALL AGES -

and life enhancing

than being connected to majesty with wisdom as where we celebrated - and celebrate TODAY AGAIN

the atmosphere of the HOLINESS in Jerusalem-

around our whole holiday cycle

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

פרטים: נכתב על ידי Super User; קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם ב01 דצמבר 2020; כניסות: 1649

Portion of Pinchas

Portion Balak -Talking Donkey, Red Herring (uh Heifer), Sink Holes and – Holiness?

What More could you ask for in a 40-year desert adventure?

This week the commentary Rashi (Rabbi and Vintner from 800-years-ago-France) tries to explain WHAT Bilam's talking donkey said – but not WHY the Torah put this story in here!

In the last few weeks' Torah Portions we hear of LARGER THAN LIFE miracles or events.

They are part of the FABRIC of our TORAH LIFE!

Whatever happened there in the desert happens to us all in different ways – and as King David Wrote so long ago "Hayeenu K cholmim" (we are like dreamers) –

Because Strange Reality happens all around us and even as we sleep!

There is life in every animal and a miracle in every sink hole (and pot hole) –

and if we remember that the Red Heifer Mitzva was given to us (last week's portion)

to "clean up our act (spiritually as well)

and here (this week's portion shows) evil Bilam is acting like a donkey …

And that there are pitfalls (even sink holes) in life but

if we don't complain about them

but turn them into flowers and almond trees –

what a healthy life the Torah is Teaching us to LIVE.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

פרטים: נכתב על ידי Super User; קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם ב01 דצמבר 2020; כניסות: 1423

Portion of Balak

Portion Chukat - "So you 3 had a pretty good run ...huh ... Moses Aron and Miriam..."

When Joshua is about to enter Israel the Almighty appears to him and says the

same words that Moshe Rabaynu used to Bless Joshua with Leadership of Israel -

"Chazak ... Chazak... Chazak ..." (said it 3 times) (Chazak means be strong)

MAYBE Joshua was in doubt of his ability to lead the cantankerous Israelites -

And maybe he wished he had a Miriam and an Aron to help out like Moses!

So he hears from the L-rd THREE blessings to BE STRONG !!! Strong like the THREE LEADERS!

We need to hear what the portion is telling us this week-

(and what the Almighty sends)

sanctify yourselves with the Red Heiffer ...(FAITH)

stear clear of death (a whole nother lecture)

honor those great leaders who came before you

(Aron and Miriam both pass on in this portion - and the Israelites wept)

Moses sends word to our cousins Edom - but they don't let us pass thru to Israel

then

THE ISRAELITES then send word to the other nations surrounding Canaan -

and they don't let us through-

So we the ISRAELITES defeat them in Jordan and the Golan Heights.

Gotta be Joshua the leader - still under guidance of Moshe Rabaynu ...

with the support of All the People of Israel

May we be blessed CHAZAK and may we protect the whole People of Israel

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz

פרטים: נכתב על ידי Super User; קטגוריה: Parashat Hashavua; פורסם ב01 דצמבר 2020; כניסות: 1498

Portion of Chukat

עמוד 36 מתוך 60