פעם, לא מזמן, אנשים שבחרו לעסוק בכמורה עשו זאת מפני שהם הרגישו שזה הייעוד שלהם. זאת אומרת שהיתה להם מין תחושה משמים שקראה להם לשרת את הדת שלהם ואת מאמיניה. הרעיון הזה הופץ והתפרסם בעיקר אחרי שהרפורמציה שינתה את פני הדת... READ MORE →
One of my most beloved grandchildren (all of my grandchildren are most beloved but…) wrote to me last week and in the letter made a wonderful comparison between the frustrations of being a loyal baseball fan – almost a rabid supporter – of a bad and losing baseball team and reading and listening to the news reported from Israel about the quarrels, divisions and scandals that currently... READ MORE →
It is a well-known and almost instinctive response to attack the messenger when one feels that the message being delivered is incorrect, unwanted or unfair. The poor messenger usually finds one’s self in a hapless and hopeless predicament. It then becomes a contest of personalities and not of ideas, a shouting match instead of a reasoned debate. A seasoned American political leader once... READ MORE →
זאת תגובה מוכרת וכמעט אינסטינקטיבית לתקוף את השליח או נושא המסר כשמרגישים שהמסר שהוא מביא איננו רצוי, נכון או הוגן. השליח המסכן לרוב מוצא את עצמו סובל וחסר ישע. כך חילוקי הדעות הופכים לקרב בין אנשים ולא בין רעיונות,... READ MORE →
Almost all of our telephones today, whether they are landlines or mobile phones, are equipped with a “leave a message” answering service. Like all of our modern technological wonders, this telephone answering service has a darker side to its apparent sunny convenience. When I arrive home late at night after attending an event or a celebration and I see that red light flashing on our... READ MORE →
More than seventy years have passed since the onset of the Holocaust and the destruction of most of the Jews of Europe. Any objective observer will have to agree that almost all of the perpetrators, planners and collaborators who participated in that heinous stain on the civilization and culture of the Western world were never punished for their behavior and crimes. Even those who were tried... READ MORE →
History has recorded for us great powers, ideas, faiths and societies that though apparently successful for periods of time, even long centuries, have turned eventually into monumental failures. The twentieth century was witness to the immense failure of fascism and of communism as examples of promised social panaceas that eventually collapsed due to false ideals and dogmatic ineptitude. ... READ MORE →
My two month old great grandson came to visit me on Saturday night last. He naturally brought his parents along for the visit but he was the honored guest, the center of all generational attention. He will not remember the visit, for memory kicks in later than does birth and unfortunately in many instances kicks out early before death. Nevertheless for great grandparents a visit from a member of... READ MORE →
The review of the yearly holidays of Israel appears in this week’s parsha. This type of review also appears in a number of different places in the holy Torah. The reasons advanced by the commentators for this seemingly unnecessary repetition are many, varied and insightful. But there is one that truly resonates with me and I think it has great relevance to our times and circumstances. And... READ MORE →
We are currently in the season of the counting of the days of the Omer that will lead us to the grand holiday of Shavuot. In the tradition of rabbinic commentary regarding this process of counting the days between Pesach and Shavuot, the emphasis has always been on the countdown towards Shavuot – towards the revelation at Sinai and the granting of the Torah to Israel. Tradition forced us... READ MORE →
