An Ariel View

Parshas ki Sisa 5771

2011-02-20T07:34:00.000-05:00

Midrash. While hashem was handing over the tablets the bnai yisroel built the golden calf. hashem wanted to grab them back but moshe held on and wrested them away. Thay is what the torah means when it says in the last verse of the Torah ulcho hayad hachazaka. And for all the strong arm (of Moshe).
Question is asked didn't Moshe smash the tablets anyway an act which was applauded by hashem. if so why do we praise him for insisting on obtaining the luchos only to smash them.
Ohr Gedalyahu. They lost the body of the first luchos but retained the words as hashem later says he will write the words on the second tablets as they were on the first. Now it would be much more difficult to access but they would get there es hadvarim asher hayu.

B'shalach 5771

2011-01-16T00:08:00.000-05:00

17-25 And Moshe said eat it today for today is shabbos to Hashem.
The people left their extra portion over on shabbos then Moshe tells them eat it. Why wouldn't they eat it? Why does he have to tell them to eat it.
Ramban says that the first reaction of people when they saw there was no mon on Shabbos was to fear that the mon had stopped. Therefore they wanted to hold onto what they had. Moshe is telling them that they must express their trust in Hashem by eating what hashem had given them. If they held on to it they would be doubting Him.

Parshas Vayishlach delivered on Parshav Vayeshev 20 Kislev 2010 11/27/10

2010-11-30T23:07:00.001-05:00

Based in part on concepts found in Ohr Gedalyahu by Rabbi Gedaliah Schorr zt"l
As we do so often in the Book of Genesis we return once again to the concept of Maaseh Avos Siman Labanim /. What the forefathers experience is a macro version of what their children will experience. Not only do the children repeat the experience but as the forefathers find their way through events they create the ability for their descendants to similarly find their way through those same events on a national basis.

As a nation we have contended with four foreign powers Babylon who destroyed the first Temple and exiled us, Persia who defeated the Babylonians and brought us the the Purim story, the Greeks who under Alexander wrested control of the world from the Persians and brought us the Chanukah story and the Romans who exiled us from Israel to our present state here in Atlanta. Jacob whose name is Israel, experiences four struggles in his life. The first stage of his life is preoccupied with his struggle agaisnt his brother Esav. Then he has to deal with his wily Uncle Lavan. Upon escaping Lavan and returning to Israel his daughter Dina is abducted and abused at the hands of Shechem the son of Chamor and lastly Joseph his dear son is sold into slavery which leaves Jacob mourning until the grave. Those four challenges are the same ones that his children will face. Which one parallels the Chanukah story? Our sages tell us Chanukah is the Dina episode. So to properly understand Chanukah we have to carefully examine the Dina episode.

Dina is abducted and raped by Shechem. Shechem says "in truth I love her and want to marry her". He so wants to marry her that he is willing to be circumcised and force his people to do likewise. What is his goal? Shechem and his Greek counterparts want to remove the sanctity that surrounds Israel particularly the daughter of Israel. They want her to to be cheap and accessible. They want to remove all differences between the peoples. "We will become circumcised as you are then we will freely intermarry. The brothers see it differently. "Shall our sister be turned into a @#!*% ? the brothers say to Jacob.

What action do the brothers take. They pick up swords and kill those who defiled their sister. So too the Chanukah story. Antiochus the Syrian Greek decreed that any Jewish girl who is to be married must first spend the night with the Greek Governor. What was the intention of such a decree?. Not just for the pleasure of the Governor but the idea was nefarious. Jewish women realizing they were to be defiled if they were to marry would just stop marrying. Then since they couldn't be married they would have to engage in pre marital affairs. Marriage as an institution would be breached and the sanctity of the Jewish family would be destroyed. They outlawed circumcision to erase the differences between the Jews and other people. How do the Jews react? Not by trickery as with Lavan or submission as with Esav. They picked up swords and went to war. This is an assault on the sanctity of the Jewish home and it must be dealt with in the most forthright manner. Our sister is not a @#!*% .

After the episode is resolved Hashem tells yaacov your name is Israel. We already know his name is Israel because the angel named him that after they struggled as recounted in the previous parsha. Now Hashem directly calls him Israel because now the family has acted like Israel. Yaacov is tricky and devious which is at times necessary. Yisrael is dominant and exalted as at times he must be. Yaacov then heads for Beis El to bring offerings to Hashem. Before he leaves he tells the family to throw out all foreign Gods that are in their midst. Do we actually believe that Yaacov children had idols in their possession. Rather there we items that were not idols but were associated with idolatry. There were acceptable before but now that the family has stood up to confront defilement they are no longer acceptable.
The core of the Chanukah story is that there was only one jug of pure oil but it burned for eight days. The law is that under those circumstances with most of the country defiled by war and killing pure oil was not required. Yet Hahsem decreed that miracle because Chanukah is the holiday of purity. We celebrate the exalted nature of Israel and the purity of the Jewish home. This year as we light our menorah and ponder the purity that is symbolizes let's look around and see if there is any impurity that doesn't belong in a Jewish home that can be removed . Stand up be a Maccabee be a Yisrael.
Good Shabbos.

Parshas Chaye Sara 5771 Oct 30 2010

2010-11-07T23:33:00.000-05:00

A perfect shabbos to talk about women. Abraham buries Sara then a wife is found for Isaac. We are celebrating the Bat Mitzva of Mai Dori and wishing tzeschem L'shalom to a contingent of our wives who will be joining the Atlanta Scholars Kollel womens mission to Israel.
The parsha spends much time on the search for the appropriate wife for Isaac. Why didn't Abraham just put out the word that he had an opening fordaughter in law. Iam sure the resumes would have come pouring in. This one can cook and this one can sew and this one can cook and sew and tap dance at the same time. Certainly agreat man like Isaac only needed a capale woman and he would direct her from there. However in truth it is just the opposite. I will follow in th tradition of many great Rabbis by quoting verbatum the words of Rabbi Moshe Schreiber popularly known by the title of his famous work Chasam Sofer. "From the Torahs narrative of the story of Rebbeca we are to learn and important lesson. Abraham was the greatest man in his generation Kings came to pay tribute to him.He was fantastically wealthy and Hashem blessed him with everything. He had one on who was very precious and to him e gave everything. yet how hard did he pray and endeavor to fnd the right mate for Isaac This teaches that the main factor in service of Hashem in this word and the next depends on the wife as is obvious to any intellegent understanding person".

I expounded on the verse And Isaac took he into the tent of Sarah his mother, and he took her, she became his wife, and he loved her, and Isaac was comforted after Sarah his mother. Gen 24-67

Before embarking on the mission to find Isaac a wife the Torah tells us that Hashem blessed Avraham with everything. What does that mean? I heard a new interpetation recently that is illustrated by a story. A lillte boy askd his big sister where he can see G-d. "You can't see G-d, He is way up in Heaven beyond our world" Not satisfied he asks his mother where he can go to see G-d. "G-d is not something phsical that you can see. G-d is everywhere but w can't really see Him." Sometime laterhe is walking with his grandfather. The Grandfather stops to appreciate the sunset. The little boy is affraid to ask the same question again but he really wants to see G-d so he asks the Grandfather "where can I see G-d?" The Grandfather responds "at my age I don't know where you can't see G-d". After all of the Grandfathers life experiences he has learned to see G-d everywhere. And Abraham was old he had come into his days and Hashem blessed Abraham with everything meaning the ability to see G-ds blessing in everything.
It is our bracha to Mai that she should live a life where she is able to see Hashems blessing in everything. This should not be hard because your parents live that way. To all of our womenfolk who depart Monday for isael we give you the bracha that you should be able to see Hashem everywhere. We know He is everywhere but certainly inthe Holy land. We ray that you return safe and sound and inspire to lead us all in our service of Hashem.
Good Shabbos.

Parshas Toldos 29 Chesvan 5771 Nov 6 2010

2010-11-07T14:59:00.002-05:00

Who get's the blessings? - Who cares?

Jews are forever agonizing over how Jacobs could steal the blessings from Esau.   I have a different question. Why did he even bother. Why did Rebecca make such a big deal? If Hahsem had already told her that destiny was with Jacob surely He could work it out no matter who Issac blessed. I don't understand Esau either. Why does he care if Jacob gets the blessing when his father thinks he gave them to Esav himself. It doesn't change their relationship. Furthermore if blessings are so important to Esav why did he sell the birthright.
While pondering this dilemma an answer came to me from an unexpected direction. Natan Sharansky former soviet dissident and current director of the Jewish Agency was in Atlanta yesterday. Temima H.S. arranged a meeting with him. In that meeting he told the girls that when someone is facing destruction it is not enough to believe that you will survive you must be committed to a greater goal beyond survival. Haring this from Sharansky did not surprise me one bit. As Natan Sharansky was about to be sentenced to years of labor in Siberia the court asked him if he wanted to make a statement. Sharansky said "to the court I have no statement. To Jews all around the world I say Next year in Jerusalem". Sharansky didn't simply want release from the Soviets he had omewhere to go and he wanted to bring the entire Jewish people with him. He still does. I contrast Sharansky with the brother in law of a friend. He was stricken with a serious illness. The treatments promised to be long and a cure was far from assured. This man said I will survive I will regain my health and when I recover I will walk the entire Appalachian trial. He did survive and true to his wordwhen he regained his health he walked the Appalachian trail. Now I hear that he is suffering from depression. His goal was shortsighted and self centered.
The Jewish people live a goal. This goal is expressed in Issacs blessing. They bring blessing to the world by making this world a Godly place. I have never seen one of the most amazing sights one can see in Dunwoody and I assume I never will. That is the sight one sees when driving down Tilly Mill on Shabbos as families are walking to or from shul. The viewer knows that they are walking because they are Jews and they believe in G-d who rested onthe Sabbath. This is what we must communicate to our children. We don't want our children to keep shabbos because they are 'supposed' to but because in doing so they take steps toward their goal. When one of our children walks down Tilly Mill on shabbos afternoon bouncing a basketball he accomplishes nothing. However if he is wearing a kippa dressed in shabbos clothes he is living the goal.
Losing sight of the mission is a problem facing the religious community all around the world. What are we striving for? Our children attend big beautiful day schools like GHA, TDSA or Webber. What is the goal? When I went to day school we were located in a converted bungalow. On Saturday nights we would change our clothers and go out to help at the day school rummage sale. If things went well tens of hours of manpower would net $400. That would pay for heat for a few months. What was our goal. To build big beautiful day schools like GHA, TDSA and WEBBER Now what. The same with Israel. What is our goal to build a Jewish nation. If I want to go to Israel tonight I spend $1200 and I am there.  I drive on a modern highway to my air conditioned apartment. Of course I am minimizing the challenges. There are till a number of five star resturants that don't carry the hechsher I rely on.
Issac's and Rebecca, Jacob and Esav understood that the destiny of the world depends on them. They could not be content just to let things play out. They needed to be pro active and make a statement. "I want the mission. I want the responsibility".  Esav doesn't want the world to go Jacobs way and Jacob doesn't want to go Esavs way. This mission invigorated their every living moment. We are Jacobs worthy heirs and we have to live this way also. The mission is far from complete. Everything that seems so secure and in place our gleaming day schools and our precious homeland are really tenuous. We all have a responsibility to advance the cause. If we don't we are just trying to survive. According to Natan Sharansky if you are just trying to survive you won't.
Good Shabbos.

Parshas Noach Rosh Chodesh Mar Cheshvan 5771 10/8/10

2010-10-10T00:18:00.000-04:00

Perhaps the most famous episode in the life of Avrohom is his miraculous salvation from the fiery furnace. If you know the story skip to the next paragraph. Avram is working in his fathers idol shop. One day Avram smashes all the idol except one. He places the hammer in the hand of the one remaining idol. Terach the father returns home to find all of his idols smashed. He turns to Avram. :"what happened" he asks. Avram points at the remaining idol. "he did it" says Avram. " You fool" Terach exclaims "idols can't move" "then why do you worship them" responds Avram. Terach complains to the King Nimrod about his sons attitude. Nimrod sensing a threat to the entrenched relegion demands that Avram recant his beliefs or be thrown into a fiery furnace. Avram refuses and is thrown into the furnace but miraculously emerges alive.

The story of the fiery furnace is usually the starting point of any discussion about Avram. The interesting thing is that the story is not told in the Torah. It is a midrash which is alluded to in the verse and haran died before terach his father Gen. 11 -28 see Rashi there. Such a major story and it doesn't even appear in the Torah. Now let me ask you another question. Do you think Avram did the right thing. If we find that are parents are not living the way we see fit should we smash up their house. If I go to a relatives house and see an xmas tree should i bring along my gas can and torch it. Whats next? Fire bombing pornography stores? Staking out abortion clinics with my high powered rifle? I don't think that that is considered an acceptable practice certainly not one I would endorse. As a matter of fact the Shelah Hakadosh Rabbi Isaiah Horovitz suggests that that is exactly why Avrams episode with the fiery furnace is not found in the Torah. Since Avram started it all by smashing the idols the Torah doesn't want to offer it as an example of appropriate behavior. It is a cardinal belief that if confronted with a situation that challenges my faith I must stand firm even to the extent of giving my life. However i am not allowed to precipitate the situation. If Hashem requires it I will do it but I don't look for opportunities for martyrdom.
That being the case we now have another question. So why did Avram make trouble? The Shalah Hakadosh feels that it was horaas shaah. Meaning Avram felt this was an exceptional situation. There are times that require unusual responses and Avram felt that this was one of them. Let's picture the situation. Avram was working in an idol shop. He is living a lie. 'Yes ma'am would you like me to gift wrap your idol?' 'Perhaps you would prefer the one with the bejeweled eyes?' In his heart he knew it was all false. What was he to do. Should he just pretend for the rest of his life or should he break out. Of course breaking out meant to risk everything. Certainly the establishment wouldn't tolerate his views. Generally we don't precipitate confrontation but there are times and you know yours and I know mine, that we have to risk it all for what we believe. Even though in the identical situation you may lay low I might have to stand up or vica versa. There are times that if we are not prepared to risk it all we will lose it all. The Torah didn't want to include the story in the written text because then it would become a hard and fast rule. It was therefore left to the oral teaching as a value that is supported by the Torah but whose application varies from person to person and situation to situation.
May Hashem help us to recognize our challenges and give us the enlightenment to make the appropriate responses.

Shabbos Chazone July 17 2010

2010-07-16T16:16:00.000-04:00

This is the part of the jewish calendar that most of us never really get into. Tisha B’av , tragedy, mourning. In the meantime it’s summer vacation, trips camp relaxation. How exciting is it to attend a program that might make you cry. Either out sadness or boredom. So we look for new angles and try to present the day in a new way but in truth the old message screams louder and louder.

Our sages tell us that the 2nd Temple was destroyed because of baseless hatred. Sinas Chinam. What does that mean. There was a rabbi named Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin better know by is acronym the N.Tz.Y.V. The last name, Berlin in Hebrew begins with the letter Bais which is also read as the letter vais and makes the acronym work better (Netziv). Rabbi Berlin the Netziv wrote a commentarty to the five booksof the Torah called hamek Davar. In his introduction to the first Book, Braishis Genesis he notes that the Talmud refers to the Book of brasishis as Sefer Hayashar the book of the upright or the straights. This is a reference to our Patriarchs who were straight. Why charactarise them particularly as straight? Why not tzadikim , righteous or Chassidim pious or a host of other terms? Rabbi Berlin explains that ……

Parshas Chukas June12, 2010 Tammuz 5 5770

2010-06-20T17:23:00.000-04:00

We all know the story of Moses hitting the rock. A brilliant career ends atop Mt. Nevo with Moses gazing across the Jordan at his unrealized dream because he hit the rock. Every reader asks ‘what did he really do that was so bad’? The problem is that even when we figure out what Moses mistake was, we still must ask why he did it.

Based on ideas found in Ramban and Hamek Davar I would like to offer the following thought.

Let’s start at the beginning. Miriam the prophetess has died. In her merit the people have been drinking water from a rock that has traveled with them throughout the forty years in the wilderness. Now Miriam is gone and so is her well. This is quite a problem. Where will the people find enough water in the desert to slake the thirst of millions? The people complain to Moshe. Moshe falls in prayer before Hashem and Hashem tells him how to get water. Moshe gets water for the people. What did the people learn from this episode? Nothing. They were dependant on Miriam now they are dependant on Moshe. Hashem says to Moses ‘you will not lead this people into the land’. Emphasis is placed on not leading the people not Moses being barred entry into the land. There is something lacking in Moses leadership. A good leader educates and prepares his followers to grow up and take responsibility. Miriam is gone, what are we to do? The answer is become Miriams. Generate merit through good deeds, piety and prayer. Whatever Moshe did wrong it was precipitated by the fact that he brought water out of the rock and the people had nothing to do with it. When Hashems salvation is brought about through another it is not as good. Note that Moshe was told to bring forth “it’s” waters those special miraculous waters that Miriam brought forth from the rock. Instead he brought forth “water”. Plain water not the special water. Is this the way it will always be? What will happen when they move into the Land? Must they always run crying to Moshe and have him fix it? Therefore Hashem says you cannot lead the people into the land. They need a different type of leader. You are the loving father of the Exodus and wilderness. The people of the land need different leadership. Of course once Moshe cannot lead the people into the land he cannot enter the land. What role would he play? The retired statesman? No Moshe is too great for any role other than leader. If he is not going to lead he is not allowed to follow.

Earlier this morning we witnessed a remarkable feat. Harold Schroeder read the Haftarah. Harold has not done that since his Bar Mitzvah over four decades ago. Harold wanted to do it and he wanted to do it right. He approached my father in law, a veteran Bar Mitzvah teacher, and toiled away until he did it. I am sure we were all impressed. Actually what you witnessed this morning was not nearly as impressive as what I witnessed last Tuesday night. At the Tuesday night Freestyle Bais Hamedrash program Harold led a group learning Chumash with Rashis commentary. Harold, who never learned in a yeshiva or even attended a day school, led the group. How did he do it? He realized that it was time to step forward so he got the books and began to learn. Harold was not alone. The room was full of people learning in pairs or teaching groups or even learning on their own. Yes some were learning with the Rabbis but others became the rabbis. The Torah is compared to water but it is trapped in a rock. The Torah is an inscrutable book that is written in a language we don’t understand and talks about things we are unfamiliar with. Yet from that rock of Torah regular folks are drawing water with determination and desire.
This is a lesson for leaders and followers alike.
Good Shabbos

Parshas Naso

2010-06-06T23:59:00.000-04:00

Parshas Naso
In parshas Naso (Numbers Chapter 5 verses 21-24) we are told how to repent from a certain aveira /sin.
The question is what sin was it? Before we glance at our Artscroll commentary or even look at Rashi let’s learn about learning Torah. People don’t just go to Yeshiva and sit and think all day. When people learn Torah there is a methodology that is employed. The methodology of learning the Torah is not obscure and it is not a secret formula for the initiates only. In addition you don’t have to be a genius to learn Torah. The student of Torah must be prepared however to do some work, but that only makes sense.

So how would you go about solving this problem? The Torah has told me how to fix a particular sin but I don’t know what that sin is. How do I find out? We must start with a basic assumption.

The Torah is not trying to hide anything. If the Torah didn’t specify what sin is being referred to, it is because it is obvious (at least after some work).

Let’s try the possibilities.

Analysis . I am trying to determine what sin the Torah is reffering to. The Torah tells me that the sinner must make restitution. Furthermore the Torah says if the victim has no heirs the money goes to the Kohein. I still don’t know w hat the sin was but it seems that the sinner has caused some monetary damage to another party. This conclusion is however contra indicated by the fact that the sinner is characterized as having “moal maal ba Hashem” trespassed a trespass against Hashem.

Context. Is there something that was said before or after that sheds light on this passage?

In this case it seems not. As a matter of fact this passage and those that precede and follow seem to be a non sequiteur. That is a question in and of itself but we can’t ask them all at once.

Key words or phrases. At this point you have to have some basic familiarity with the Torah. To those who have read some Torah the phrase Lmoal maal baHashem is unusual. To trespass a trespass in Hashem or in Artscroll translation to deal treacherously with Hashem. Where else in the Torah do I find such terminology?

How would I research this without reading the entire Torah? The answer is the same as the answer to most things in life. Google it. In control panel hit language preferences find Hebrew and you can put an icon in your tool bar so that you can toggle back and forth between Hebrew and English or you can set Google to Hebrew. A keyboard with Hebrew letters also helps. Then just Google it and you will find every instance of this phrase. But what if it is shabbos?

If it is Shabbos you have to take a big fat book off the shelf called a Concordance. The Concordance will tell you where every single word in every conjugation can be found in the Torah, Prophets and Writings. In this case the word shows up more than a few dozen times but only four of them are in the Torah. Since we are talking about a mitzvah, that is where we want to go. Of the four, one is of course our source which leaves three. One of them is just a few verses ahead in the Torah. The Torah talks of a woman being treacherous to her husband. Another is back in Leviticus where it talks of trespass to temple property. The third is in Leviticus 5 and there we have an exact match “lmoal maal baHashem”. So we read when a person will cheat or defraud another through a loan or robbery etc.

Now we have learned two things. One: basic torah study methodology. Two: When a person robs, cheats, defrauds and lies to another that is considered as trespass or treachery against Hashem. Why is that? The Ohr Hachayim Hakadosh offers that when two people interact there must be a level of trust between them. No one can write everything in the contract or have every conversation witnessed. The two parties know that other than themselves only the One above know what was said. To deny the agreement and to defraud the other party is to deny Hashem the witness.

Now you might ask why the Torah didn’t tell me everything in one place. Why give me part of the story in Leviticus and the other half in Numbers? Well you could probably figure that out also but if you want to take a shortcut see the comments of Rashi and Ramban ad loc (that means on location)

Good Shabbos.

2010-05-06T19:12:00.000-04:00

THE MITZVAH TO 'BUY JEWISH':

PARSHA PERSPECTIVES

The Mitzva of Patronizing Acheinu Bnei Yisroel
By R' Yaakov Rappaport
Rosh Yeshiva, South Bend, IN
In Parshas Behar (Vayikra 25, 14) the Torah states, "And when you make a sale to your fellow [Jew] or when you buy from the hand of your fellow [Jew], a man may not cheat his brother." The Toras Cohanim, a medrash halachah on Sefer Vayikra, tells us that this pasuk teaches us, among other things, to favor a Jew over a non-Jew with regard to our business dealings:
From where do we know that if you are going to sell something, sell it to a Yisroel, your friend? The Torah tells us the pasuk "And when you make a sale to your fellow [Jew]...." From where do we know that if you are going to buy something, buy it from a Yisroel, your friend? The Torah tells us the pasuk "Or when you buy from the hand of your fellow [Jew]..."
This sounds straightforward; favor a person who is close to you before a stranger. However, there is a great deal of debate among the halachic authorities as to the severity and scope of this obligation. The range of opinions is striking. At one extreme, there is a quite lenient minority opinion that considers this halachah to be nothing more than the Torah's good advice. Of course, when you get good advice from the Torah, you should try to follow it. However, not doing so would not be considered a transgression. It would just be considered a very unwise decision.

At the other extreme, the Sh"ut Rema, Siman 10, rules that this passage from the Toras Cohanim is absolutely obligatory and requires that we buy from our fellow Jew even if the same item is being sold by a non-Jew at a somewhat significant discount. The majority of authorities have opinions that fall somewhere in the middle. Not surprisingly then, we find a similar range of behavior in the Torah world regarding this subject. While some are quite concerned to try to buy solely from Jewish businesses, others do not consider it a high priority. Both views have halachic precedence.

At this point, the reader might be asking himself, "If there is such a diversity of rabbinic opinion and common practice, practically speaking, what should I do?" Although it may sound imprecise, the answer that the present-day authorities give to this question is 'Do your best.' Every person has his own unique personal and economic situation, and the halachah reflects that fact by providing a great deal of leeway. That being said, Hashem does expect His People to go out of their comfort zone. Look out for situations where you can favor your fellow Jew. Don't ignore the subject altogether. Work out guidelines and stick to them. You will find that there are many more easy opportunities to fulfill this halachah than you may have thought. And maybe, you will develop the desire to go beyond that to the situations which are not so easy.

In order to develop your own personal guidelines, one must have an understanding of the three main halachic categories that organize this subject and each category's general requirements. They are:

1. The item is being offered by the Jewish business at the same or lower price; one should make a strong effort to patronize the Jewish business.

2. The item is being offered by the Jewish business at a slightly higher price; one should make some effort to patronize the Jewish business.

3. The item is being offered by the Jewish business at a significantly higher price; one need only make an effort to patronize the Jewish business if the business is faltering.

This seems simple enough. However, as the reader will soon learn, determining to which category a purchase belongs is not always so easy.
People make a common mistake when thinking about this subject. They feel that it is all or nothing. Since they cannot buy everything at Jewish stores, they might as well not try at all. Learning how to distinguish a situation by placing it in its correct category will prove very helpful in avoiding this serious mistake.

BUYING EQUALLY OR LOWER PRICED ITEMS FROM THE JEWISH STORE

If a Jewish business is offering an item or service at the same price as its non-Jewish competition, there is every reason to patronize the Jewish establishment. The Torah expects, if not commands, that of us. Although it is often the case that Jewish businesses cannot compete on price with their non-Jewish competition (think Walmart), there are many situations where they can. In those cases, one should definitely make the effort to help the Jewish establishment by making the purchase there.

There are many instances where the price does not even go into the decision where to buy. For example, there is no reason to fill a prescription at a non-Jewish pharmacy or obtain medical supplies at a non-Jewish medical supply company if the costs are covered by insurance. Travel agents, insurance agents, and real estate agents, all receive standard commissions that are usually set by their industry. Often, the commissions are not paid by the customer, but rather by the company that they represent. Therefore, there should be no reason to choose a non-Jewish agent over a Jewish one. A similar situation occurs when a Jewish-owned business is part of a franchise. For example, you may find that a Jew owns an Exxon station, a Midas muffler shop, or a U-Haul rental. A franchise's prices are usually determined by the franchisor, and therefore, should be on par with those of the non-Jewish competition. In all these cases, one should make an all-out effort to patronize the Jewish-owned business.

In our day and age, the issue of convenience plays an important role in a consumer's decision about who will get his business. We live in a fast-paced world. We also live in a world that focuses on pleasure and ease. This is a serious issue with regard to our responsibility to favor Jewish businesses. A situation can occur in which a Jewish establishment has equal pricing, but may not be equal in regard to the convenience of its location, the speed of its service or its ambience.

The halachah is quite clear about this issue. The Mahara"m Shi"k, Ch.M 32, quoted by numerous later authorities, rules that tirchah, inconvenience and physical difficulty, should not play a role in determining whether to patronize a Jewish establishment. In the words of the Mahara"m Shi"k, "How can it be that a Jew would not want to put himself out for his fellow Jew's livelihood? After all, does it not say [in Mishle 21:21] 'He who pursues charity and kindness will find life, charity, and honor.'" When the inconvenience or time involved in patronizing a Jewish store is very significant compared to that of the non-Jewish store, one might legitimately allow himself to be lenient. However, if possible, a halachic authority should be consulted.

Sometimes, the price of an item might be the same at both the Jewish and the non-Jewish store, but the warranty, return policy, or service department may not compare favorably. The halachah considers these aspects of a purchase to be legitimate financial considerations, and therefore, can be used in determining whether an item is being offered at an equal price. Similarly, travel or shipping expenses that would be incurred in order to purchase the item can be included in the cost of the item.

A situation can occur in which a Jewish store is offering an item at the same price as its non-Jewish competition; however, the store does not have it in stock at the moment, or the store is not open. In that case, one certainly may purchase the item from the non-Jewish store. At that moment, the Jewish store is not considered to be in competition with the non-Jew. Similarly, if the two competing stores are stocking items that are only similar but not the same, then they are not considered to be in competition and one may buy the item offered by the non-Jew.

One final note with regard to equal pricing. When going on a trip for groceries, the following dilemma can often occur. The Jewish store might be offering similar pricing on some items, but on other items they just do not compete. For instance, large chain stores often offer deeply discounted prices on a few items in order to get the customer into the door. As we have said, generally speaking, one should make every effort to buy equally priced items at the Jewish store. However, if one plans on buying a number of items together, one need consider only the total price of all the items together in determining whether those items are equally priced. In other words, when going on a shopping trip which would come out cheaper at the non-Jewish grocery store, one need not purchase the equally priced items at the Jewish store, and the cheaper items at the non-Jewish store. However, as we shall see, one might want to strive for the next level of observance which might require that the entire purchase be made at the Jewish store.

BUYING SLIGHTLY HIGHER PRICED ITEMS FROM THE JEWISH STORE

A higher level for which to strive is to make the financial commitment to buy at Jewish stores even when the costs are slightly higher. An argument exists among the halachic authorities with regard to this level of observance. While some are of the opinion that the Torah does not require this level of observance, others consider this to be an absolute Torah obligation. Generally speaking, when halachic authorities argue as to whether or not there exists a mitzvah d'oraysa, a commandment from the Torah, the stringent opinion should be considered normative halachah. In his discussion of this issue, The Chafetz Chaim in Ahavas Chesed (Nesiv haChesed, 12) takes a position which is somewhere in the middle. He rules that this level of observance is considered to be a Torah directive, but it is to some extent optional. The Torah does not view someone who is lax in observing this level as having shirked an absolute obligation.

Thus, from a halachic perspective, a strong argument can be made that a person should try to abide by this level of observance. Furthermore, when many are feeling the pinch, those that are doing fairly well economically should understand the importance of doing more to help financially than what is minimally required of them. Committing to this standard is a big step toward that end. Importantly, a number of authorities rule that this level of observance is not expected with regard to purchases and dealings done for business purposes since that has a direct affect on one's income.

After committing oneself to patronizing Jewish stores even when they are charging a slightly higher price, one should ask an obvious question. What is the definition of 'a slightly higher price?' The answer to this question is quite simple, yet quite complex. The simple answer is that the halachah leaves it up to you to decide. Each person must decide based on his economic situation, his spiritual ambitions, and the effect his decision will have on those around him. In addition, the specifics of each store may come into play. Consultation on this complex decision with one's halachic authority is highly recommended.

Parshas Tazria Metzorah Iyar 3 5770 4/17/2010 Jaron Mendels Bar Mitzva

2010-04-18T01:02:00.000-04:00

Jaron just finished a beautiful davening. I know he would like it to keep on going. Jaron let me tell you something. We would like it to keep on going also. You know the old joke about the synagogue that had a problem with mice. The rabbi came up with a brilliant idea. He Bar Mitzvad them. So let’s talk about how we preserve this beautiful moment. Let me share an experience I had earlier this week.

From Yad Vashem in Jerusalem to Greenwood Cemetery in Atlanta, from the White House to local Boards of Commissioners, observances were held and proclamations issued this past week in commemoration of the Holocaust. Dekalb County was gracious enough to invite me to deliver the opening invocation for their Tuesday session and then lead a Holocaust memorial service. After delivering the invocation I took my seat and waited for the Holocaust memorial. We were scheduled third. First the county issued a proclamation honoring the activities of governmental and private groups who are working to curb child abuse and neglect. Proclamations were read, speeches were delivered and pictures were taken. Next was National Library Week. The outgoing director of Dekalb library system stepped up with a group of librarians. They seemed to be the same ones that were at the library when I was a kid. Proclamations were read speeches were delivered and pictures were taken. Then the Holocaust memorial group was called up. Proclamations were read speeches were given. Six candles were lit and pictures were taken. As we walked out the president of the commission was reading the days agenda. It was all well and good and certainly better to have it than not but it left me feeling strange.

Let me be perfectly clear. Child abuse is horrible. We should all do anything we can to obliterate it. Let me make another thing perfectly clear. I love libraries. I have always been and remain an avid reader. I remember fondly the library I used to go to on Olsen Hwy. It has since made it on the national register of historic buildings. But in my mind the Holocaust is different. Not just because it was bigger and not just because it happened to my people. I believe that the Holocaust was part of the advancement of the world toward the goal that G-d has in store for it. I don’t know exactly how it fits but I believe that the events that swirl around the Jewish people play an indispensable role in G-ds plan. This is obvious from a cursory reading of the Torah, study of the Talmud and Midrashim and it is the foundation of all Kabbalistic literature. And while the county of Dekalb might view it as a bad thing like child abuse or illiteracy I know in my heart that the fate of the Jews is a very different issue.

That was Tuesday. On Thursday Steve and I were discussing the upcoming Bar Mitzva. Jaron is clearly blessed with a beautiful voice we all hear that. In addition he has wonderful character and has really embraced the formidable task of reading two difficult Torah portions as well as leading services. Jaron revels in the task as he should. The past months have been full of trips to and from Bar Mitzva lessons. The house has been full of the sunds of Torah reading it has felt good. How do we continue Steve asked.

That is a very good question one that many parents of Bar Mitzvas think about.

I would like to share with you how one parent tried to ensure that it would continue.

My friends Jonathan Rosenblum whose columns are regularly carried in the Jerusalem Post and other periodicals tells a story he heard from a friend who is a Rebbe in a Yeshiva. One of this Rebbes students lost his father. The Rebbe went during shiva to comfort his student, and as was his custom, he kept the discussion centered entirely on the niftar (deceased). His talmid told him that his father had never had much of an opportunity to learn Torah. At a young age, he had arrived on one of the kindertransports from Germany to England. Because he came all by himself, without any family members, he was eventually sent to Palestine from England. Upon arriving in Palestine, he made his way to Petach Tikva.

Though he had never learned in a yeshiva, he remained observant, and, in time, became the initiator of almost everything that took place in the Great Synagogue of Petach Tikva. He arranged the various shiurim (classes) in the shul – shiurim which he faithfully attended himself. And he was the one who took responsibility for the upkeep of the shul.

While still at the shiva house, the Rebbe asked the older of the sons what was the secret of his father's success. How did someone with little formal learning and all alone in the world from a young age grow to be so dedicated to his Jewishness. Certainly factors would have indicated a different outcome. The young man replied that he had only recently thought about the question for the first time. Until then, his father was just his father, and everything about him was just the way it was. But when the question of how his father had remained faithful to his Judaism, while so many from ostensibly more favorable circumstances had not, finally occurred to him, he had asked his father. His father answered with a story from his own childhood.

As a young boy, less than ten years old, he was sent by his father to Germany from the town in which they lived in Austria. For some reason, only he was allowed to cross the border. Father and son sat in the early morning darkness waiting for the train that would separate them forever. Neither spoke.

Finally, the lights of the train appeared. As the father lifted his son onto the train, he broke the silence. "Zei a gutte Yid – Remain a good Jew, " he told his son. As the train began to pull out of the station, the father ran alongside yelling, "Zei a gutte a Yid." The train gained speed, and the father kept running after it, screaming, "Zei a gutte Yid." As he ran, the father tripped and fell prostrate on the station platform. That image of his father running after the train and then falling, as he desperately tried to implant the message to be a good Jew in his heart, remained with the young boy the rest of his life. And he lived up to it, under the most adverse circumstances.

Jaron if your parents have articulated it verbally or not I don’t know but their lives are telling you “zie a gutte yid”. Their involvement in your school and shul tell you zie a gutte yid. Your father is Past President of this shul and your grandfather is Past President of Beth Jacob. As a matter of fact I want to share my early experience with the Mendel family. When a young rabbi moves to Atlanta from the Northeast the first thing you find out is that you are going to need a second car. The second thing you find out is the Hame Herb Mendel. So off I went and met a man who dedicated his time to helping other Jews. Also behind the glass handling the paperwork I met Marlene o.b.m. A woman of uncommon wisdom and common sense. Now when a rabbi moves to Atlanta he meets Steve a man who is dedicated to helping other Jews. The Mendels have many interests but first and foremost is their dedication to being a good Jews.

So parents stop and think for a moment. What would you tell your child? What do you tell your child? As important as it would be I don’t think you would holler out ‘stop child abuse’ or ‘support the library’. Jaron, I know what your parents tell you. This morning I am proud to welcome you, a gutte yid, into the community of gutte yidden. Zie a gutte yid.

Last Day of Pesach - Yizkor 5770 April 6 2010

2010-04-11T17:02:00.000-04:00

There is a Mishna in the Ethics of the Fathers (Chapter 5) which lists those things that Hashem created on the Friday afternoon of the week of Creation at twilight. Some items on the list are famous, the ability for Bilaams donkey to speak, the power of Moshes staff, the manna etc. Others seeingly more mundane such as the first pair of tongs. How do you make tongs? You heat a piece of iron in a furnace then take it out and hammer it to shape. How do you take it out of the furncace? With tongs. In essence the Mishna is teaching that even His creation is not immutabl only His will is immutable. One of the items on the list is haKsav / the writing. Rabbi Joseph Dov Soloveitchik notes that this item seems out of place in the list. What is so supernatural about writing that would place it on a list together with a talking donkey and manna? (many offer that the writing reffered to here is the writing on the tablets that could miraculously be read when viewed from any direction.) Rabbi Soloveitchik offers that writing and by extension telling (the word sofer scribe and sippur story have the same root) has the ability to transport the listener or reader to another time and place and experice an event as thought they had personally been there. He recalls how in his youth he was so absorbed in the naarative of the Torah that when reading of Jacobs tricking his father Issac for the blessing he almost blurted out "hurry Eisav is coming". This capacity is a great and miraculous gift of Hashem.

As we stand before Yizkor our thoughts turn to our parents and mine have also. I was particularlly thinking about my father and what it was that he bequethed to me. Of course he gave me life and I need not go further nonethelees he gave me much more. The gift I appreciate most was how he related to me his lifes experiences. Listening to him describe vignettes of his youth I came to know people who had died before I was born and experienced events of worlds that no longer exist. With this quality I was able to relate to many people in many different times and places. Their experiences became mine. How did my father do this? Because he experienced the things that he saw. They became him and he shared himself with me.

In every genereation we are obligated to view ourselves as though we personally left Egypt. Why not just tell over the story ? It seems to me that if it is not my story I can't transmit it. If it is me I can pass it on to you and it becomes yours. Some people can do this well others have much more difficulty.

I think that this may explain a phenomenon that I observe and in truth distresses me. Many people here have made life altering decisions. Rejecting values that thye were raised with and embracing others. Changing lifestyle has had unestimable impact of our financial and social lives and our very identities. Yet I walk down the street on shabbos and see a child of this congregation not wearing a kippah dressed casually and i realize that he dosn't get it. Do you know what your parents have done. Do you understand the soul searching courage that it took them to come to this place. Obviously you do not or you wouldn't so casually dismiss it. So I ask you why don't they get it?
Perhaps it is because the parents are not telling their story. Perhaps we need to share our experiences. Not demand, harraunge, direct or thereaten. Just share our story. Our Exodus from Egypt. Share it to the point that they can feel it. Share it as only the one who experiences it can share it. Share it so that it will become their experience. So that they were there and now it will be their experience and they can say I view myself as though I personally left my parents Egypt.

Shabbos Chol Hamoed Pesach 5770 April 3, 2010

2010-04-03T23:11:00.000-04:00

The ideas were inspired by Rabbi Matisyahu Solomon in his work Matnas Chaim (vol. Moadim, Iyan emes vemunah / galus ugeulah paragraph 7.)

An observation:

Did you ever notice that when someone draws a picture of a strange creature from outer space it usually contains features of earth creatures organized differently that we normally find them? A big eye on the top of the head and sixteen arms and elephant type skin. The reason is that we cannot imagine anything that we don’t have a point of reference to in our personal experience. Science fiction always imagines one step ahead but not many steps ahead. Jules Verne imagined a submarine but not the internet. That is because where he was coming from there was no point of reference to imagine the internet.

A related observation: Why do we have the features that we have? Why don’t we have a compound eye like a fly which would enable us to see ultra violet light and changes in air flow? Why do we have an opposable digit on our hand but not one on our foot? Of course evolutionists would explain that when we came down out of the trees and started walking on the Savannah we lost our opposable toe. I don’t know about the Savannah or Augusta or Macon for that manner but our question is why did G-d make us the way he did.

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato known by his acronym Ra*m*cha*l addressed this question in his work Daas Tevunos translated under the title The Knowing Heart (Feldheim Publishers). He says that Hashem gave us everything we need to know Him. He gave us eyesight so that we could conceptualize the concept of hashgacha divine providence. Hashem sees everything we do. How would we ever conceptualize that if we did not have eyesight? No matter how vividly you describe it a blind person can never really conceptualize watching on a screen what someone is doing on the other side of the world. Cameras, satellite images etc. it’s all beyond them. This is also true from an emotional perspective. We are given the capacity to feel kindness so we can conceptualize Hashem kindness with us. All of the other traits are similar. We look around us and see the traits of Hashem at work. Nowhere is this most evident that in the most sublime of human traits the capacity to love. The rhapsody, tenderness, excitement and euphoria of a person in love are completely foreign to one who has never experienced it. Only one who has experienced the love and intimacy of marriage can imagine the ecstasy of intimacy with the Divine. This is the Song of Songs Shir Hashirim that we read this morning. Characterized by Rabbi Akiva as the Holy of Holies this book more than any other directly describes the sought after intimacy with the Divine and it does so in human terms which are part of our experience. The joy the longing the heartache the anticipation the ups and downs of the relationship all are there.

Just as we need an experiential reference point to appreciate something, without a reference point we can’t appreciate it. Some people are naturally positive others negative. The negative people think that the positive people are phony. How could they be so upbeat about everything? Liars can’t believe that there are people who would never tell a lie. Even when they come to know someone who never lies they never really trust them because they assume they are just choosing to tell the truth but would lie if conditions call for it. Trusting people can trust in Hashem. Those who are always doubtful and suspicious can’t really have faith in Hashem.

Some of us wonder about people who really enjoy keeping the mitzvos or learning Torah. We can’t understand what they are getting out of it. We assume they must be faking or trying to please the Rabbi or they had a lobotomy or something. Perhaps they are experiencing something that is currently outside of our frame of reference. To close that gap I invoke the mantra of Rabbi Dave Silverman who has been encouraging participants of his beginner’s minyan for twenty two yours. “If you don’t know the words fake it”. Perhaps we will create a point of reference. After all that is why Hashem made it.

Parshas Yisro 22 Shevat 5770 2/6/10 Chaim Yosef Friedmans Bar Mitzva

2010-02-08T16:26:00.000-05:00

At Mt. Sinai the children of Israel beheld Hashem. Not a picture and not an image but Hashem Himself and they heard His voice. Over five hundred years later Isaiah the prophet had a similar experience. He beheld Hashem and he describes it in detail in the Haftarah that Chaim Yosef read. In the year of the King Uzziah’s death Isaiah says I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and its legs filled the Temple. There were seraphim standing above Him. Six wings six wings had each one. With two of them he would cover his face and with two he would cover his legs and with two he would fly. Now you know what Seraphim look like and what they do with all of those wings. If we add the description of Ezekiel when he experiences Hashem we can get a pretty clear picture of the seraphim and the chariot. We know what their faces look like and their feet and how they move. And now that we know all of that…..so what. There are a number of other passages that offer insights into the workings around the heavenly throne and the nature of the angels. Obviously the prophets don’t share their experiences gratuitously. The sages don’t share insights we can’t do anything with. Why do we have these descriptions?

Rav Dessler teaches us that these descriptions inspire us. After all the angels themselves are products of mans deeds. There very nature describes to us what can become of a person who years to be close to Hashem. Even if some of the things they describe are beyond attainment in this lifetime ultimately they will be attainable in the messianic era. So exactly what do we learn from these seraphim that Isaiah describes? Firstly they have six wings and they use two of them to cover their face. Why do they cover their face? The Midrash Yalkut Shimoni says it is to teach us modesty. Do not gaze directly at Hashem. What does that mean? I believe it means that we should not be brazen in our spiritual demands. We can only see as much of Hashem as he wants us to see. Don’t go seeking spiritual highs and don’t get frustrated when we don’ see Hashem all around us.

With two wings they cover their feet. Ezekiel describes the seraphim as having the feet of a calf. The Midrash says remember your past and your sins like the golden calf. Don’t display they cover them up. Have a measure of humility and even embarrassment as you approach Hashem. Don’t think you have it coming to you. Review your deeds. Did you do right? Did you do it the best you could have? Dig deep. Were there elements of ego and self centeredness even in your performance of the mitzvah? Bshtaiyim yichaseh panav, closeness to Hashem requires humility uvishtayim yichaseh raglav and closeness to Hashem requires introspection. Chaim Yosef was named after his grandfather who was named after his grandfather. From a family tradition we have heard that there were at least four other Chaim Yosefs before them. These Chaim Yosefs were Lithuanian Jews who epitomized the Lithuanian Jewish traits of hard work, Torah study scrupulous observance and character development. My father a”h was the first American Chaim Yosef in the lineage. He was raised in a neighborhood that was full of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania like his parents. In that neighborhood he imbibed these values. Before the Second World War there were many Orthodox shuls in Minneapolis one reform Temple and no conservative. When the sons of the neighborhood returned from around the world after the war the old Orthodox shul was not reflective of whom they felt they were. Consequently the Orthodox shuls started to switch over to conservative. As they made the switch my Zayda left because he would only daven in a shul with a mechitza. My father went along because he wanted to daven together with his father. He told me he tried the conservative but it didn’t feel right. I could share the more graphic description he shared with me about those shuls but this is a shul. So they went from one to the next until all the Orthodox shuls had gone conservative. At this point there was only one place left to daven. There was a Chassidic Rabbi who had a basement shul. Now the Chassidic approach for a Lithuanian Jew like my grandfather was a far cry from what he understood Judaism to be but he had no choice. Once they started davening in that shul my father developed a strong relationship with the Rabbi there. As part of that experience he was introduced to another aspect of Judaism that hadn’t been emphasized in his upbringing. That is the aspect of Judaism represented by the last two wings. We described four of the six wings. What is the function of the last two.

Uvishtayim yofef. And with the last to wings they fly. They fly lighter than, air swirling around the Heavenly throne uplifted and buoyant by their relationship to Hashem. Without these two wings one could sink into a morass of depression. With them the entire venture flies.

When we were raising Chaim Yosef, Dena and I had a difference of opinion. I remember it quite well because it was so rare that we would have a difference of opinion. When we sang Shalom Aleichem on Friday night Chaim Yosef used to scream it out at the top of his lungs. I tried to quiet him down. I have had problems with vocal polyps and that problem runs in our family. I was afraid Chaim Yosef would develop polyps. Dena on the other hand wanted him to scream. She didn’t want to inhibit his expression. She wanted him to fly. In the end we were both right. Chaim Yosef has a great excitement for Judaism and life in general and he has vocal polyps. That is why he didn’t lead us in mussaf this morning because his voice was maxed out by the Torah and Haftarah reading. However everyone is invited back next week when G-d willing Chaim Yosef will lead us in Mussaf. It is this combination of all three traits represented by the six wings that create the healthy Jew. As a matter of fact Rabbi Dessler says so explicitly when he says and I quote “this is the lesson of the angels only with the unity of the two, (in Kabbalistic lexicon) Gevurah self control and Chessed giving loving kindness, (from an emotional perspective) fear of Hashem Yirah and love of Hashem Ahavah, (from a pedagogical perspective) mussar striving for ethical perfection and chassidus passionate expression, is it possible to achieve the truth of Hashem. So Chaim Yosef be like those angels cover your face, be modest, cover your feet, be embarrassed of your misdeeds and fly fly fly. And as you fly do as the verse says the angels do when they fly around Hashem. Vkarah Zeh el Zeh V’amar Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh Hashem Tzvakos M’lo Kol Haaretz Kvodo. They call out to one another and proclaim Holy Holy Holy is Hashem the Lord of Hosts.

Parshas Yaera Sheva Brachos f Matt and Rina Scaikewtz 1/16/10

2010-01-23T23:53:00.000-05:00

This morning we are celebrating the sheva brachos of Matt and Rena Schaikewitz. I assume that this precious young couple is flying high after the beautiful wedding many of us participated in. Life is surely good forthem as they enjoy the pleasure of being with each other. The other day I heard from a respected Rabbi that Jacob married Rachel and woke up the next morning to find it was Leah. In a way all of us wake up the next morning to find Leah. Of course Jacob came to love Leah and they made a beautiful family of which we are the descendants but nonetheless … Our young couple have certainly found the sterling husband and wife that they went to the chuppah with. They probably have not come across their first disagreement. When they do it will be cataclysmic. As time goes on their disagreements will become less cataclysmic and at some point just become part of life. In a way that is good because it will help them cope with life. However in a way it is bad .

Anyone who knows a little bit of modern Hebrew probably knows the phrase savlanut. Patience. This phrase is constantly being invoke in that very impatient country. Usually you don’t even get the word all you here is a tsss sound and squeezed fingertips cast in your direction. Anyone who has experiences it knows exactly what I’m talking about. Savlanut, patience is generally considered to be a desirable trait. Yet in the parsha we see that Hashem promises to take the children of Israel out from under the sivlos burdens of Egypt. In a homiletic twist many commentators have offered that Hashem is going to take them out from the patience of Egypt. They say that in that time many Jews had made peace with or accepted their lot. They were focused on survival. They had developed patience foir what the Egyptians were doing to them. In order to liberate them from Egypt Hahshem had to first create in them a sense of dissatisfaction with their lot. They had to view the Egyptian enslavement as intolerable. Then Hashem could save them. Sometimes savlanut is bad.

We all have developed savlanut for many things some of them are healthy but some of them are inhibiting our growth. A list of inappropriate savalanut includes the way we treat our spouses and I ant to get full credit fo saying this dvar Torah wit my own wife present. Another area f innapropriate savlanut is in what we expect from our teenagers. Another would be bein inappropriately satisfied with our level of Jewish knowledge. And perhaps most important our lack of inspiration. If we eel uinspired abou our Jewishness that is unaceptableand we can't tolerate it. We need to be more impatient, more dissatisfied, less tolerant. Perhaps we need to be more like newlyweds and view the next disagreement as cataclysmic. Then maybe we wouldn’t get used to some things that shouldn’t really be gotten used to.

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Parshas Shemos 1/2/10 I want this shul to be Disney World

2010-01-15T16:41:00.000-05:00

‘How I spent my winter vacation’ by Binyomin Friedman. This winter I took my family to Disney World. I like it a lot in Disney World. Disney World is a lot of fun and everybody is so pleasant. I wish my shul was just like Disney World.

Allow me to explain.

Moshe is floating down the river in a basket. Pharaohs’ daughter sees him. The verse says that she sent out "amasah" and she grabbed him. The Talmud in tractate Sotah records a dispute over the word "amasah". One version says the word is based on the Hebrew word for maid which is an ammah. Therefore it means she sent out her maid to grab the boy. Another understanding is the word is based on the measurement an ammah which is the distance from middle finger to elbow commonly known as a cubit. According to this understanding of the word she cast out her forearm which miraculously stretched out to grab the basket. R' Chaim Shmulevitz says this was no miracle. Pharaohs’ daughter was trying to do what she felt was right and Hashem enabled her. That is not a miracle. It is however very praiseworthy because Pharos daughter didn't consider the fact that the basket was out of reach she tried anyway. Most of us size up the situation and realize the solution is beyond our means and give up. What we learn from this episode is that we need to try nonetheless and leave it to Hashem to let our attemps be actualized or not.

Perhaps living a life like Pharaohs’ daughter is beyond us but I think everyone can live Disney World. I was in Disney World and we heard that there is kosher food there but I didn't know where. So what do you do in Disney World when you want to find out where something is? You call Gary Lips. Gary however was unavailable. So I walked over to a fellow dressed as Casey at Bat who was standing in front of a restaurant motioning in people. I said do you have kosher food here? He said no we do not but you stand right here and I will be right back. A few minutes later he returned and said the kosher food is in such and such a restaurant which is located over there. Would you like me to walk you over there? I said no thanks I can find it and thank you very much for your help. We went over to the restaurant. We saw no signs for kosher food. I asked the cashier do you have kosher food. Certainly we do, she replied. Could we see what you have? Of course she replied and pulled out a big loose-leaf folder turned to the kosher tab and showed us the four items that were available. Now a line was forming behind us but she gave us her full attention. We asked if they had a kosher certificate. She turned to the page and showed it to us. The attitude of concern and interest is palpable throughout Disney World. Perhaps they do it because they are going to be fired or perhaps they do it because pleasantness is infectious but the attitude is there and I liked it. Someone walks into shul. They approach you and ask “where can I find a kippah”?. You could say they are outside in a basket on the table or you could say come let me get you one. If you get here and the kippas are there the person feels wanted and cared for. If you get there and the kippas are not there then you can go look for them sparing this person an embarrassing and possibly final experience at Ariel. Really no challenge should be viewed as being beyond us but I can understand if we are not Pharaohs’ daughter and don't attempt the impossible. However there are so many things that are possible that we could attempt and if we would I am sure we would find our arms getting longer than we thought they were and we might even end up living in a magic kingdom.

Parshas Vayeach 5770 ufruf of Mathew Schaikewitz

2010-01-01T14:55:00.002-05:00

Making it in galus the Diaspora, is really what we are all about. Ever since the doors of the ghetto began to open in Western Europe circa 1800 we Jews have struggled to enjoy the freedom of emancipation while not losing our jewishness. A host of different approaches have been tried with varying degrees of success. If we think that we have it down pat I ask you to explain why according to a survey out this week, 25% of children from Orthodox homes who attend non Jewish Universities drop their observance. This seems to be true even of students who have spent the de rigueur year in Israel according to a speaker from the OU who spoke at the Young Israel last year. According to this speaker the drop out rates are higher as academic achievement rises. Let’s try to get a handle on this very real issue.

In this weeks parsha Jacob blesses his grandchildren Ephraim and Menasha the first two Jewish children successfully raised in the Diaspora. When blessing them a strange event occurs. Even though Menasha is situated on Jacobs right and Ephraim on Jacobs left Jacob places his right hand on the younger Ephraim and his left hand on the older Menasha. Josef the father protests the error but Jacob assures him that his actions are intentional.
Why did Jacob swap his hands and why upon seeing this did Josef feel the need to protest.

There are two fundamental approaches to the service of Hashem. One is through awe of Hashem. It goes like this: He is so great, I am so small. How dare I even consider not doing His will.

The other approach is through love of Hashem. It goes like this. I love Hashem and want to be as near as possible to Him therefore I do whatever he wants.

The awe approach with its fear of punishment angle is noted for keeping people from sin. The love approach is outstanding for its ability to motivate to do well. Rabbi Shalom Noah Berzovsky is his work Nesivos Shalom notes that the sons of Josef were representatives of the two models. The name Menasha recalls how Hashem has helped Josef in the struggle with the hardship of exile and being separated from family. The name Ephraim refers to expanse and growth in the exile. Based on this rabbi Berzovsky offers that Josef and Yaakov had a fundamental dispute about how a Jew conducts himself in the Diaspora. Josef said that the awe and fear of sin approach is the only thing strong enough to keep a Jews from giving in to the temptation of all that surrounds him. Therefore Menasha should get the primary blessing. Yaakov knows both of these approaches from his father awe and fear, and his grandfather, love. Yaakov has achieved a balance. Kabalistic terminology refers to Yaakov as tifferes or glory. Glory balances fear opposite love by imbuing both with Torah. When a person is imbued with Torah then they can and should utilize the love approach even in the Diaspora. Even when being bombarded with lures and attractions that are antithetical to Judaism. That is because the beauty of the Torah will provide an attraction that can combat the other attractions. Yaakov knew that Ephraim’s love of Hashem would win out because Ephraim was grounded in the Torah. This also why Yaakov sent yehudah ahead to Egypt to establish school before the family arrived.
Fear of sin and divine retribution clearly do not keep Yossi away from Megan. In truth love of g-d won’t do it either. Megan is too available and G-d to distant. Only when G-d is clear and present will the love of G-d win out. That only comes to people who are imbued with the torah. Memorable Israel experiences are great but there is no substitute for substantive Torah knowledge. This is probably why many who immerse themselves in Torah choose to pursue their careers in a Jewish environment It can be done and it has been done and this morning we are celebrating the successful navigation through the sea of the Diaspora. Mathew Schaikewitz is the model. Immersed in torah and imbued with a love of Hashem. We are taught that when parents name a child there is an element of prophesy that comes to them. I believe that this is certainly the case when some 23 years ago Pearl and Steve chose the name Matya Ephraim. May you and your kallah experience the blessing of Yaakov right hand.
My thanks to Rabbi Garfield for forwarding to me an article that deals with the study that I mentioned. This article is worth reading. The Elelphant In The Room ://thejewishstar.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/opinion-the-lephant-in-the-room/

Ist Shabbos of Chanukah.

2009-12-23T23:42:00.000-05:00

Yaacov had anguish from his brother Eisav, his father in Law lavan, his daughter Dena, his son Yosef. The four struggles parallel the four empires that will one day dominate israel. We are told that the Greek domination parallles the story of Dena. Just as the other three struggles were outside of Israel so were the other three nations. The Dena episode and the Greek wars were fought in Israel. The other nations were toppled by foreign adversaries the Greeks were driven from Israel by the Jews. The other three issues resolved themselves. The Dena issue was resolved with violence of Shimon and Levi. If we understand this parrallel then let us take it through to its' conclusion. The Dena story is a story of the defilement of a jewish daughter and an attempt to assimilate us and the Greek domination attempted the same.
Maaseh avos siman labanim. The sruggles of our forefathers gives us the wherewith all to overcome the contemporary challenge also.

2nd Shabbos of Chanukah 5770

2009-12-23T23:30:00.000-05:00

I am bouncing a ball. It hits the floor bounces above my head and lands in my out stretched palm. I repeat this over and over. What do you think are the odds that the ball will hit the floor bounce above my head and then stay there? One in a million? Zero? If those are your answers those are Greek answers. The Jewish answer is ‘the ball will do what G-d wants it to do’.
Once upon a time that would have been everyone’s answer. Then came the Greeks packing Pythagoras, Euclid and Archimedes. Not only could they tell you why something happened they could prove it. They could use their theories which became laws to make things happen. Wondrous things, helpful things. If one understands gravity they can maneuver a rocket ship to Mars and let a rover rove on it. How can we argue with that?
The Torah however teaches that every time I bounce the ball on the floor G-d makes it fly up and then G-d brings it down. He repeats that action and repeats that action with such regularity that an observer might come to think that the movement of the ball is governed by some independent rule or law. This law will continue to be believed until one time G-d decides to do something else as He did for the children of Israel at the sea. When G-d changes His predictable patters we see that there was not an independent rule but it was G-d all along. Of course some are so wedded to their beloved rule that they simply modify it to accommodate the exception.
Does G-d keep repeating his actions just to see if we will continue to believe that he is behind it all? No. G-d repeats his actions with predictable regularity so that we can perform mitzvos in our physical world. If He did not repeat his actions in such a way as to let us form laws of thermodynamics we could not bake a matza. If we had no “laws” of gravity or hydraulics how could we build a mikva? G-ds intentional predictability allows us to function in our world. Defining this predictability was not the sin of the Greeks. Even offering mankind an alternative to a G-d based understanding of life was not the worst thing that could happen. Their real crime was that their system caused man to believe that he is limited by the rules that they formulated. After the Greeks can we couldn’t do things because they were impossible. This is a tragedy because it denies the underpinning of the G-d system.
The beauty of G-d system is that the more we use his predictable “laws” to serve Him the less we become governed by those laws. As time goes on the servant of G-d sees the physical world conforming to His will rather than to the perceived “laws”. This is illustrated by a story in the Talmud (Taanis 24b). R’ Chanina ben Dosas' daughter was sad because she had put vinegar in the Shabbos lights instead of oil. He said to her “He who commanded the oil to burn will command the vinegar to burn” We are told in a Braisa that the vinegar burned until the end of Shabbos.
Today is the eight day of Chanukah . The eight day has a special name derived from the Torah reading for the last day of Chanukah it. The name is zos Chanukah / this is Chanukah. This story is the message of Chanukah . We utilize the predictability of G-ds actions to perform His will. Doing this frees us from those perceived “laws . Ultimately it is G-ds will that carries out all functions and G-ds will is never limited by “laws “ based on human observations . Zos Chanukah / This is the essence of Chanukah.

Eulogy for my Mother in Law Chava Yenta Bas Tzvi Arye Evelyn Dickstein

2009-12-03T13:42:00.001-05:00

ותמת דבורה מינקת רבקה ותקבר מתחת לבית אל תחת האלון ויקרא שמו אלון בכות

And Devorah the nurse of Rivka died and she was buried below bethel under the oak tree and they called its name the crying oak. (Gen. 35-8)

Who was Devorah? Obviously Devorah was an important an important woman because the Torah sees fit to discuss her passing and burial. Yet we know nothing of this women and why they cried upon her passing.

Chava Yenta bas Tzvi Arye Evelyn Dickstein was born and raised in Brooklyn, and spent her adult life in Boston and primarily in Baltimore. She arrived In Atlanta almost exactly two years ago already in declining health. How many people here really know her. In truth even those who knew her for years struggled to know her. She lived a life of great struggle. She was orphaned of her father as a young girl. Her mother raised her and her brothers’ jack and Artie and yibadlu bain chaim lchaim Gavriel sheyichye lorech yamin vshanim tovim in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn amidst extreme poverty. On Sundays she would go to the cemetery with her mother holding a tzedakah box to collect tzedakah from the visitors to help pay for her Jewish education. The boys attended yeshivos and Chava attended the first and at the time only Bais Yaakov school for girls in America. This was unusual and even scorned in some circles. It was respected by some one of whom was the Satmar rebbe who noticing Chava and her friend davening blessed them. She would make references or quotes that often took me by surprise and told me that she knew much more than she let on. She married an orphaned holocaust survivor because her brother told her he was a talmid chochom and for 60 years they made a life together. She struggled with much adversity including five years of childlessness until Rochel was born later followed by seven more. 34 years later Rochel was stricken with a brain tumor and died leaving behind a husband and three young children. T was devastating and Rochel remained close to her always. Rochel was on her lips and in her mind especially in the past few days. She struggled to raise a large family on meager means. She did not expect a lot and was satisfied with little. Chava was uncomfortable in public but she devoted herself wholeheartedly to her home. She was of that nearly extinct breed of mothers who wait at the door when their children arrive home from school. Who put milk and cookies on the table and cook family supper every night. Being at home, never having a driver’s license did not prevent her from supporting the community. She dedicated her free time to community work by telephone. She was a one woman calling squad for an upcoming sisterhood event or school function. And she did mailings and mailings as did the whole family. She was bright and had many ideas and could offer advice but she never offered it unsolicited. In all of the years of our marriage she never ever meddled, intruded, offered opinions or made any demands. She never demanded respect but always treated me with the utmost respect and I am not sure that I reciprocated. In her most recent life here in Atlanta she developed a circle of friends who enjoyed her company and listened to the sage advice she shared borne of years of experience. Her newfound friends embraced her and while her health declined her life flourished. We will always be indebted to everyone who shared her life and made these last years so special. And all the while she watched her family bli eyin hara grow, reveled in their deeds, pored over the pictures and viewed and reviewed the videos.

Who was Devorah the nurse of Rivka? She was her maynekes wet-nurse. She gave sustenance to Rivka. She enabled Rivkah to live and if we Rivkas children knew nothing about her other than that it would be cause for us to cry. If we knew nothing more about Chava yenta bas Tzvi Arye other than that she gave live to many children, grandchildren and great grandchildren among them talmidei chachamim and anshe maaseh torah scholars and people of great deeds there would surely be cause to cry. How much more so do we cry at the loss o our dear Mommy who loved us all so much. Her name was called Chavah for she was the mother of all life. On behalf of myself and all of the children , grandchildren and great grandchildren who are here and who were unable to be here we want to ask mechila for acts of disrespect. Please be mochel forgive us and please be a maylitz yosher righteous advocate in front of the kissei hakovod holy Throne. Soon you will repeat the last sentence that you uttered Shma Yisroel… Boruch shem kvod malchuso lolam vaed.

Bila hamaves…. May Hashem swallow up death forever and may He wipe the tears off of every face.

Parshas Vayetzei

2009-11-29T23:06:00.000-05:00

I was surprised to hear that some people gathered together to enjoy a Thanksgiving turkey either on Thursday night or Shabbos night as the Friedman family did, and neglected to give thanks. Therefore I would like to read to you the thanksgiving message that I composed.

“I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November (next,) to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks …

“And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; … to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations … and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue … to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best. “

“The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God . . .

“No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People".

Now truthfully I must admit that I did not compose these mellifluous and eloquent words. The first two paragraphs were written by George Washington in 1777 on his way to Valley Forge when he called upon all citizens to dedicate Thursday Nov. 26th (the same date as in 2009) as a national day of thanksgiving. The last two paragraphs were penned by Abraham Lincoln when, in the middle of a great war he called for an annual day of thanksgiving in an attempt to unify and uplift a war torn nation. When viewed from a 2009 perspective it is amazing that a president could utter such words. Divine providence? National sin? An orthodox Rabbi sure but not a President.

Jewish settlement in America has paralleled the rise of this great country to prominence. This is no coincidence as we see in this week’s parsha. I bet you knew that this week's parsha explained it. This week's parsha always seems to explain everything. The parsha opens with Jacob fleeing home. The Midrash tells us that he is robbed by his great nephew Elifaz. This explains why he arrives at his uncle Lavan with no money. As the parsha plays out the poor immigrant marries raises a large family and experiences remarkable almost supernatural prosperity. This is the story of Jacob's children's exile also. We are well familiar with the pogroms and expulsions and certainly with the holocaust of the previous generation. However there was much prosperity also. Abnormal prosperity. When Jacob arrived Lavan didn't even have a son. His daughter was his shepard. How embarrassing. Now that Jacob has spent some years with Lavan we hear his sons discussing their father’s wealth. Why did Lavan experience such prosperity? Lavan tells Jacob "G-d has blessed me because of you" Why did the United States experience this prosperity so that it could provide safe haven to Jacobs children.

As we continue to read the parsha we see that Jacob cannot live with Lavan forever. The good times come to an end when Lavan turns on Jacob. I am not one to read the Torah and predict the future. It is a Torah fact however that we will return to Israel. How or when that will happen I hope soon but I don't know. In the mean time it is certainly our obligation to thank Hashem for creating this wonderful land with its most unusual dedication to liberty and religious freedom that every one in this room had been and continues to be a beneficiary of.

I want to conclude on a cautionary note. The United States of America was established on the foundation of the rights of the citizens to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. After many years those rights were granted to people of color and then later to both sexes. In more recent times these rights have been extended to people with all forms of moral persuasions and religions. Everyone is guaranteed the right to preach their beliefs. These principals cannot remain unlimited if the country is to service. When religions have homicidal intent and deviant groups undermine the health and well being of the citizenry they must be curtailed or the government will no longer be able to ensure the security of the citizens. In either event the options that lay ahead do not bode well for the Jewish people. If the government takes no action to restrict religious freedoms, to discriminate, to restrain the pursuit of happiness of some parties our lives will be imperiled. If the government takes steps to restrict religious freedoms our Jewish lifestyle may also be imperiled. It is a serious crossroad that will soon have to be navigated. May G-d protect us.

Parshas Toldos

2009-11-21T23:36:00.000-05:00

Q What are the two major questions asked about the story of Yaacov and Eisav and the blessings of Isaac?
A1. How could Isaac get it so wrong?
2. How does Jacob whose attribute is truth do something so deceitful?
A careful reading should point us in the right direction.
Q What is the highpoint of the story?
A When Jacob goes in to Isaac disguised as Eisav. We are sitting on the edge of our seats wondering if he be exposed or get away with it. Isaac says "the voice is the voice of Jacob but the hands are the hands of Eisav"
Q What is an item that shows up in the story that is not part of the theme? This is a popular question that Rabbi Dovid Fohrman likes to ask.
A Hands. Mentioned five times in the story.
Q What is the most out of place sentence in the story?
A Verse 23 where the Torah tells us "and he did not recognized him because his hands were hairy like Eisav's" This narrative verse is out of place in a story that is primarily dialogue. In addition it doesn’t tell us anything we didn't know.

Perhaps we can tie it all together as follows. Isaac saw Eisav with his faults and qualities. Eisav did not have the voice of Jacob a voice that spoke kindly (sit up please my father) or use the name of G-d (that G-d presented). On the other hand he had hands. Hands can accomplish things. Eisav is a doer not a talker. This is a very important quality in someone who it is hoped will take over the mantle of Abraham’s monotheistic campaign. Isaac decided to go with Eisav intending to bless him in the hopes that the blessings would motivate him to use his talents in the service of G-d all the while aware of his limitations. Now someone stands before him who does not seem to have any limitations. He has the best of both worlds. His voice is that of Jacob speaking of G-dly things yet he has hands that can do things like Eisav’s. That is someone that deserves a bracha. That is someone who you can pin your hopes on. That is someone whom you can give a bracha that is so all encompassing that there is nothing left to give any other child. Which makes sense? If I have a child who has it all give him all the blessing. Did Isaac think Eisav had developed a voice or had Jacob found hands? That remains a good question. Perhaps you have an idea.

Parshas Chaye Sarah

2009-11-14T23:23:00.000-05:00

Vavraham zakayn bah bayomim / And Avrohom was old he came in days. What does it mean to come in days? The Shaloh haKadosh and others quoted in Nesivos Shalom tell us that it means that Avrohom practiced chesed / loving kindness each day of his life. Furthermore a Jew must do an act of kindness each day or that day is not a day in his life.

Why is chesed so essential to make it a day? The Nesivos Shalom offer three reasons which I present out of his order.

1. Olam chesed yibaneh. The world is built on kindness. Hashem modified His planned conduct of the world with straight justice by adding mercy. Without this kindness the world would never survive. Since Hashem constantly recreates the world our continued existence is due to his constant kindness. If we wish to continue to deserve this kindness we must ourselves practice acts of kindness. This is because Hashem tzilcha. Hashem reacts to us like a shadow. What we do He returns to us. We are kind to others He is kind to us.

2. The goal in life is not Torah and mitzvos but rather devaykus clinging to Hashem. We learn Torah and practice mitzvos to bring us to Hashem. The truest way to come close to Hashem is through imitation. Since Hashem is Kind with a capital K so too we should be kind. When I practice acts of kindness I am emulating Hashem therefore becoming closer to Him. We all imitate that which we truly admire.

3. All of our mitzvah performance suffers from lack of intent or ulterior motives. When we don't concentrate on a mitzvah it degrades the mitzvah and if we have ulterior motives we may not get credit at all. Chesed loving-kindness is different. When acts of chesed are preformed even with ulterior motives it does not matter as long as the recipient receives the benefit. Each and every day we must perform at least one mitzvah pefectly. Chesed is perhaps the only mitzvah that we have a good shot at performing perfectly.

In light of this third point I would like to speak out against a phrase I hear all too commonly. That is "no good deed goes unpunished". This is usually heard when one has just done an act of chesed by dropping something off at someone’s house and then hit their car backing out of the driveway. Or we tried to do something for the shul and get an earful about why we didn't do it differently. This pernicious phrase implies that it's not really worthwhile being nice. Although we always “Ha Ha Ha” when we hear it, the statement sinks in and it has been adopted as a truism. Therefore I want to explain why these bad things do happen to people who do good deeds particularly chesed.

Once a good deed has been done the Satan is in a bad spot. He tried to prevent us from doing the deed but failed. The only way he can get rid of the deed is by getting us to regret it and thereby cancel it. So he hits us with adversity in the hopes that we will say "darn, I never should have done that mitzvah in the first place". So watch out. Be prepared. When some adversity hits just after having done a mitzvah particularly acts of chesed which are the most perfect of mitzvos, do not give in. Say ‘I know your tricks. I am on to you. I will deal with this but I am still happy I did the mitzvah. Because when the time comes I want to come with this day as well as all of the others before Hashem.

Parshas Lech Lecha

2009-10-30T17:12:00.001-04:00

Achar hadvarim haeleh( Gen. 15-1)
Question: After Avram had gone to war and recovered his captured nephew Lot, Hashem came to Avram and told him not to worry he would become a great nation. Avram accepted this good news and Hashem considered it an act of tzedakah. Why is it an act of tzedakah to accept Hashems blessing.? Rashi explains it was tzedakah because he didn’t ask Hashem for a sign to prove it. Two verses later Hashem promises Avram the land of Israel and Avram demands proof.
Question: Hashem takes Avrom outside and shows him the stars (Gen. 15-5). As they are doing the covenant between the parts Seven verses later in the covenant of the Parts it says the sun was about to set. How do you see the stars in the afternoon..
Let’s do some number crunching and see what we can come up with.

The earliest Sodom could have been founded was 1996 after the dispersion of the Tower of Babel. Before that there were no settlements other than the one that built the tower.

The year of the dispersion was 1996 after creation which was the year of the death of Peleg. We are told in Gen. 10-25 that the world was dispersed in Pelegs lifetime. Tos. Tractate Shabbos 10b proves that it happened in the year of Pelegs death.

Based of the chronologies of the length of life of the biblical figures found in Genesis 11 we can establish Avram as being 48 at that time of the dispersion.

We know that Sodom was subservient to Kedarlaomer for 12 years and then they rebelled. (Avram is now 60)

For 13 years they enjoyed independence before Kedarlaomer came and crushed the rebellion. This brought Avrohom into the war to save Lot and free Sodom. (Avrohom is now 73)

Let’s refer back to the beginning of the parsha. Avrohom left Charan at age 75. Somethings wrong here.

Seder Olam an ancient biblical chronology offers the following solution to our dilemma. At the covenant between the Parts Avram was 70 years old. When Hashem made a promise to him he asked for a sign. Three years later after having been delivered from war Hashem made a further promise to Avram and he didn’t ask for proof. This Hashem considered an act of tzedakah compared to his earlier reaction. All of his work in Canaan having been finished Avram packed his bags and returned to Charan. There he settled with his father. Two years later when Avram was 75 Hashem called to Avram “Lech Lecha” and he began his journey to assume his destiny in Israel.

Why is the parsha so out of order? Rabbi Yochanan Zweig, Rosh Yeshiva in Miami offers the following insight.

The Avos have the ability to orchestrate the course of Jewish history. Therefore, the events of Avraham’s life must be viewed on two planes: those events which affect him individually, and those in which he functions as the head of the corporate entity of Klal Yisroel. The Torah reflects a sequence of events as they affect the entity of Klal Yisroel, not necessarily as they unfold in Avraham’s private life. Avraham’s going down to Egypt because of the famine foreshadows Bnei Yisroel going down to Egypt because of a famine. Pharaoh attempts to take Sarah from Avraham, much the same way as the Egyptians attempt to kill all of the male Jewish children so that they could take the females for themselves.8 Avraham leaves Mitzrayim with great wealth, ensuring that his descendants would do the same. When entering Eretz Yisroel, a dispute with Lot ensues. Similarly, when attempting to enter Eretz Yisroel, Bnei Yisroel are confronted by Amman and Moa, descendants of Lot.9 Bnei Yisroel conquer the east side of the Jordan, and in the days of Kenosha, the west side of the Jordan, foreshadowed by Avraham defeating the four kings.

Rashi offers a detailed description of how the Covenant of the Pieces made irrevocable the gift of Eretz Yisroel to Bnei Yisroel and ensured their survival from the times of the Davidic Dynasty, followed by the four monarchies which will dominate Bnei Yisroel in exile, and culminating with the coming of Moshiach.10

Parshas Lech Lecha reflects the entire gamut of Jewish history, beginning with the descent to Egypt and concluding with the coming of Moshiach. It is this chronology that the parsha follows, with Avraham functioning as a Patriarch impacting upon his descendants rather than the sequence of his own private life.

2009-10-23T17:27:00.000-04:00

There are only two animals on the ark mentioned by name. They are the raven and the dove. The Midrash also talks about the actions of the lion, the monkey and the dog. Of all of them only one actually has a speaking part. That is the raven. I would like to take a look at what saith the raven and understand him and perhaps gain some insight into Midrash aggadah in general.

Chapter 8 verse 7 says and he sent out the raven and it went going and coming until the water dried from on the face of the earth. Rashi comments that the raven didn’t keep leaving the ark and coming back but rather he circled around the ark not wanting to leave. Why didn’t he want to leave? Rashi quotes a passage in the Talmud that tells us the raven accused Noach of sending him away so that Noach could take Mrs. Raven for himself. Noach responded “rasha / wicked one. On the Ark I am not even allowed to have relations with my own wife certainly not with an animal.

Now that is quite a Midrash. Let’s first break it down technically and then try to understand it didactically.

Rashi reads the verse. The verse says the raven was yatzo vshov which would normally mean going and coming. Rashi asks himself. Why would the raven be going and coming? If he went and came back why would he go again? So Rashi offers another translation for the words yatzo vashov. He says it must mean the raven was circling the ark. Why would he have been circling the ark? Without any straightforward explanation Rashi quotes a Midrash. You might ask ‘What about the possibility that the raven was circling because it couldn’t find anywhere to go’? That is certainly the straightforward explanation of the verse. However then the Torah should have said it returned to the ark. Why circling. Our sages tell us the Torah wants to teach an additional message. That message is contained in the story of the ravens’ suspicion of Noach.

Now let’s try to understand this raven and why Noach called him a rasha, wicked. Let’s say you are driving down the road and you see me struggling with a flat tire. You pull over to help. You get the tire changed. Instead of thanking you I say “well you certainly showed me up”. Where does a comment like that come from? Why didn’t I assume you just stopped out of the goodness of your heart? The answer can only be because if I had stopped for you it would have been to show you up not to do a kindness. The Sifri a Midrash on the book of Deuteronomy says (1-28) what is in your heart is on your friend and what is in his is on you. The raven could have only leveled such an accusation if it was something he himself would have done. This should come as no surprise to us because we are familiar with a Midrash that tells us that although Hashem forbade all creatures from engaging in relations on the ark the Raven broke the rules. Now we know what kind of a creature this was and now we know why he would have such outlandish suspicion of Noach. To the raven it actually made sense.

Of course this is only true when we presume to know what is going on. What if I know for sure what is going on? Am I also projecting? The answer is many times yes. With out hard and fast evidence when I make an assumption about someone or surmise something I could be telling myself more about myself than I am telling myself about the other person. So perhaps we should all take a lesson from the raven and when we have an opportunity to view someone in a negative light lets all say “nevermore”.

Parshas Braishis

2009-10-16T15:38:00.001-04:00

When the Chofetz Chaim was an old man he struggled to go to shul on cold winter mornings. When he woke up his yetzer hara would say "it's cold out there stay bed until it warms up a little". "no said the Chofetz Chaim I have to go to shul" "You are an old man no one expects you to get up this early it won't look bad if you don't show up." said the yetzer hara. It was a difficult argument. So the Chofetz Chaim hit upon an idea. He loved coffee. He told the maid that as soon as she awoke she was to immediately put a pot of coffee on the stove. When the Chofetz Chaim was laying in bed fighting with his yetzer hara he would say know it's cold and I'm not expected in shul but if I get up now I can have a cup of coffee.

Earlier this week I saw the following thought from someone in Jerusalem who calls himself Kol Brisk.

In this week’s parasha, we are introduced to the arch-enemy of mankind, the snake a.k.a. the yetzer harah or the evil inclination. Let us try to understand his methods and damage that he caused. The Mai Hashiloach connects the Hebrew word for snake, nachash to the word menachsh, a sorcerer. Just as a sorcerer whips up all kind of deceptions, so did the snake. You see, before Adam ate from the tree of knowledge he innately desired to do only the straightforward Will of Hashem, without any calculations. The snake was jealous of the sublime status of man, and of the benefits that went along with this. He tricked Chava, and through her, Adam into thinking that eating from the tree was truly the better path to take in service of Hashem.

Once the act was done the whole situation of mankind was altered. Adam could not longer allow himself to be guided by his desires because now he had desires of his own. After eating from the tree, things that are evil and run counter to the will of Hashem, could seem desirable and good. Things that are destructive and unhealthy could be seen as constructive and healthy. The intrinsically repulsive could seem attractive and desirable. Also, now, the sublime and wonderful could be warped to seem unattractive and undesirable.

The negative power of the imagination was set loose.

When we try to do a mitzvah the Yetzer Harah, who sees that he will get nowhere trying to incite us to sin out rightly, has another tactic. He will attempt to get us to do what seems to us a “mitzvah” - what we have ourselves convinced is a mitzvah, when in reality, it is something else, not sublime, not constructive, not good – not the authentic will of Hashem. It is some kind of act construed of all sorts of ulterior motives lurking in the recesses of our subconscious, dressed up as a mitzvah.

Is there any way that we can check ourselves, in order to know the difference between a real genuine Mitzvah and a “mitzvah” that is really something else in disguise??

The Vilna Gaon, in his commentary on The Book of Ruth, gives us a way to check ourselves:

Naomi tried to dissuade Ruth from following her to Israel. At a certain point she stopped:

And she [Naomi] saw that she [Ruth] was exerting herself to go with her, and she [Naomi] stopped trying to dissuade her.

Ruth was younger than Naomi. She easily and effortlessly could have overtaken the pace of her elderly companion Naomi. The fact that she had to exert herself to continue on the journey to Israel was the best sign that her motivation for becoming a Jew was altruistic and pure. At that point, Naomi stopped trying to dissuade Ruth, and became silent.

So it is, explains the Vilna gaon, whenever we take upon ourselves to do a mitzvah. If we find ourselves automatically running to do the deed, our heartbeat increased, our feet automatically jumping to go, the words jumping out of our mouth, the adrenaline level up, we should stop and check ourselves. What are our motivations? If the above symptoms are present, something might be off target. For the person's physical body was created from earth and only becomes excited by the prospect of earthly and physical benefit and pleasure.

If, however, the person sets out to do something and finds that he has to exert himself and has to make an effort, this is a good, sure sign that his motivation is pure. The physical opposition of his body is simply a sign that the Yetzer Harah is trying to intercept, for the person has decided to do something good, for the right reasons..

This holds true in all realms, in all relationships, in all the ways that we seek to do and accomplish. All meaningful things come with exertion and effort.

We have begun the fall winter half of the year. This time period is traditionally a very productive on for the Jewish people. This is the time of year that we start taking classes, find study partners undertake new projects and try to fulfill Rosh Hashanah resolutions. As the year progresses we often become disheartened. Why is it that as much as I value Torah study a grade B movie with a little nudity makes my heart pump but going to class is a perpetual struggle? How come we are always late going to shul but everyone is on time for the Falcons game? To be sure I am not suggesting that we don't try to minimize the earthly distractions and I am not adverse to practical suggestions to make the Torah more attractive to the eye. We try to make the classes interesting. We each try to live close to the shul and the kosher food to avoid the "it's too far" yetzer hara. We try to use earthly enticements to ease the path to Torah. We try to keep the shul clean, warm and inviting. We have a fresh stock of Glen Livet at the Kiddush thanks to Joey Hotz and we try to have scrumptious sponsored Kiddush like it is today in honor of Oriahs Bat Mitzva. We offer treats in the youth program. And we try to honor and acknowledge people. However when it is all said and done everyone, every time will have to exert themselves to come to participate to learn and to grow.

Since the time of the snake that is the way it must be for anything that has value.

So as we begin our pursuit of all of our lofty and noble goals let us bear in mind that it is never easy. And let us also remember to put a pot of coffee on the stove.

Shmini Atzeres 5770

2009-10-09T12:30:00.000-04:00

A fascinating day this Shmini Atzeres. No mitzvos . No Lulav, no Succah (although outside Israel we sit in a succah but without reciting a bracha). No Matza, no Shofar, no Menorah and no Megillah. Just a day of prayer and feasting and most importantly being together. The Midrash tells us that after 7 weeks of closeness starting with the month of Elul the last three weeks of intense interaction with Hashem beginning with Rosh Hashanah it's time to go home. In ancient Israel it was time to pack our bags and leave Jerusalem and head back to Tiberius or Babylon. Figuratively it is time for us to resume a schedule that focuses on the mundane 6 day work week which is not superseded by concerns of teshuva repentance or buying a big enough brisket. It is sad because it has been a wonderful visit being so close to Hashem for these past weeks. It is sad for Hashem also. So sad that He cannot let go. So He says "our separation is difficult. Spend just one more day with me" And what will we do on that day? We will be together, that’s all. Hence Shmini Atzseres.

The idea of a day of closeness without Mitzvos is really very tantalizing. Normally we would think that only through the performance of a mitzvah can we be close to Hashem. Whether it is Torah study or helping the sick, we, as physical beings have to be doing something we are instructed to do to experience closeness. When I am together with my wife we are close. When I am writing her a letter from far away we are close. When I am putting in a new light bulb in her closet I am close because I am doing an act of service. But enjoying my lunch, how does that make me close?

In order understand this we have to understand the concepts of chomer -matter and tzurah - form. These ideas are discussed at length in the works of the Maharal of Prague 16th cent. and Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin 18th cent. Chomer is the material of existence. It is what was created in the Beginning. G-d then gave the matter form in the ensuing six days. Why did Hashem create matter altogether? The answer is : To be used by man (whose body is a product of that matter) to bring out the Godliness in all matter. All matter is Godly being a direct result of G-ds directive that it should be. How do I use it? Sometime G-d explicitly instructs us. On the first of Tishrei the ram’s horn is to be blown. On the 15th of that month the palm frond is to be waved. I take matter - chomer a lifeless palm frond and give it tzurah for as a tool of Godly service.

More often however I take the chomer of life my automobile, my pen, my shovel and give them tzurah by using them to develop the world and sustain myself and my loved ones so that we may serve Hashem. Of course Chomer resists Tzurah as does all matter which prefers to remain inert and not stand up against the forces of gravity. Sometimes we find we prefer to go with the chomer flow and be comfortable. It is truly a challenge but a challenge that Hashem felt was worthwhile because without chomer we have nothing to give tzurah to.

Shmini Atzeres is the model for this type of activity. No particular mitzvah just celebrating the day thereby experiencing closeness. When someone is exercising, working, shopping and their intention is to make a better life for their spouse and family they are close to their loved ones at that time.

The shul is a similar type activity. In the shul we can do many mitzvos wherein we are directed to take chomer and give it tzurah. The Torah, the tallis, the shofar, the minyan. But the shul goes way beyond that. We give tzurah to a cup of wine by reciting Kiddush over it but Sharon Fleitman gives tzurah to chomer in Costco by shopping for Kiddush. Amanda B and Kris S. and a rotating corps of volunteers give tzurah to cakes and cookies by setting them out tastefully so that we can make brachos over them and fulfill the mitzvah of Kiddush at a meal. And Carla H. solicits sponsorships of that most chomer of chomers, money to pay for the Kiddush. Randy Shaw, Lester Czuper, Steve H. Gershon R. do the same every shabbos afternoon for shalosh seudos. And Terry T. donates the rolls.

Even dust is chomer. How would you give that tzurah? Laura Drukman comes in every week to tidy up the shul and dust the ark. She brings her boys along also to teach them the art of giving tzurah to chomer.

Susan Krohn knows how to give tzurah to cloth. She sewed the shabbos table cloths for the dome tables and tomorrow we will see the names of children in our congregation embroidered on the large Kol hanearim talis.

Computers are a chomer that can take on a myriad of tzuros. Steve Ellenoff, Julia Patterson and Gary Lips make sure that the tzurah is the one that the office needs to function and keep the shul operating. And speaking of the office Carollete R., Lora S. ,Elizibeth S., Marina Vainer , Raise Pinchasov Bernice P., Linda M., Linda A., Dianne B., Renee H., Yael N., Wendy Sh. fold flyers, stuff envelopes, answer phones, and enable Cory to do her job.

It is a mitzvah to pray. If you are going to do it you need a siddur. Sometimes the chomer of the siddur loses its tzurah and pages fall out. Arnold Coleman repairs our sidurim and chumashim.

Jeff Taratoot Karen Chen and Rabbi Michoel Friedman are marketers and graphic artists. They take chomer colors and lines and gives them tzuros that have meaning. When David Weissmann called for a new branding for the shul they made it happen.

There is a young fellow who works at Ga. Perimeter College named Natan Starkman. He doesn’t live here but he davens here weekday mornings before going to work. Every day he takes time to fold the taleisim so that they look nice and the mitzvah is respectable.

Vegetation is a bunch of chomer. Look around the shul grounds and appreciate the beautiful tzurah. Aaron V. Michael R. and their families make it happen.

What about youth committee, chesed committee, chevra kadish and our entire board who use so many of their talents to give Cong. Ariel a tzurah.

What is the tzurah, What is our form? The name Ariel means lion of G-d because the Temple in Jerusalem as viewed from above has the form of a crouching lion. All of these people and some many more who do things large and small make this small shul a lion of G-d. That is the way it began. Then we became deluded by the chomer and let it take its own form thinking we could hire someone to do it whatever the it is. Then Hashem woke us up. He said I like the shape that Scott Italiaander and Michael Yashik Danny Frank and Andy Grant Nechemian and Yondi K give to the succah.

All of you in so many ways that is the beauty of the Ariel. That is why we celebrate shmini Atzeres to be together for just one more day doing what ? Being together.

Gut Yom tov

Parshas Haazinu

2009-09-25T12:49:00.000-04:00

Zechor ymos olam, Remeber the days of old. Parshas Haazinu tell us to look back and reflect. For many Baalei teshuva there is much value in reflecting upon their personal journeys as they prepare to move forward into Yom Kippur and beyond. Moshe Rabbeinu however was advising us to look at Jewish history which this parsha is an overview of. Many baalei teshuva are new to the jewish scene and don't appreciate the scope of jewish history. Many Jews in general assume that the way things are is the way they have always been. This could not be farther from the truth.
We are well aware of the tragedy of the 20th century holocaust at the hands of the enemies of Hashem the Nazis and the Communists may there names be erased. We are also most aware and concerned with the fate of our friends and family who have or are disappearing to assimilation. What I believe we don't appreciate enough is that we are simultaneously part of one of the greatest Torah renaisances in history.

The rebirthn of Torah after the second world war and the establishment of an observant community despite the ravages of two centuries of enlightenment assimilationist pressures is nothing short of a miracle and everyone hearing these words is a direcrt benificiary of that miracle. The story is large and has many twists and turn. A huge cast of characters and followed different routes in different lacales. This morning I would like to share with you one stream that i belive has a direct imact on the current state of this congregation.

It is the story of Rabbi Eli Meir Bloch and Rabbi Mordechai (Mottel ) Katz and thier establishment of the Telshe yeshiva. I am not an alumni of that yeshiva and I don't believe anyone here is but I do think the yeshiva directly impacted our lives.

Rosh Hashanah 5770 Day 2

2009-09-21T17:12:00.000-04:00

At this point in our service everyone settles back to be educated, entertained and mostly to be inspired. I am going to try and fulfill that tall order by introducing you to three people. One was an olympic bicycler. The other a prostitute and the third is part of a kollel in Jerusalem. Without any background their stories are moving entertaining. With some educational background their stories are truly inspirational. Shall we begin?

Today is the birthday of the world. As we know it is not really the birthday of the world it is the birthday of man. We all know what birthdays are like from the time delivery begins. In tractate Niddah we are shown a talmudic sonogram of the events leading up to birth. There sits our baby, chin touching knees arms folded, feet up against its backside. But in this sonogram there is an unusual detail. There is a light shining above the babies head. With this light the baby is being taught Torah and with this light the baby is able to see from one end of the world to another. This description is strikingly similar to the description of Adam on the day he was created. Adam we are told was was blessed with a special light which he could use to see from one end of the world to the other. Adam was created on Rosh Hashanah. But I digress. On this day our baby is being taught Torah by an angel as has been that case for the past nine months, but today is different. Today the angel reaches out and strikes the child on the upper lip. As it is struck the child gains the capacity to speak, which is the capacity to share knowledge but the child simultaneously forgets all of the knowledge it acquired during the past nine months, which by the way is all of knowledge. Then the angel forces the baby to take an oath. Be a tzaddik /righteous one don't be a rasha /wicked person. Moments later, Mazel tov! Everybody is happy except the baby who is crying which is no surprise considering what he just forgot.

So baby is born in to a nice jewish home, wears a "Daddy's little matza ball" bib to the seder. Goes to Jewish schools. Bar / Bat Mitzva goes off to college or yeshiva or both. Becomes a Doctor, this is before national health care or a bureacrat after national health care, or rabbi or personal trainer. Lives his or her life and now lying on its deathbed surrounded by family and friends breathes it's last. The soul hovers above it's now lifeless body watching everyone cry and is very confused. Where am I? What is happening? it wonders. The soul hangs around the body not knowing where else to go until the body is intered in the earth and covered up. What do I do now wonders the soul. Just then the soul is approached by three figures who wisk it away to a very different place. When they arrive at their destination one of the beings reveals his angelic face to the soul and says
"Tell me all of the mitzvos you preformed".
The soul begins to list them. "I gave tzedaka and I honored my parents and I wore tefilin etc. etc. "
The soul is scraping for any mitzva it can think of because it is clear that this is important. Finally the soul can think of no more mitzvos.
"Thank you that will be all" says the angel.
Now the second angel speaks up . "Please list for me all of your sins". This is an excruciating experience where the soul is obliged in its own words to accept responsibility for every single misdeed. The soul of course has selective memory. What about that weekend in Ft. Fauderdale. Oh! that was a mitzva. My mother always wanted me to have lot's of friends.

When this process is finished the 3rd angel speaks up "what did you do with your Torah?" The soul looks into the face of the 3rd angel and is shocked. It is none other than the one who tapped him of the lip and made him take an oath to be a tzaddik.

There are many questions we could pose about this gemara perhaps the most pressing of them is c'mon what are you talking about. I have seen sonograms and there were no shining lights and the baby had a cleft in his lip long before it's birthday. So let's deal with that one first.

Talumd stories as opposed to Torah stories do not have to be taken literally and often should not be taken literally. When the Torah tells us that Bilaams donkey spoke it means just that and nothing less. Probably a lot more. The Talmuds description of a 'light shining on the baby' is a truth on some level although not necessarily a physical level that we could perceive. In this particular case we are being taught great insights into the nature of man and his world both the world that we see and the spiritual world that we occupy which we don't necessarily see.

Now let's ask some specific questions about this gemara.
1. Whats with the oath 'be a tzaddik don't be a rasha'? Ever since Mt. Sinai every Jewish soul is obligated to observe the Torah. If I observe I am a tzaddik, if not I am a rasha. Why an extra oath.
2. We could ask the same question of the back end. What's with the third angel? One takes down the good deeds and the other the bad deeds what is the meaning of the third question what did you do with the Torah? Is it not obvious from their deeds what they did with the Torah?
3. One last question before we begin to tie things together. Rosh Hashanah is the day of judgement. Why is there no repentence on the day of judgement? Would it not make sense to repent our crimes before we are judged on them. Yet vidui, the confessional is a major feature of Yom Kippur but not a word of teshuva on Rosh Hashanah. This last question is a major question raised by all classic scholars. You have probably even heard an answer or two on the topic. My approach may or may not be consistent with what you have learned but I believe it carries a power mesage anyway.

Based on teachings of Rabbi Shimshon Pincus zicrono livracha may his memory be a blessing and yibudalu bain chaim lchaim Rabbi Akiva Tatz I believe that all of this is teaching us the exact nature of Rosh Hashanah and the tremendous ability we have to accomplish great things on this very day.

While Yom Kippur asks the question what did you do? Rosh hashanah asks who are you?

We generally define ourselves Jewishly by our obsevance. Very observant, very pious. Not so observant, not so pious. Observance also defines what type of jew we are. Chassdic, yeshvish, modern, sefardi and all of the other labels that enable us to deal with ourselves and others without really getting to know anybody.
As we sit here on Rosh Hashanah our actions of the past year weigh heavily on our hearts. This is understandable. Our actions have a great impact on us.
However on Rosh Hashanah my obsevance are not me. I am who I decide I am and that decision is not a function of observance. I could be scrupulously observant and yet a rasha wicked. I could be non observant and be a tzaddik. It all depends on how I view myself vis a vis G-d on this very day when I am like Adam . Rosh Hashanah is not as a continuation it is a new start. Is he my King? Am I his servant? If the answer is yes then I am a tzaddik. No, then I am chas vshalom, a rasha. Sadly most of us never decide who we are. Many people including many "relegious" people use their actions to define themselves. I am a dentist, a baseball fan, a supporter of Israel, a chassid. I don't rely on that kosher symbol I eat at her home but not hers. None of those things are who we really are. Those are descriptions of what we do. Who I really am is who I have decided I am vis a vis my creator. How many people have actually declared 'I am a servant of Hahsem". How many of us are afraid to make that declaration because of what we fear it entails. So let me introduce you to Rachav.

Rachav lived in the city of Jericho before the Israelites conquored the land. She was a prostitute. Not just a simple prostitute but the most sought after woman in the world. Kings and powerful men from all around the world sought her services. The Talmud describes how men could be driven to distraction when fantisizing about her. Then business stopped. The Israelites were poised to enter the country and nobody had any interest in Rachav. This unexpected down turn in the economy gave Rachav some time to think. I know what i do but who am I? she asked herself. Two men came to her door. They were Israelite spies looking for cover. She offerd to hide them. One of them, Pinchus, said I don't need to be hidden. I have the power of the divine spirit and I can make myself invisable. Rachav was so moved by this that she asked them to bring her close to Hashem. You might ask what is so impressive she knew she was going to be killed so she decided to join the winning side? First of all she didn't know for sure that the Israelites would win but second of all even when we recognize a truth what do we do about it. She lived a life that was dedicated to the physical. Her livelihood and prestige revolved around her mastery of earthly delights. But when she saw that spiritual greatness could transcend the the physical she attached herself to that. When jericho was brought down Rachav was spared and converted to Judaism. Joshua was so impressed with her that he married her. They had one daughter whose decendents include 8 prophets and propheteses. Rachavs story inspired Joshua to compose a song which we sing untill this very day. The song is Alaynu. It talks about a time when the entire world follows Rachav's example and recognizes the sovreigity of Hashem. It is a central payer in the High Holyday mussaf service.

Let me be perfectly clear. We may declare ourselves to be servants of Hashem even if our deeds don't match up. Look at this shul. You are a member of Ariel an Orthodox synagogue. Therefore you are orthodox.
"But I don't practice Orthodox as a matter of fact I drove here on Rosh Hashanah". Driving on Rosh Hashanah is not who you are it is what you did.
"But I don't keep kosher" Oh you mean you are a servant of G-d but you were deficient in your service. We will deal with that next week. We call that Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is the day to deal with actions. Rosh Hashanah is a day to make statements. Create identity. Coming here for High Holydays is a statement. Joining this shul is an identity. By order of the Divine court we are obligated to keep a copy of our membership list on file in Heaven. I know it's scary to dedicate our life to G-d but thats what the angel made us swear we would do. Be righteous don't be wicked. Not 'do mitzvos don't do avairos'. Be be. Make a declaration. If I ask you if you are ethical you would probably answer yes. If I pointed out that you misreported your income or didn't try to return a lost object you would still say "I am ethical however I acted unethically". That's the way we come in to this world. Thats the way Adam was put in to this world on Rosh Hashanah. Every year on Rosh Hashanah we celebrate Adams creation and revel in the fact that just like Adam we can redifine ourselves once again.

That is what the 3rd angel wants to know when it is all over. Each one of us will take up our actions with G-d in ten days on Yom Kippur a day designated with dealing with our actions. Today is a day designated with defining ourselves. So I ask WHO ARE YOU? The answer is whoever you want to be right now as I speak these words. If you want to be a servant of G-d Rosh Hashanah is the day of declaration. We can create a new reality in ourselves.

The reason we are affraid is because we don't realize the power of our identity. Enter Sam Zeitlin. Champion bicycler in the late 60's. Ever since he first rode a bike Sam Zeitlin knew bicycling was his destiny. He started competing in his teens and won a number of races. In college he was accepted to the American National Team. There he found great satidfaction and bitter disappointment. Heis satisfaction came from his growth in the support but his disappointment came from the severe anti semitism that he experienced from teamates. When the person he was vying for the lead spot on the team tried run him off the road with his car he realized that he had to leave the team. At loose ends he decided to go to Israel. When he reached israel he approached the israeli bicycling team and offerd to join the team and help train them for the olympics. Everyone was pretty excited about the possibility of israel fielding a competitive bicyvling team so Sam began training with the team. After months in israel Sam visited the Western Wall. There he struck up a conversation with a couple of yeshiva bochurim from Chicago who introduced him to a friend of theirs who kept an open home in jerusalem.. Sam started to attend shabbos meals and experience Judaism. Some time went by and Sam was encouraged to join a Rabbi named Noach Weinberg who was opening a yeshiva for young men of limited background. Sam became one ofthe first five students of what would later become Aish hatorah. Sam studied at Aish and continued to train. Then thIsraeli olympic authority announced the date for the qualifing event for the bicycling team. They were scheduled for shabbos. Sam protested but to no avail. They wouldn't change the event even though he was essential to the team. Sam discussed the situation with rabbi weinberg. Rabbi weinberg asked him Sam who are you. Sam responded I am a shomer shabbos jew. Nothing more was said. Sams declaration of identity enabled him to make his decison. If we don't declare them we have to decide over and over and over. Shabbos or Cousin Janies Bat Mitzva, kosher or the family dinner or the business meeting. But if we have declared we know what the answer will be. Bicycling is what I do shabbos is who I am. Due to Sams absence the team fell apart and the next year israel did not send a bicycling team to the Munich olympics.

Some people don't make dramatic decisions they just live their lives according to their identity. In the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Eshkol the Sofer family brought their fifth child into the world. When the baby was two weeks old a neighbor came over to take the kids out of the house and give Mrs. Sofer a little break. She took them to the nearby park. In the center of this park is a hill and at the top of the hill a manhole which is covered. Inside the manhole is a gas main. There was a leak in the gas main and workers opened the manhole to fix it. At some point the workers left and did not secure the manhole. The four year old Racheli Sofer wandered off and to the babysitters horror fell into the manhole . The babysitter started screaming. R' Menashe Chalifa, father of six, member of a Jerusalem kollel was walking by. When he heard the screams he ran over and realized what had happened. He immediately dove into the manhole grabbed the little girl and began to haul her out. As Menashe ascended the ladder he was overcome by the fumes and passed out. By now more help had arrived. Rescue workers extracted both of them from the manhole. Racheli could not be revived. Menashe lies in hadassah Hospital in a coma. After getting up from shiva the Sofers went to the hospital to visit Menashe Chalifa. They met his wife who was sitting at his side. They emotionally expressed their gratitude for what Menash had done. His wife said if he would have the opportunity he would do it again. That's just who he is. Who am I? who are you? What would our loved ones say? Have we made a declaration?
As we recite the words of Alaynu let us remember that these words were inspired by Rachav and her conviction to declare her identity. Let us open our mouths and declare who we really are like Sam Zeitlim did. And as we pray for a refuah shlaymah for Menasheh Chaim ben Shulamit Simcha let us be inspired to declare our identity so that our family and friends could also say he would do it again thats who he is.

Rosh Hashanah 5770 Day 1

2009-09-16T16:20:00.012-04:00

Once again we have read one of the more frustrating episodes in the Torah. Yitzchok our Partiarch is born. His older brother Yishmael harrasses him. Sara demands that Hagar and her son Yishmael be banished and G-d tells Abraham to listen to Sara. No thats not the frustrating part but when my wife quotes it it does seem somewhat ... but you've got your own isses to deal with. Back to Yishmael. The boy is sick. Nonetheless, Abraham loads the boy and a few provisions on Hagars shoulders and banishes them. They wander into the wilderness where she abandones the dying child and goes off to grieve. G-d comes to her and says 'don't worry G-d has heard your cry'. Then G-d saves Yishmael. How could he do that? Look at all the pain and suffering from this mad man. Jihadi suicide fanatics that bring turmoil to every country they set foot in. Why did G-d do it. The Torah says Hashem judged Yishmael baasher hu sham. At the moment. At the moment he wasn't evil. He had evil in his future but Hashem deals in the here and now.

For many years I have been bothered by the issue of relating to Hashem when I am not following the Torah. Some months ago I heard a shuir a Torah lecture from Rabbi Reuvain Leuchter which helped me deal with this problem. Although Rabbi Leuchter didn't adress his remaks to Yishmael I applyed his words to Yishmael. I believe that Hashems conduct toward Yishmael holds the key for a most powerful insight into our relationship with G-d and Torah.
In our journey through life we take a Mapquest approach. What is Torah? A set of guidelines and practices for leading the life that G-d wants us to lead. To the extent you get it right you have succeeded or failed. Keep trying. What happens when Mapquest tells me to take a slight turn and I turn more sharply. I find myself off the page. Now what do I do? Get back. How do I do that? You are on your own. Mapquest cannpt help you unless you follow the directions. That is how most people relate to the Torah.
The problem with this view is that the Torah doesn't address where I am now.
Where is the dynamic interaction? The Torah is there , I am here. This approach would mean that most people spend most of their lives with not interaction with Hashem and His Torah.
Some say the dynamic interaction is in the tension of trying to live up to the Torah. "How well did I do"?
That can be very discouraging because I will probably never get it 'right', just a little better. Then hopefully a little better but I am never there. The Torah is still out there and I am over here. I don't think this makes for happy Jews. We want to feel we are with G-d not out there somewhere. So people look around and they see someone else that looks tlike he is following the instructions. Then we become embarrassed because if they can follow the instructions why can't I. Or we become resentful and justify ourselves by saying that that other guy isn't really as close as he looks he is just a phoney. The problem with that approach is that we don't really know for sure and besides who wants to live a life having to put down the other guy just to feel good.

The reason we utilize a Mapquest view of Torah is because that is our general world view. It is called goal setting. We decide or are told where we should be (a goal) and then make a plan to get there. I want to lose 20 lbs. and be able to run three miles. So I have to buy a book on losing weight. Then I have to buy running shoes. of course i have to read up on all of the different types of running shoes. then I have to buy a dog to run along side of me when i am running so that I look good.
The problem with pursuing goals is that I never have succeeded until I reach my goal. Rabbi Leuchter whose lecture I listened to while I was out trying to lose 20 lbs and run three miles point out that we don't find goals in nature. A tree doesn't say I want to reach 60 ft and I'm going to do by adding 4 ft a year. A tree just grows.
What is we could live a life where we felt that every minute Hashem was addresing me not as I should be but as I am right now.
I would like to introduce an entirely different way of looking at the Torah and perhaps at life in general. As of this moment this congregation is abandoning the Mapquest system. We are swithchng to GPS.
When you journey with GPS and you amke a wrong turn he GPS says 'recalculate'. Where are you now ? This is what you need to do next.
Let me make a bold statement.

In the Torah there is no one right way to do anything. Gasp he's gone Conservative on us. What are you talking about that's reform. No it's really Orthodox. Let me explain.
There is no right way for everyone all the time. There is however a right way for you right now where you are. This is not the right way for me or for anyone else in the world. Only for you right now. With all of your complexities and past. With all of your strenghts and weaknesses. The Torah is a dynamic companion that enables each and every person to relate to G-d at all times. How do we do it?
We apply our lives to the Torah to see what we should do next. How do we do that?Firstly we must pay attention to our lives. I used to be a father of children who live with me and a son in law of in laws who lived far away. Now my children live far away and my in laws live with me. I used to be younger, the shul used to be smaller, the economy used to be better. I have to stop and take stock of my reality. Every day. Every minute. For many years I did not rely on the eruv. Not that i did not think it was kosher I am the one who makes it kosher for the community. However due to my studies I prefered if possible to follow an interpetation of the Talmud that would not endorse our eruv. Now my in laws live here and they can only get to shul in a wheel chair. Now it is appropriate for me to utilize the Eruv to carrty on shabbos.
Of course the fear is that when we focus on our reality we become complacent. When I dwell on all of my constraints I start to think I'm doing pretty well. That attitude is still rooted in the old way of thinking that there is an ideal that I have to match up against but I am allowed leniency for extenuating circumstances. I go to court and plead my case. I am found guilty. Really the sentence is 20 yrs in prison but due to extenuating circumstances the judge reduces it to 5 yrs. No the Torah has no general standard. The Torah wants me to input my circumstances and then find out what I need to do next to grow. Not what do you need to do or what are my neighbors doing but what do i need to do. Not I really don't need to do anything right now because G-d understands my situation. You have to do something. Just imagine that you are lost. Would the GPS say 'just stay right here'?
When making my assesment I must include my past and it's challenges. Once there was a giant who terroized Israel. His name was Goliath. For fourty days he stood in front of the Israelite army and blasphemed G-d and no one did a thing about it. They were terrified. Then young David arrived to bring provisions to his brothers in the army. He heard Goliath and said "I am going to get him". David was brought before King Saul. Saul said you are but a lad you can't fight him. David responded "I am a shepherd. Once a lion came and took a sheep. I chased after him and grabbed the sheep out of his mouth. He turned on me to attack me and I killed him. I did the same with a bear." What was David saying? Why didn't he say 'G-d is with me and nothing will stand before me'. What David was saying is 'my past experiences have prepared me for this moment. This is clearly what I am supposed to do right now. This is not what you are supposed to do right now or what i was suopposed to do last year but this is my service right now. We all know how the story ends.
I once visited a women who was very ill in the hospital. She had gone through a painful divorce some time earlier. Now she had a long struggle ahead of her with a debilitating illness. She said I can deal with this. My divorce taught me how to struggle through. I didn't understand it when it was happening but now I do.

It is shabbos afternoon and someone has severe chest pains. The way to observe shabbos for one person is to get in the car and drive to the hospital. For another person it means sitting with the distressed wife and children and calming them. For another it means rushing to shul and reciting psalms and yet for another it means going home and singing shabbos songs at the table with your children. Each one doing what they need to be with G-d on that Shabbos.

The Torah is full of details. Halcha is a myriad of gradations and situations. Lechatchila before the fact, bdiavad after the fact, hefsed merubah substantial financial loss hefsed muat, minimal loss, machmir, stringent , meikel lenient , baal nefesh a person with a strong constitution am haarets an ingnoramus. All of these are factors that the posek halachic decisor takes into account. People ask me all the time what does the halacha say about x? What do you mean? What does it say to me? What does it say to you? Your grandmother in whichita? Another line I hear is "Why can't we do x, Rabbi Chaimyankel says that Rabbi Feinstein said it's OK? OK for who, when, where?
Right and wrong are not the same in Dunwoody as they are in Jerusalem and they are not the same in Dunwoody this year as they were last year. Some Rabbis are viewed as stringent other are lenient. I hope they are neither because both are wrong. Rabbis should never be stringent or lenient they have to be appropriate for the person at the time.
When I was considering becoming involved with Cong. Ariel I had another option available to me which was attractive because it would have not required me to relocate the family. Also it paid which at the time Cong. Ariel did not. I traveled to Baltimore to talk the situation over with two Rabbis whom I greatly revered. One Rabbi told me I could fulfill my goals by pursuing the other option. The other Rabbi said right now you need Ariel. I felt that he was talking to me as I was at the moment. The other Rabbi was talking to a goal. I was deeply touched by by someone who spoke to me where I was at that moment. I still feel his love as I stand before you right now. That is the beauty of GPS Torah. We feel the love of a G-d who speaks to us at the moment.
The rule is I want to grow in all situations but I can only grow if i am shown the appropriate next step for me.
What do I want of you? I want of you what you want of you. You want to feel the gratification that you are serving G-d and that his Torah and only his Torah is enabling that. No standards, no goals. 400 individuals being judged as they are now. Our common denominator is we want to grow and that we turn to the Torah to find out how to do that. Other places that expend much energy making you feel OK where you are or great because of anything you have done. We would like to enable you to find out what you need to do. The greatest joy in life is experiencing the Torah speaking to you. The great big Torah. G-d with so many things on his mind. Iran, the economy, the future of the yellow crested warbler and yet He talks to me. He put that in the Torah just for me. And it's spot on. That's exactly where I am right now. If I fulfill it I am written down in the book of life with the tzaddikim.

A learning impaired boy prepared for his Bar Mitzva. He struggled and mastrered his Haftara. The week before the Bar Mitzva the family found out that the wrong Haftarah had been prepared. What were they to do. The family went to see the venerable sage Rabbi Shlomo Zalmen Auerbach who lived in the Shaarei Chesed section near the center of Jerusalem. Rav Auerbach was a world reknouned posek who passed away some ten years ago. Rav Shlomo Zalmen listened to the situation and paskened that the rules of Haftarah are such that the boy should read the Haftarah that he had prepared. Obviously Rabbi Auerbach took the particular circumstances into consideration. The Torah speaks to the particular situation. That shabbos during the Torah reading there was a stir in the shul. Everyone was amazed to see that the elderly Rabbi Auerbach had walked across town to attend the Bar Mitzva. The father thanked him profusely for coming. Rabbi Auerbach explained his presence. He feared that when the boy got up to read his Haftorah, there would invariably be someone who would protest that he was reading the wrong haftarah. When they would see that Rabbi Auerbach himself is satisfied everyone else would be satisfied also. Rabbi Auerbach listened to the circumstances of the Bar Mitzva boy and told him what the Torah expected of him. Then Rabbi Auerbach listened to the Torah and heard what it expected of him. At that time and place.
As we now turn to the musaf service let us pray that this year we are able to hear the voice of Hashem regardless of what we do, no matter how many times we have to recalculate, He will be there through His Torah to tell us what should be our next move.

Parshas Ki Savo Adam Brasch Bar Mitzva

2009-09-03T23:02:00.007-04:00

Aside from reading the Torah and haftorah Adam also led all of the services. Let the truth be known he also asked to give the sermon but I declined telling him that position wasn't available.

After bringing in his first fruit the farmer makes his declaration that his actions represent the fulfillment of G-D's plan for his people. He gives the produce to the Cohen then the Torah tells him to "rejoice in all of the goodness that G-d has granted you. Together with the levite and strangers in your midst". You see when you have a simcha you don't just go solo and take all of the spotlight. You share it with others and then it is real simcha. Adam Brasch is truly the farmer of this weeks Torah reading. This is Adam's second Bar Mitzvah. A month or so ago Adam turned thirteen and celebrated his Bar Mitzva in Australia. At that time he shared the bima with another boy who was also celebrating his Bar Mitzvah. This morning Adam is back at it and sharing the Bima with another simcha the ufruf of Michael Glassman son of Bruce and Judy Glassman and nephew of Larry and Sandee Glassman. Michael will be married tomorrow IY"H to Julie Frisch son of Geoff and Gloria Frisch of Sandy Springs. We are honored to have Rabbi Shaya Karlinsky Michael's Rosh Hayeshiva from Jerusalem with us and we look forward to hearing his classes later this afternoon. So Adam it's beautiful that you share simchas. Just let me offer a word of advice, when you go on your honeymoon.....

For the Bnai Yisroel that we read about this morning the honeymoon is just about over. Parshas Ki Savo is uttered by Moshe on the day of his death. Although Moshe is about to die leaving his dreams of entering the Holy land unfulfilled this day was perhaps the most fulfilling day in his life. So let me pose the following question to you.

What is the most gratifying experience a Rabbi, parent or teacher can have?

For me it is surely the moment the student 'gets it'. Whatever the teacher has been teaching / preaching has finally sunk in. Moshe Rabbainu / Moses had that ultimate experience on the last day of his life. Rashi says that he heard that Moshe, on his last day wrote a Torah and presented it to the tribe of Levi. He thought the tribe of Levi were the only ones who really cared so he wrote them their own Torah. Upon seeing this the other tribes came to Moshe and begged him to write them copies also. They said "Moshe some years from now the Levites will claim that the Torah belongs to them and not to us but we all received it at Mt. Sinai". This reaction was very gratifying to Moshe. He realized that they got it. They understood that the Torah is important. All of promises all of the admonitions all of the preaching it finally clicked they got it. I am not forcing it on them, they are asking for it. They want the Torah. At that moment Moshe says vlo nasan lachen .. lev ladaav v' einayim liros v'ozen lishmoa ad hayom hazeh. G-d has not granted you an understanding heart,eyes to see and ears to hear until this very moment. Now Moshe realized that up until now they didn't really have the capacity to get it.

The significance of the events in the desert never penetrated your hears until this moment. As manna was falling from heaven and the clouds of glory surrounded you somehow you didn't see it. The Torah that I have been teaching daily for 40 years somehow you didn't hear it. What a great lesson to all of us teachers and parents who get frustrated that our students don’t get it. Calm down it’s just not the right time yet.

The Vilna Gaon notes that Moshe refers to three distinct faculties. He explains these faculties as follows:
A heart to understand, eye to see and an ear to hear.
Some of us don't really understand what is going on even as we see events swirl around us. If we attend a lecture or someone pulls us aside and says let me explain what's going on here then we get it. At that point we say "I hear you I get it". Others are a little quicker. When they see something happening they stop and contemplate what they have just seen. They say "I see, I get it". Then there are others that don't have to have it explained and don't even have to see it. They stop and ponder and seek the truth. When they get it they say "I understand". They have an understanding heart.

These qualities were not evident in the people until this moment. Now they are at the end of the line about to enter the land. Moshe is departing. No more mom or dad shelepping them to Bar Mitzvah lessons. No more teachers with Chumash tests. No more depending on the Rabbi to inspire me on shabbos morning. Do you want it? Then get up and do something about it. At that moment they stood up and demanded the Torah for themselves.

That understanding heart, seeing eye and hearing ear were a blessing from Hashem. They didn't get it until He enabled them too. And He and only He knows when the right time is. It is for this that we pray every day chanainu mayitcha dayah binah vhaskel grace us with understanding, knowledge and intelligence.

Adam you have been thus blessed. I know that, because you have been given the option of studying Torah and you have taken it. Not coerced or bribed. You just want it. When things are explained to you, you really do hear. And when things happen around you, you really do see. And even if nothing prompts it your heart enquires and seeks answers.
So please
Listen to the Torah you read from this morning and to what I am saying right now. Look around you and see all that your parents have done for you and the opportunities they provide for you.

There is however one other thing I would like to share with you and perhaps I should have shared this with you right away and then there would not have been a need for the rest of the drasha. I want to share with you something your grandmother told me. She said that when the nazis yimach shmam came to get the Jew in you grandfathers town your mothers fathers father came out of the synagogue carrying a sefer Torah. They shot him dead. Hear the words I am telling you, close your eyes and see the picture in your mind just as i did when you took the Torah out of the ark and carried it through the shul. Your great grandfather died carrying the Torah. You live carrying the Torah. If you do that then I have no doubt the concluding words of Moshe will come true in you. Moshe tells the people now that you can hear see and understand "Guard the words of this covenant and do them, so that you will be brilliant in all that you do".
I am sure you will and I am sure we will all get much nachas.

Parshas KiSetzei - Bar Mitzva of Ilan Bagel

2009-08-28T09:13:00.007-04:00

Ilan you are really pumped up at this moment. You have just beautifully executed you task . You are surrounded by everyone in the world who is important to you. You are connected to everyone menber of your past and of your future. Remember this moment and remeber that it happened here in the synagogue.

Of all of the commandments in the Torah which one is the hardest to keep? please remember this is a family show.
Which one is the easiest to keep? There is a midrash that answers this question.
The easiest mitzvah is in this weeks Torah portion chapter 22-6
If a birds nest happens to be before you on the road or any tree or on the ground - young birds or eggs- and the mother is roosting on the young birds or eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. You shall surely send away the mother and take the young for yourself, Before we go on let's take a moment to understand this curious mitzvah by illustrating a scanario. I am on a camping trip. I am hungry. I see a nest with eggs and eggs for breakfast sounds good to me. I walk over to the nest and remembering my Torah obligation I shoo away the mother bird. I take the eggs enjoy the breakfast and have fulfilled a mitzvah.
What kind of a mitzvah is this anyway you might ask. Many have offered insights into this mitzvah. Maimonides talks about conservation. Not destroying a species by harvesting the mother and the young at the same time. Furthermore he says this mitzvah is an exercise in compassion. All mother s grieve at the loss of their young both human and animal. Now don't think that if we really had compassion we wouldn't take the egg in the first place. The Torah explicitly says upon emerging from the ark g-d said to Noach "all creatures that roam the face of the earth I have given to you to eat". Eating the animal in the service of man is the fulfillment of that animals purpose. Nonetheless that use must be sensitive and compassionate. You might say we are PETA People for the Ethics of Torah Always.

Now let's look at the hardest mitzvah.
The hardest mitzvah is honoring ones parents. It takes time, effort, physical and emotional capital and when you are all said and done you never know if you really did everthing you are required to do.
The Torah rarely tells us what the reward is for the preformance of a mitzvah. However one famous exception is Honor thy father and mother so that you may have long days. Interstingly enough of the very few mitzvos that the Torah lists the reward the Torah also tells us what the reward is for the mitzva of sending away the mother bird. Surprise of surprises the Torah states so that it will be good for you and you shall prolong your days.

Let's see what we can learn from these two mitzvos and the unusual connection between them.
The first lesson is that both mitzvos have to do with parents. The sensitivty to a mother not just my mother or someone elses mother but even a mother bird prevents us from being self centered. I must respect not only my parents but the concept of parenthood. I live a life indebted to another for my very existance.
A second lesson. Don't grade the mitzvos. This one is a big one this one is a small one. This one is important this one not so important. This leads to a general classifacation system. This person I have to be nice to this one not. This promise or obligation is a big one, this one I don't have to take seriously. We should view all mitzvos equally as the Will of G-d, no more and no less. The reward for an easy mitzvah may be no different than the reward for a difficult mitzvah. Responsibilities, relationships large and small who really knows which one is important and which one isn't. Holydays large and small who decides. As a matter of fact I will make you an offer I have made before. if anyone would like to take off Yom Kippur and sign up for Simchas Torah instead I will give you full permission. I bet you will have alot more fun. In short, our reward depends on what is in our heart when we do the mitzvot. Don't be calculating just straightforward and sincere. The similarity of the reward for these two mitzvot teaches us the importance of the attitude with which we approach mitzvot.
The importance of what is in your heart is dramatised by the following statement.
The Talmud in kiddushin 31a States: Avimi the son of R' Avahu taught; One may feed his father succulent fowl and yet goes to gehinom and another works his father at the grindstone and goes to heaven. The Jerusalem talmud illustrates with the following story.

Once there was a man who was feeding his father succulent fowl. The father asked "where did you obtain such good fowl" the son replied "what does it matter to you. Just chew it well and swallow." Another man was working at his mill. The king drafted his father into the service. The man said father you work here in the mill and I will go to serve the king (the duration of the kings service was unknown) Further Rashi explains even if the son needs to put the father to work but he explains to that he has no alternative and shows him how much it will be appreciated that is also honor. Whereas the one who served the succulent fowl indicated that it was all abig burden to him.

So we see that ultimately it is what is in our hearts make great differences ultimate outcome.

And why am I stressing these three lessons this morning. Because we are celebrating the bar mitzvah of a boy who has a good heart. Ilan is sincerely kind and gentle not because he is supposed to but because that's the way he feels. His innate goodness makes him a supportive person and a great friend classmate or teammate. In the book of proverbs we are taught Tov shem mishemen tov a good name is more valuable that fine oil. Ilan has a good name for not being stuck up or self absorbed. No one knows this more than your proud parents. Both Lee and Sherry stressed your goodheartedness. Jordan and Marlee and Zoe love you not just because you are their one and only brother in the whole world but because you are kindhearted and they are proud that you are their brother. For your grandfather Stan and your grandmother Jolee this is a proud moment. Sam and Pola enjoy the nachas of seening this proud moment . As holocaust survivors they have known much pain all of this makes the joy and pride they have in their grandson that much more special. So Ilan I advise you to dilligently study the Torah so that you may recognize all of the mitzvos even the little ones just like you recognize everyone even the little people. Continue to preform your mitzvos and live your life with your wholesome attitude because we see there is a great difference between doing something grudgingly and wholeheartedly. And may you be blessed with the bleesing of the hardest mitzvah and the easiest mitzvah a long long life.

Parshas Shoftim

2009-08-21T14:28:00.002-04:00

Among the many adages of the world that have nothing to do with reality is the famous 'all is fair in love and war.' In love nothing could be farther from the truth but according to the Torah even in war when lives are on the line there are still standards to maintain and valuable lessons to be learned from those standards. This weeks parsha spends time on the nature of a Jewish war and particularly on the role of trees in war.

The Torah teaches us not to cut down fruit trees when we lay siege to a city. "for is it a man this tree of the field that you lay siege against ? asks the Torah. You are fighting against people leave the trees alone. "Only trees that you know don't produce fruit can you cut down and build battlements". Rabbi Avraham ibn Ezra reads the possuk differently. You need to eat the fruit of the tree to live, therefore read "for a man is the tree of the field' killing it is to kill oneself. Rabbi Yeruchom Levovitz was the spiritual Dean of the Mir yeshiva in the early part of the 20th century. He wrote a book called Limmud Musrei haTorah literally learning ethical lessons from the Torah. In it he cites the prohibition of cutting down trees for man is a tree. This verse says rav Yerucham and tells us that the Torah wants us to use the tree as a model of life. He continues to quotes the Mishna in the ethics of the fathers / Pirkei Avos "One whose wisdom is greater than his deeds is compared to a tree with many branches and few roots a storm comes and uproots it. One whose deeds exceed his wisdom has many roots and fewer branches all the storms in the world cannot budge it from its place.

Deeds are our roots says Rabbi Levovits. We have begun the the month of Elul. Exactly 30 days from today we will be celebrating rosh hashnah. We use the month of Elul as a time of preparation repentance elevation. If we want to repent says rav Yerucham we must force ourselves to do good deeds. Subject our body to the service of Hashem. Why do we have to force ourselves. is it not logical to do good deeds. the answer is of course except that right nowI am very tired, hungry, hot. I would love to help but just now happens to be a very inconvenient time. Rabbi Levovitz teaches us that inconvenient as it may be there is no option. The body can be elevated not with wisdom but only with action. Maimonedes writes that if a person repeatedly performs good deeds his reward increases exponentially. A person who gives one hundred gold coins to charity is not on the same level as one who gives one coin one hundred times. Rabbi Levovitz says the principal here is that the more a person performs a certain deed, the more likely it is to become habitual and improve his nature permanently. More classes and more study are not even going to do it. Just actions. Of course getting up and getting out of the house to go to the class is a pretty big action.

A few month ago Dafna Kadosh travelled to Israel to celebrate her Bat mitzvah with her Israeli family. This morning Dafna is going to share words of Torah and celebrate at a kiddush with her Atlanta family. Dafna is an exceptional student at GHA a great athlete a good friend and all in all a very smiley child. Dafna comes from a home of mitzvot. The actions of Shabbat, chagim, hachnasat orchim. These are the deeds that elevate us. These are the actions that create habits for us to live by. When we get up in the morning we take a wash cup and pour water over our hands three times alternating. This action repeated day in and day out reinforces the message that our day is to be 0ne of cleanliness and purity and it goes on from there. We leave the room we kiss the mezuzah. As we go out into the world we take the guidance of the Torah with us. These actions are not just drudgery or mindless rituals. These actions are helping us develop our root system. On and on action by action deeper and deeper. Soon we have very deep roots that tie into the root system of our parents and their parents. Then when the great storm hits be it the horrors of the holocaust that your grandmother experienced or the challenges and lures of the classrooms, offices or streets of the 21st century all of the wind in the world cannot budge you from your place just as it cannot budge your parents. You will produce beautiful fruit that will be admired and enjoyed, just as your parents have done. Happy are you Dafna for the first chapter of sefer tehilim the book of psalms says people like you whose desire is in the Torah vhayah ketz shasul al palgei mayim,You will be like a tree planted by flowing waters, asher piryo yiten b'etow whose fruit is produce regularly, people can count on you and your leaves will not whither but you will remain vigorus and provide shelter to those around you. Vchol asher yaaseh yatzliach and everything you do will be succesful. Mazal Tov

Eulogy for Cantor Issac Goodfriend 20 Av 5769 Aug 10 2009

2009-08-10T09:45:00.004-04:00

I am sure we have all attended funerals of loved ones who have lived long and full lives. On those occasions it is not unusual to hear the funeral be described as a celebration of the life of the deceased. My dear friends I do not intend to celebrate the life of the Chazzan at this time. I intend to mourn his loss and to share the grief that I and many of you feel at this moment. Nor do I intend to review the litany of worthy organizations and noble causes that the Chazzan identified himself with throughout his very full and active life. I will leave that for the obituaries and other memorial services which I am sure will follow. Right now we want to say goodbye to our dear Chazzan who will be taking the first step in his journey to find his appropriate place near the heavenly throne by leaving from here to Eretz Yisrael and we want to express how diminshed we feel because Isaac Goodfriend will no longer be among us.
Of course this was short notice for many of us but I want to applaude the family for moving swiftly to bring their dear father to Israel because Betty is waiting for him and we don't want to keep her waiting.

85 years ago Shaul and Pesha Goodfriend brought their son into a world that would soon cease. The Goodfriend family were close and devoted Chasidim of the Alexander Rebbe who chasidus was arguably the largest in Poland. Young Issac was realted on his mothers side to the the illustious Rabbi Meisels Chief Rabbi of the city Lodz. His Uncle served on the bes Din of that prominent Jewish center. Young Issac was raised in Jewish nobility and steeped in chassidic tradition. On the High Holidays the Chassidim would travel to celebrate the holidays with the Rebbe. Annually the rebbe of Alexander would compose a new niggun or tune to be sung during the services. Before Rosh hashanah a select group of chassidim would gather at a secret location where they would be taught this years new release so that they could be the choir. Shaul Goodfriend was in the choir. As a little child Issac was posted as a guard outside the door to make sure there were no eavesdroppers. Soon he grew and his talents were noticed and he was no longer outside the door. Issacs world was filled with Holy men, saints and sinners. Characters, colorful people passionate people devoted people. His people. And then it was all tasken away before his very eyes. From beloved family, to holy rabbis, even the town idiot all wiped out through pestilence and starvation and brutal murder. I don't need to review his amazing story of survival the chazzan left us his book. But I do need to be amazed and humbled by this mans' soul. He had evil thrust upon him yet he decided to be good. He was a product of war but lived as a man of peace. He heard the most awful screams yet produced the most beautiful sounds. How many people will reminice of their happiest moments and the sound track is the cantor. He didn't mourn the lost beauty of his rebbe and his court. He resolved to share that experience with others and that is what he did when he opened his soul in prayer before the Almighty. He didn't rail against G-d, he drew other closer to him. When we sat together in the Succah he didn't lament the lost succas of his youth he taught us what they used to sing in those Succas. In doing so he gave them life and survival because he was above all a survivor.

He survived them all and gave them life. He even survived the loss of Betty because he had to be sure she was memorialized. Last week I came to see him and he had stopped being the great converastionist we all treasured. No longer was he showing me something that he had just read in a sefer. Telling me "here take it and look at this you will enjoy it" After the sefarim piled up on my desk I had to start declining the offered sefarim. This time I walked in and sat down and he said "It was taken care of". I understood that "it " was Bettys monument. He clearly did not need to survive any longer. He had meemorialized the last soul he needed to memorialize. Now it is time to join Betty and Mark who will lead him to be reunited with his parents and family and community. And they will all journey to the rebbe and sing this years new tune.

To sons Enoch and Kim Avi and Miriam Perry and Christie your father and zayda really wasn't larger than life he was life. He gave you life but he gave us also life and we all mourn his passing.
Before I conclude with the memorial prayer I would like to add another prayer. that is a prayer for the memory of all of the martys. It was a prayer that the chazzan would recite with awesome emotion at the conclusion of Yizkor. The chazzan would sing this particular memorial prayer to the tune of the anciet yiddish lulabye oifen pripichuk. Oifen pripichuk is a lulabye that evokes warmth and security. When the Chazzan recited the prayer for the martyers he knew that they are in G-ds loving embrace. Not bitter memories but goodbye my beloved sweet dreams.

Parshas Devarim - Shabbos Chazone

2009-07-29T12:08:00.004-04:00

One evening from his rooftop King David saw a woman and was smitten by her. His soul told him they would together bring the messiah into the world and ultimately they did. The woman was technically divorced because her husband had gone off to war and the custom of the time was for soldiers to divorce their wives lest the husband go missing in battle and the wife remain forever unable to remarry. King David summoned the husband home and ordered him to return to his wife. The husband defied the King and did not return to his wife. For that he was liable to the death penalty for treason. King David sent the husband back into the heat of battle where he was killed and King David married the woman.

Nathan the prophet comes to King David and tells him about a rich man and a poor man. The rich man had many sheep the poor man one little lamb. When guests came the rich man could not part with his sheep so he took away the poor mans lamb. King David was outraged and wanted to punish the man. Nathan said "you are that man and because of your actions Hashem will destroy you and your entire family".
Lets stop and consider. How would we respond to Nathan. "That's not fair. She wasn't really married. The husband was treasonous. I saw that she and I are destined to produce Moshiach. Why didn't Hashem stop me?" All arguable rationalizations. What did King David really say? "I have sinned to Hashem" Nathen responds "Hashem has forgiven you you will not die" Hashem heard Davids sincere regret and accepted it.

King David made mistakes. We all do. King David was a big man so he made big mistakes and he had big rationalizations to back them up. What made King David great was that when confronted with his wrong doing he accepted it. He didn't vow to fight the charges or appeal the verdict. He realized that all of his rationalizations were nothing more than that. Rationalizations. He composes psalm 53 "to the conductor a Song of David when Nathan came to him.." King David actually celebrated the event in song. Why was he so happy. The Sochatzover rebbe explains that David rejoiced because Nathan had snapped him out of his delusional rationalizations and brought him to Emes, the truth.
This is a powerful tale with a powerful message to each and every one of us. We look at the news and see pictures of religious Jews being led off by the FBI for alleged crimes. Of course we hope and pray that they committed no wrong doing and they are exonerated. But if they have committed wrong doing how could it be? We see pictures of religious Jews throwing stones or lighting fires and we ask how could they commit these acts of hooliganism. The answer is that they are not evil people but that they rationalize that they are doing it for a noble cause or in other words 'it's OK G-d will surely understand'. Of course as Nathan told King David it's not OK.
If we persist in asking 'but how could they do such things' we have missed the point. They did these things because they rationalize. The same way we rationalise all of the things that we do that we know we shouldn't and that we don't do that we know we should. As sad as we are to see these events unfolding we could rejoice if they snap us out of our delusions and cause us to take a realistic look at ourselves. We just heard Isaiah the prophet rail against "the perversion of justice. Hands full of blood, making a mockery of all things Holy". It was these rationalizations that brought the destruction of our Holy Temple and these same rationalizations that prevent it from being rebuilt.
So when Tisha B'Av comes around don't ignore it and we don't get angry at those bad people who caused so much death and destruction. Embrace it. Sit down on the floor and mourn our rationalizations that lead to our wrong doings that destroy our lives. Then we get up and say thank you Hashem for sending us this day to snap ourselves out of our delusion and bring us to Emes , truth.

Parshas Matos Maasei

2009-07-17T15:08:00.004-04:00

Shloimie who has lived for years hand to mouth wins a huge lottery. His ecstatic friend Yossel asks "what are you going to do with the money?" Shloimie replies "I am going to pay off debts." "And what about the rest?"asks Yossel. "The rest will have to wait." replies Shloimie. This age old joke sums up a age old Jewish attitude that our problems are intractable but somehow things will work out.
The contemporary version of the Jewish problem is the state of Israel and it seems to have focused of late on the issue of settlements. Many of us have opinions or at the very least feelings about this issue. However as Torah Jews we know that feelings and opinions don't amount to much if they are not based in the Torah. So what does the Torah have to say about the land of Israel and settlements in particular.
Let us open our Chumashim to the second of this weeks parshios Massei, located in the book of Bamidbar , Numbers, turn please to Chapter 33 verse 50.
Verses 50 -52 I paraphrase as follows:
Hashem spoke to Moshe saying. When you cross the Jordan you shall drive out all of the inhabitants of the land and destroy all of their idolatrous places.
Verse 53 according to our Artscroll translation:
You shall posses the land and settle in it for to you I
have given the land to possess it.
Verse 54 addresses inheritance.
Verse 55 - 56 I paraphrase
For if you do not drive them out they will be a
perpetual thorn in your side and you will ultimately be driven out.

Verses 52, 53 and 55 all use the word vhorashtem or sorishu which lterally means take possession of alternatively it can mean dispossess. In verse 52 and 55 it means dispossess - to drive out. Yet in verse 53 it is translated as posses. This is very significant. Rashi translates the word consistantly throughout and understands these verses as a cautionary tale. Hashem tells the people 'be sure to get rid of the locals otherwise you won't be able to take control of the land'. However according to Ramban whom I believe our translation follows verse 53 is a direct commandment to take control of the land of Israel. Ramban lists this as one of the 613 commandments and says it is a mitzvah for all time to take possession of the land. It certainly follows that we may not willingly give up possession of the land. Ramban proceeds to take Rambam to task for not listing this mitzvah as one of the 613. The interpretation of this verse is a matter of great debate between Torah scholars (and their followers) down to this very day. Let's stop and appreciate what this debate means to you and I. We try to observe the Torah. The Torah says don't eat pork we don't eat pork. The Torah says put a mezuzzah on your doorpost we put a mezuzzah on our door post. If the Torahs says possess the land of Israel I go posses the land (unless of course I am not that observant). If I have taken possession of the land and someone says give it back to the gentiles I say "I'm sorry, the Torah doesn't allow that". Now I am not required to die to preform a mitzvah but oftentimes it is unclear as to whether or not I am in danger.
On the other hand perhaps it is not a mitzvah commandment. Rashi doesn't seem to think so and Maimonides did not include possessing the land in his list of the 613 commandments. Some respond to this by saying that Rashi and Maimonides certainly do believe it is a commandment and they cite numerous sources. For example: If a non Jew is willing to sell a Jew a piece of land in Israel on shabbos I may instruct a non Jew to write up the bill of sale even though it is shabbos. Now if it is not a mitzvah to posses the land would this not be shabbos desecration?

Another argument against the requirement of settlement is offered by a commentary named Megilas Esther. He asserts that the mitzvah in the Torah only applies to Joshua and the biblical era. After the exile the equation changed. Based on verses in the Song of Songs the Talmud understands that exile carries with it three oaths. One of those oaths is that I not take the land by force until Moshiach comes. There are many responses to this. One is that Moshiach has or is in the process of coming. This is certainly the opinion of those who read the prayer for the state of Israel which states Bless the state of Israel the first flowering of the redemption. Although there are others responses rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum a scholar of note and the leader of the Satmar Chassidim wrote an 800 page treatise responding to all claims and concluding that the oath is in full effect. Not that he doesn't allow living in Israel but he contends it is in violation of the Torah to maintain Israel by force.
Let us return to Maimonides for a moment. If he thought it is a mitzvah to conquer the land why didn't he list it as one of the 613. There are those who contend that even if the Rambam didn't list it as a separate mitzvah he certainly understood that living in the holy land is a mitzvah. If the land is holy of course I live there because why would I want to live in an unholy place when I can live in a holy place.
These are a few of the ideas that are involved in establishing and opinion about settlement in Israel.
To sum up: Ramban says it is a mitzvah to take possession of the land, a sin to give it back and it applies at all times. This is the view embraced by most settlers and religious Zionists in general.

Megilas Esther contends that that mitzvah was suspended by the exile and will not be in effect again until the coming of Moshiach. The is the view espoused by the Satmar and other so called anti Zionists.
Another approach says I can't make up my mind on this weighty question. However i do know that Jews are supposed to protect themselves. If having the settlements makes the entire Jewish settlement in Israel safer then we hang on to them. If they are endangering Jews then we get rid of them. Obviously this third approach will debated mostly outside of Torah sources.

What then is the purpose of this drasha. To make us aware that issues of health care and finance may be political in nature but issues having to do with the Jewish people and Israel need to be referred to the Torah. Once I understand the Torah and take my position I have to understand the ramifications of that. Similarly once I understand the other parties position and see that it is also rooted in the Torah I can respect it and live with it. If I take this approach even if I am wrong if I am sincerely trying to do Hashem's will, it will all work out. And the rest of them? They will have to wait.

Parshas Pinchas

2009-07-10T16:58:00.004-04:00

Only in Yerushalayim- Reflections upon returning from Jerusalem.
The sounds of children crying others squealing in delight and water in the kitchen. It sounds like a recipe for trouble and sure enough it was. I went to the kitchen to find the sink running and water being splashed by some very delighted children on some very unhappy children. But did Zayda break up the party? No he watched and smiled. It turns out the kids were playing parah adumah which happened to be that weeks Torah reading. The ultimate variation of tag one child tags another and says "your taamei". Then of course the poor thing cannot be left in a tamei state so the "Cohen" has to "sprinkle" them with water. So did Zaydeh do anything about it? No he watched and smiled and left the water for someone else to clean up. Kids will be kids but these kids have a Torah frame of reference.

On my way to the airport I asked the cab driver if he had ever been to America. He said he had planned to but it didn't work out. He has since gotten married and is settled in Israel. "And why don't you move to Israel?" came the expected rejoinder. "Because I am a Rabbi of a Congregation" I replied. This answer seemed to be satisfactory. Why was it a satisfactory answer?
While in Israel I participated in the wedding of Aaron and Shoshana. Standing under their Jerusalem chuppah with the Judean Hills in the background I listened as a Rabbi was called to the chuppah and recited the following blessing. Many the barren one (Jerusalem) rejoice as her children are gathered in to her in joy. Blessed are you Hashem who gladdens Zion and her children. This bride and groom are certainly the children of Zion. They intend to spend their lives in Israel and even if they should find themselves somewhere else I can guarantee you they are in Israel. This wasn't just a wedding. This was the fulfillment of prophesy. How did that prophesy come about. It began right here in Atlanta Ga. Aaaron Fruchtman and Shoshana Schroeder who were raised here. They went to Braves games and shopped at Perimeter mall. They lived the life of American Jews identifying with their place of residence as their homeland. Then they stepped into shul. In shul they were introduced to a new paradigm. The began to recite prayers as we did just five minutes ago. 'May it be your will Hashem that you bring us in joy to our land and plant us within its border'. Our land? What about the land of the Braves? Oh you mean we really come from a different land, we really have a different identity. Through the shul, teachers youth and college programs they developed a Jewish identity. Once having discovered their true identities they showed us who they really are by acting upon their discoveries. It was those actions that brought them under the beautiful chuppah in Jerusalem.
So why is being a Rabbi a good excuse to stay in America. Because each and every one of us has a true identity. That identity cannot be found on the streets of Dunwoody but it can be found on the streets of Jerusalem. But how do i get to Jerusalem if I don't even know that there my true identity awaits me? There is another place where I can find myself. I can find myself within the walls of the shul and in our Bais hamedrash where the words of the Torah can be heard. That is why the Talmud teaches that when the Moshiach comes the synagogues and study halls of the diaspora will move to Israel. They will move to Israel because until Moshiach comes the synagogue and the Bais Hamedrash are Israel. They are the four cubits of the law that we can shelter in and connect to ourselves and not be lost in the great outdoors of the diaspora. It is the job of the Rabbi and the shul to maintain and nurtur that spirit. That is in essence what I responded to the cab driver and that plus 185 shekel will get you from Yerushalayim to the airport.

Parshas Korach and Chukas / Balak

2009-06-28T03:36:00.003-04:00

I am enjoying a visit with my family in Eretz Yisroel and attending the Fruchtman / Schroeder wedding. No drashas these two Shabasos.

Parshas Shelach

2009-06-19T17:47:00.005-04:00

It has been nearly a year since the JCC opened its door on Shabbos. At the time we were opposed to the JCC taking a step further away from Judaism by disregarding the shabbos. Of course we all know the arguments pro and con and we all know the JCC was totally committed to opening on Shabbos which left very little for us shabbos observers to do but sit and watch. So where is the JCC a year later. I don't think it is in improved financial state and i don't believe it has more members. Of course this is speculation because JCC financials and membership figures are a closely held secret (until the numbers drastically improve at which time the numbers will become ubiquitous but I sadly don't expect this any time soon.) Opening on shabbos will not improve anything at the JCC because the Jews no longer needs the JCC. As a matter of fact Jews don't need anything that is not Jewish because they can get anything that is not Jewish from the non Jews. The only thing the Jewish community can provide Jews are things that are uniquely Jewish. These would have to do with the Jewish religion. Things such as G-d , Torah and Judaism. Sports, recreation, arts, finance, politics, social services even tikkun olam are all available in the olam (world). And this is not just the rantings of an orthodox rabbi who is mad that the JCC opened on shabbos. Joel Alperson thinks so also.
Op-Ed: Don’t fear ‘God,’ ‘Torah’ and ‘Judaism’
By Joel Alperson · June 15, 2009
OMAHA (JTA) -- “Fear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.”
No, it's not a typo. The Shema, which starts “Hear O Israel,” is the central credo of the Jewish people. It states that there is only one God -- and as a result, only one set of divinely authored ethics and imperatives.
According to the Torah, the Jews were given the daunting task of bringing God-based universal ethics to the world. However, given the number of Jews who are uncomfortable with such a mandate and with religious imperatives in general, I now worry that our prayer could read “Fear O Israel.”
I have this worry because a great number of non-Orthodox Jews -- I am not Orthodox -- are afraid to mention the core concepts of our remarkable religion. We fear that by talking too much or even about any Judaism, even among ourselves, we’ll sound too Christian, too much like our religious oppressors of centuries past, or like Orthodox Jews.
Examples?
I’ve collected the mission statements of the largest 17 Jewish federations in North America, and not one mentions “God,” “Torah” or “Judaism.” Nor do the mission statements of the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization, Hillel, the National Council of Jewish Women, The Wexner Heritage Foundation, the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, Hadassah and the Jewish National Fund. Of all the organizations I looked into, only United Jewish Communities mentions but one of the three words, Torah, in its mission statement.
Some surely will be quick to say that the above organizations were not created to convey religious concepts. That is precisely my point: How can we say these organizations are Jewish and at the same time don’t need to mention God, Torah or Judaism?
They are not afraid to use other religious terms -- many of them mention “tzedakah” (charity), “klal yisroel” (Jewish peoplehood) and “tikkun olam” (repair the world). Why are those words appropriate and not the others I’ve mentioned?
Many Jewish organizations apparently feel the need to embrace terms that are universal in nature and avoid terms that are more particularistic. Tzedakah, tikkun olam and klal yisroel are considered universal and inclusive terms.
But God? What about those Jews who don't believe in God, or have their doubts? Wouldn’t they be excluded when God is mentioned in a mission statement?
Torah? Authored by whom? God, man or a combination of the two? And what about those who don’t consider themselves to be Torah observant?
Judaism? Whose Judaism? Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Humanistic or something else?
The more our terms suggest that we’re not all the same, the more we shy away from using them. Yet the more we shy away from God, Torah and Judaism, the more we distance ourselves from the foundational elements of our religion and of our people. Consider, therefore, how much meaning we sacrifice to give the impression that we’re inclusive.
I realize that simply adding these words to rarely referenced mission statements is unlikely to significantly better the Jewish world all by itself. As they are currently used, the mission statements not only are guidelines for addressing our Jewish challenges. Perhaps more important, they offer insights into our collective Jewish psyches.
We must be the only people on the planet who believe we can transmit a message to future generations without saying specifically what that message is. Is it any wonder that most Jews cannot articulate Jewish purpose beyond some catch phrases or beyond merely expressing a desire that we survive as a people?
It cannot be coincidental that as generations of Jews become further and further removed from God-talk, they also give less and less tzedakah. We should no longer confuse generic feel-good terms with knowing specifically what the Torah, however we choose to interpret it, asks of us.
The great Jewish scholar Abraham Joshua Heschel once wrote that “Man is a messenger who forgot the message.” This particularly applies to we Jews: Too many have become messengers who fear their message. The sooner we overcome that fear, the sooner we can talk more about the brilliant and profound life Judaism offers us.
As we talk about, teach and increasingly live that life, more of the Jews we wish would join us will actually do so. They, too, have a need. They want purpose in their lives that money alone cannot fulfill. They want a sense of community that country club memberships won’t satisfy. In short, they want richness in their lives that Judaism and Jewish community can provide in endless amounts.
But make no mistake. We cannot effectively distinguish ourselves from all the other enticing options from which Jews can choose unless we speak to our discomfort-inducing distinctions. As we do this, our communities will become more compelling and more meaningful to more Jews. Ironically, rather than divisive, it is this approach that will make us more inclusive.
(Joel Alperson is a past national campaign chair for United Jewish Communities. He lives in Omaha, Neb. His views do not necessarily represent those of the UJC.)
Now what does this have to do with us. Firstly we need a gut check. How comfortable are we in Cong. Ariel advertising G-d Torah and Judaism. Secondly what can we do to bring those things back to institutions like the JCC. The time is ripe because having jettisoned the shabbos and gotten nothing for it they may be open to trying something new.

Parshas B'haaloscha

2009-06-12T16:23:00.001-04:00

This week Congregation Ariel hosted the Koidenover Rebbe from Tel Aviv. The Rebbe delivered the drasha.

Parshas Naso

2009-06-05T17:36:00.003-04:00

In a small town in Europe there was an alcoholic. His addiction created many problems for his family. He didn't support his family, he was abusive and in general a disgrace. One day in that same time town another man passed out drunk in the street. A crowd gathered and was laughing at the sight of the man passed out drunk. The family of the alcoholic brought him out to see the spectacle. "Do you realize this is what you look like?' they asked their father. "yes I see this is very bad" The alcoholic then bent down and whispered to the drunk "Where did you find such good vodka?" Our experiences have consequences but often they are of the unintended nature. This is illustrated in our Parsha but first we need some background.

In this weeks Parsha we are presented with the curious case of the Sotah. A women has been witnessed in seclusion with a man that she has been warned to stay away from. No crime has been witnessed and she protests her innocence. What should the husband do? If he divorces her she might be telling the truth and a marriage has been destroyed for no reason. To just accept her claims might be to hard for him. Somewhere down the line recriminations and suppressed pain or rage are bound to surface. The Torah invokes divine intervention to save the marriage. The woman goes to the Temple where the Kohanim have her drink a special water. If she was lying she will suffer a gruesome death as will her paramour regardless of whether or not he drank the water. If however she is innocent the fact that nothing happens to her will be a sign to her husband to believe her and soon they will be blessed with a child.

The Torah goes on to introduce to us the concept of Nazarite vows. A person may accept upon himself vows of abstinence which commonly include no imbibing grape or alcohol products, avoiding ritual defilement and no hair cutting. These self denials were invoked by people who felt they needed to distance themselves from the world around them.

The famous question is , why did the Torah juxtapose these two situations?

The Talmuds answer is cited by Rashi. Anyone who witnesses the degradation of the Sotah should swear off drinking wine for he will say look what happens when one has an inappropriate drink. Inhibition fall away and sins bearing these horrible consequences are in their wake.

Rabbi Arye Carmel was a student of the famous Rabbi Dessler. he currently lives in Jerusalem. He asks Why should the one who witnesses the Sotah swear off wine. What they have seen before their very eyes should act as motivation enough not to sin. Perhaps others who did not witness the Sotah need to swear off the strong drink but the audience at the Sotah is the last group that should need to take vows?

He answers by sharing a powerful insight of Rabbi Dessler. Knowledge impacts us. It might be a good impact or it might be a bad impact but impact there will be. Witnessing an event is the knowledge of awareness. Awareness is a responsibility. We cannot integrate new knowledge even good knowledge without reacting. If we don't react positively we will react negatively as our consciousness attempts to deal with the information. In our example when one witnesses the Sotah in her disgrace we are actually more prone to adultery than we would have been otherwise unless some positive steps are taken. hence the Nazatite vows. This thought can explain many phenomena. I would like to apply it to three.

1. For many years it has been the trend to educate children about activities that are considered to be adult activities and even vices. Studies show over and over that our children are engaging in these behaviours even more than they used to . it seems that all of the education complete with illustration of the ills involved such as unwanted pregnancy or drug abuse has not had the desired impact. Why? Because the children don't know what to do with the information. they are never told positive actions to enhance their lives while avoiding inappropriate activities.

2. People often remark at the extreme measures that have become De rigour in the orthodox world Vi's a Vi's modesty and separation of the sexes. "My grandparents were orthodox and they never heard of such things " is the common refrain. it seems obvious to me that when we live in a culture that does not allow us to drive one block down the street without confronting us with life size images suggesting immoral behavior that we must take some positive steps to counter act or we will be destroyed. The orthodox world is taking action to turn the awareness into something positive.

3. Lastly people observe inappropriate or illegal activity coming from a learned Jew. The automatic reaction is "How could someone who knows so much Torah act like that?" The answer would be that the person acquired Torah knowledge but never concretized it with positive deeds. the Torah knowledge then worked negatively upon the student and the illegal activity is the result.

So it is with each and every one of us. We gain an insight in the Torah from a lecture or our own study or we learn something from a life experience what will happen to us now. We have a choice. Either do something with it or wait and see what it does with us.
Something just happened that you feel good about go over to the tzedakah box (Cong. Ariel of course) and put something in.
In light of what I know I am going to say a bracha, boreh minay mezonos before I eat the grain products at kiddush. I am going to approach someone I don't know and welcome them to the shul or ask them to welcome me to the shul. This afternoon I will retain the spirit of shabbos a little longer by not changing into casual clothes as soon as I get home.
Now you know what are you going to do about it?

Shavuos

2009-05-30T23:31:00.002-04:00

And Hashem came down onto Mt. Sinai...and Moshe went up to the mountain. Hashem came down and Moshe went up Rabbi Friefeld teaches that Hashem brought His Torah down into man amd man was thereby elevated.

Yerushalmi Bava Metziah Chapter 2 Halacha 5
Shimon ben Shetach worked with flax. His students bought him a donkey. They found on the donkey a neckless with a precious stone on it. They told him you will never have to work again. he said "did the owner know he sold it?" They said "no" He said "then return it" They countered "although one may not cheat a gentile keeping a lost object is permitted" He said "do you think I am a common person who wants to make money. having gentiles praise Hashem is worth more to me than all of the money in the world". Shomon ben SHetach derived this from another episode where the sages burchased grain and found a sack of money in the grain pile and returned it. the soldiers they returned it to said "blessed is the G-d of the Jews". R' Shimshon Pincus asks why didn't they praise the one who returned it to them why did they praise HaShem? He answers that they understood that no man would come to such exemplary conduct on his own it could only be through Hashem. That is the value of having a Torah.

Parshas Bamidbar

2009-05-22T11:42:00.008-04:00

Josh has now completed the trifecta having led kabbalas shabbos last night , shacharis this morning and now mussaf. Please join me in wishing a hearty yasher koach to Josh and to his Bar Mitzva teacher David Frankel. Mazal Tov to Ben and Hilda Weissmann and Marylin Lowenstein the proud grandparents. Of course to David and Nancy, Elana and Shira and Simon (the family dog) who sadly couldn't be with us today. As we all shep nachas on Josh's accomplishment I would like you all to join me as I shep nachas on the birth of our grand daughter Tehila Rachel whose kiddush was scheduled to have taken place in Jerusalem a few hours ago. So my heart is filled with joy over events and in the Holy City of Jerusalem. I feel that this is no coincidence and that Josh's Bar Mitzva and Jerusalem are intertwined.

42 years ago the neighborhood that my daughter lives in today was in Jordan. The yeshiva my sons in law study in was as far from hostile Arab machine guns as we are from GA perimeter college. The broad plaza in front of the Western Wall that Dena prayed at Wednesday night was a narrow alley used by Moslem's as a trash dump. Then exactly 42 years ago yesterday the 28Th day of Iyar all of that changed. In six miraculous days the world turned over.

In the early months of 1967 Israel was threatened by 500,000 Russian equipped armies intent on driving the Jews into the sea. On June 5th at 7:46 am Israel launched a surprise air attack. Flying under radar Israeli jets attacked Egyptian airbases. In three hours the Egyptian air force by far the largest of the Arab countries, ceased to exist. In truth the movement of the Israeli air force had been picked up by Jordanian radar. They immediately radioed Egypt the encoded signal for war. However the previous day the Arab countries had changed their code frequencies and the Egyptians had not yet made the adjustment. They never got the message. Next Israeli ground forces attacked the vaunted Egyptian army. Without air cover the Egyptians panicked and fled in to the Sinai desert. Ultimately to die or be captured in the thousands by hundreds of Israeli troops. Actually the main tank force of the Egyptians surrendered when confronted by a small brigade of Israeli tanks. The surrendering officer claimed he had seen hundreds of Israeli tanks approaching him.

To the east lie Jordan and the British trained Jordanian legion. King Hussein had been warned by Israel "Join not my enemy lest I engage you also in battle" but the king wouldn't or couldn't heed the warning. He began shelling Jewish west Jerusalem and on June 6th Israeli troops turned their attention toward the Holy City. At two am a lone scout was doing reconnaissance of the principal Jordanian outpost to the east of Jerusalem Ammunition Hill. It was pitch black on a moonless 28th night of the lunar cycle. The scout stumbled and fell into a trench. There were people in the trench. He realized he had fallen into the fortifications on Ammunition Hill. He began firing from his hip. What ensued was a brutal battle but the Jordanians assumed that they had been outflanked by the Israelis. 36 I sraeli soldiers lost thier lives but they took Ammunition Hill and the path was open to the old city. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/122473

At this point I read from the transcript of the tape made by Israeli radio reporter Yossi Ronnen as he entered the old city together with the troops. To read the story of the tape go to http://info.jpost.com/1998/Supplements/30years/ronen.html To hear the actual recording go to http://www.isracast.com/article.aspx?ID=374
On June 7th the 28th day of Iyar the shofar was sounded in front of the Western Wall. On June 14th the army pronounced the city secure and open to civilian traffic. The next day was the holiday of Shavuos which will begin for us Thursday night. Traditionally Jews stay up all night learn Torah in anticipation of the anniversary of the giving of the Torah which is the holiday of Shavuos. That year in the darkness Jews left their homes in the wee early hours and walked to the Old City. As they approached the Old City they were joined by streams of others coming from all directions all walking silently in anticipation of the great event. They were going to pray at the Western Wall the remnant of our Holy Temple a site that Jews had been barred from for 19 years. In all 200,000 came to the Western Wall that Shavuos and the experience has been repeated annually on shavuos night. Ten years later I was among them.
The joy the liberation the sense of blessing and goodness of wholeness and love that Jews in Israel in America behind the iron curtain felt at that moment cannot be described. We felt proud and we felt right.

Josh in a perhaps in smaller way perhaps but you very deservedly share those feelings. you have been victorious. you must feel the love and joy that surrounds you in this room. We all feel proud and we all feel right. Josh you have been blessed by G-d with great gifts. You are an excellent student in Judaic and secular studies. I could talk about the immediate source of these gifts that would be your parents but I am under a severe gag order. Of all of your gifts in my opinion the most outstanding gift you possess is your easy natural way with people. People are comfortable around you. Because of this you have the ability to make a great impact on the world around you. The pride you feel in being Jewish, your involvement in services and your Torah learning can be a beacon to others. These same gifts are also. A challenge similar to that faced by the State of Israel and the Jewish people 42 years ago. Would we appreciate all of the miracles and give thanks to G-d for all he has done for us or would we focus instead on self congratulatory adulation of our military prowess and intellectual abilities all the while looking down our noses at the feeble minded enemy. Even in religious circles could we reach out and embrace our begging to be inspired brethren or would we bind ourselves in knots of bickering and factionalism. Now 42 years later we are living the results. The Palestinian problem, Israelis as oppressors, return to pre '67 borders and a virulent anti - semetism that makes the international acclaim of Israel in June '67 seem like a dream.
So Josh remember this moment of joy and love. Appreciate who you are and all of the gifts you possess. Dedicate yourself to acknowledging G-d who has blessed you and always always remember. Treasure your parents because they are most extraordinary and we love them.

Parshas Bahar - Bechukosai

2009-05-15T15:46:00.004-04:00

Before we talk about the parsha let me share with you a fun thing that happened to me and can happen to you. I was going through the toll booth on North 400 this past week. I pulled up to the cashier and handed her my dollar. She took it and said to me "well how do you do my darling daffodil". Not the type of interaction I normally expect at the toll both. However this time I was not surprised because the week before I had driven through the same toll both and was greeted with "how are you my Honey Suckle". Of course I drove away with a smile on my face and whatever I was late for didn't seem so bad anymore. Look at the power of a toll both operator to impact the world.
Parshas Bechukosai the second of two we read this morning describes in great detail how good it can be if we go in Hahsem's ways and how bad it can be if we do not. As is our way we scrutinize every word of the Torah and take note of all details. One of them is in the very opening sentence of our parsha. "im bechukosai talachu" if you go in my ordinances . Not 'if you observe the Torah 'or 'if you do the commandments' or even 'if you go in my ways' but 'if you go in my statutes'. Why talaychu - go and why bchukosai- statutes as opposed to commandments or laws.

The author of the Rebbe of Slonim in his work Nesivis Shalom offers that the Torah is describing something other than observance of the mitzvos. It is talking about going through life according to its statutes or as we might call it not just living according to the letter of the law but living in the spirit of the law. Although Torah law seems to regulate everything it really does not. The myriad of decisions that we make on a daily basis are not governed by Torah they couldn't be. The Torah doesn't tell us what school to send our children to or whether or not we should but the new or used car. Well since the shuls president is a used car dealer perhaps that one is more obvious. But the Torah does inform those decisions. That is because there is a spirit to the Torah and when one goes talaychu according to that spirit their decisions will be consistent with Torah.

Now you will surely ask How does one identify that spirit and go according to it? That is where the first part of the sentence comes in. Bechukosai. The midrash says shetihiyu amaylim batorah. that you should toil in Torah. The chukim are the statutes that we don't readily understand. None the less we toil to find meaning. We analyze them for the lessons they teach us. That process which we call Talmud Torah is how we come to be one with the spirit of the Torah. In modern times a phrase has been coined for this called "daas Torah" or how the Torah thinks. People who have invested their time and energy in understanding the Torah develop a feel for it and can often answer questions and make decisions that are consistent with Torah thought.

Let's read the next verse. If you toil in Torah I will send your rains on time. The Hebrew word for rain geshem is the same as the word for material sustenance which of course rain is the source of. The Rebbe of Slonim says that when one is living according to the spirit of the Torah his rains meaning his material choices come at the right time. Hahsem sends him the opportunities and the decisions at the most opportune times when these decisions can be made in consonance with the Torah. A client may call to say I'm going to be in town on Tuesday or I'm going to be in town on Saturday. In the first example my geshem is coming on time . Of course the second example requires a decision. A few verses later it says if you do not toil in Torah you will end up not observing and you will even find the statutes loathsome . This only makes sense because one who has not connected to the spirit of the Torah will surely find it loathsome.

Before Torah study there is a prayer we offer. If says I thank you Hashem for having me be part of the study hall and not one who hangs out on the corner. For we toil and they toil. We toil and receive reward and they toil and don't receive reward. Who says people outside of Torah don't receive reward? The Chofetz Chaim explains that outside of Torah reward is only for achievement. If doesn't matter how long and hard the pitcher works if he can't get the curve ball to drop dead as it crosses the plate like John Smoltz could there will be no reward. Inside Torah reward is for the toil not the accomplishment.

We have just participated in Yonahs Bar Mitzva. Yonah your parents have made some important decisions in the spirit of the Torah. You and your siblings are all attending GHA and yeshiva. Ten years ago your family decided to affiliate with this synagogue. We are happy they did because we are celebrating this simcha together today. Your parents didn't just send you to school or join a shul. Your mother toils for the institutions she believes in. She shops for Ariel kiddushes and sits in front of Kroger on a hot day selling YA honey. Sharon is a dedicated super volunteer. You Yonah have toiled immensely to achieve what you did this morning. I know because I periodically snuck in to the back of the room when you and Rabbi Cohen were practicing. You were frustrated and didn't think you could do it. Rabbi Cohen was also frustrated. But you persevered and so did he and your toil was was your success. It doesn't matter how much you you read, the whole parsha , or half or one aliya or even just recite the brachos. It all matters how much toil you put into it. So I will conclude by giving you the blessing we all called out as we finished the book of vayikra this morning. It is the blessing that we recite when we achieve any milestone in Torah because to continue the toil in Torah we need Chazak chazak vnischazed - may you be strong, strong and be strengthened.

Parshas Emor

2009-05-08T17:15:00.004-04:00

Parshas Emor continues the theme initiated in last weeks parsha. Kedusha / holiness. Kedusha is a challenging topic because it is something that the Torah exhorts us to do and we are not really sure we want to do it. Of course no one wants to be a sinner. Everyone wants to be ok with Hashem but this concept of kedusha seems a bit much. Am i willing to never really having any fun or enjoy this world? Kadosh people seem to be very admirable but they always speak softly, smile and never get a good joke. I have been blessed to know people who I feel are truly kedoshim and I would like to share three observations about kedoshim.
Observation #1
Just like everyone else in this world Kedoshim are committed pleasure seekers. Kedoshim are not unimpassioned people who have given up on pleasure to be satisfied with whatever comes their way. Kedoshim have come to understand that there is great pleasure in doing the will of G-d. They have found a thrill in it that makes other pleasures pale in comparison. Kedoshim are very focused and very ambitious. Kedoshim want their pleasure and are willing to pay a great price to get it. When they identify other pleasures as interfering with thier chosen pleasure namely doing the will of Hahsem they actually come to disdain it that other pleasure. A recovering drug addict once told me that as soon as he got high he tried to come down. Now that doesn't make any sense. You spent all the time and energy stealing the money, finding the dealer then finding some safe place to do the drugs at least get into it. Enjoy it. But no. As soon as he has the pleasure he realizes that the indulgence isn't really getting him anywhere and he wants to get as far from it as fast as he can. The kedoshim are the same way. They want to get as far as possible from things that distract them from their chosen pleasure even though these things might be enjoyable in their own right.
So observation number one about kedoshim is thatthey want pleasure as much as everyone else and they are more ambitious and focused on their goals than most people. They are just looking for a different type of pleasure.

Observation #2
Kedoshim know that kedusha is not found in a single place or circumstance. Kedusha is found in the french quarter of New Orleans, kedusha is found in front of the Western Wall on Friday evening and kedusha can be found in the social interaction at the kiddush we all will partake of in a few moments. When opportunities for kedusha present themselves Kedoshim have an eye for them and are willing to grab them. This usually means they are willing to pay a price for their kedusha. The kedusha seeker at the western wall may have spent his savings on the trip to Israel. The kedusha seeker in New Orleans may have struggled greatly to ignore the competeing pleasure being offered outside his front door. The kedusha seeker at the kiddush may have to walk away from an innapropriate conversation or engage in a conversation with an uniteresting person. Sometimes the kedoshim have to supress anger or the desire for revenge or a myriad of other human traits. What makes kedoshim different is that they identify the kedusha opportunity and are ready to pay the price to acheive their goal.

A third observation. Kedoshim are not angels or saints. They are not beyond making mistakes and don't always choose kedusha. The real difference between them and others is that they are not affraid of kedusha they value it. If so we can all have kedusha. All we have to do is be willing to try something new.

Let me close with a story of a kedusha seeker. This man founded a charitable institution in Israel. He visits Atlanta every year or so and I have come to know him over the years. A few years ago Purim was on shabbos. This man was celebrating at a very festive Purim meal. When every ones 'heart was good with wine' someone started singing shabbos songs. Soon everyone joined in and they were all singing shabbos songs with gusto. Then someone said " this is a holy moment, lets use it to improve ourselves. We should all accept upon ourselves right here and not to do something to improve our shabbos experience". They all agreed but no one was sure what to do. Then someone said "Every fridaythe siren sounds 40 minutes before sunset reminding everyone that shabbos is approaching. Lets accept upon themselves that we will be ready for shabbos by that time as it is suggested in the holy books so that they may go to shul with tranquility and recite the Song of Songs". It sounded like a good idea to many people. One person took out a piece of paper and wrote up a contract that all of the undersigned agreed that until next Purim they would be ready for shabbos when the 40 minute siren sounded. When the paper came around to him this man was excited by the idea and he signed it. (not everyone signed the paper).
Soon after Purim this man was in the NY fund raising. Late Thursday night After an appointment he got in his car and proceeded to call his next appointment. All of a sudden the flashing light came on and he was pulled over. It is against the law in NY to talk on a cell phone while driving. The Hispanic offer asked for license and registration and went back into his car. The fellow waited and waited and waited. Forty five minutes went by. He was terrified and he was missing his appointment. Finally the cop came back and said get out of the car. He got out. The cop said we have a problem. A year ago you were photographed going through a red light here in NY and we sent you a ticket. You never paid it. I should impound your car and throw you in jail. You will have to spend the night in jail and go before the judge tomorrow. There is only one problem the Hispanic cop said. Tomorrow is shabbos. By the time you see the judge and arrange bail you will never get home in time for shabbos (and he said it just like that). Therefore I'm asking you to please promise me you will clean up these tickets immediately. The man promised he would and he was sent home appreciating that he had made a commitment to shabbos and shabbos made a comittment to him.

Parshas Acharei Mos - Kedoshim

2009-05-01T16:59:00.004-04:00

Parshas Kedoshim opens by instructing us to be Holy - Kedoshim tihiyu. The very next words bid us to to revere our parents. Has the Torah moved on to the next Mitzva without even expelling the mitzva of being holy? The student of the Torah is always aware that the divine Author uses juxtapositions to convey additional information. It seems clear from this perspective that honoring ones parents is juxtaposed to "being holy" to teach us that honoring parents is an avenue perhaps even a primary avenue to becoming Holy.

This morning we named a new daughter in our congregation. Last week we celebrated a Bar Mitzva and G-d willing will do the same next week. A few weeks ago we celebrated the engagement of two children of our congregation. All of these are Holy events. The culmination of much hard work. I have recently come to realize that there is another life cycle that is even Holier and it is becoming more and more a part of our congregation. The life cycle "event" I refer to is the care of our elderly. I find an ever growing part of my rabbinate is to provide support and sometimes advice to those in our congregation who are dealing with the challenges of elder care. This is also true of my personal life.
One of the reasons elder care challenges are difficult is because they are multi faceted including financial and emotional. However it seems to me the greatest reason elder care is so challenging is that no one prepares for it. Childbirth has classes and coaches. Bar Mitzvas have teachers and planners. Schools counselors and psychologists help us raise our children and thankfully we now have Rabbi Pollocks Jewish Marriage Initiative. Who really plans for the challenges of caring for parents as they age? This issue is especially acute in our youth oriented, pleasure seeking society which segregates people into their own age groups. Quite frankly most of us would rather not think about it. So I would like to take a few minutes to explain why I believe the Torah links reverence of parents to Holiness.
Let me be clear that the Torahs instruction to revere parents is not confined to elder care. However it seems to me that only those who revere their parents will be able to rise to the challenge of caring for them in their old age. When we revere our parents we don't hold their infirmities against them and we don't look down on them. Rather we open our hearts to them. And if we harbor unresolved issues with our parents, reverence for the fact that they created us teaches us to let our issue go. In life we can't wait for satisfaction we have responsibility.
Our elders teach of the fraility of life and the vitality we enjoy every day. From our elders we learn that all of our abilities are truly a gift from Hashem. The abilty to tie a necktie or put on a coat unassisted. We also learn that he will inevitably take these gifts back. If this is so how should we use those gifts.

Our elders often appear petty or unreasonable or obsessed with having something done just so. What do we learn about our pettiness or the unreasonable requirements that we place on those around us.

Our elders often don't care much about what everybody else is all worked up about. Fads trends and the latest 'new and improved' don't really excite them. Is there perhaps a lesson in there for us.

To me most importantly our elders teach us patience. Patience in every sense of the word. While I am learning the lesson of patience I have to ask myself where do I need to go anyway? Why is my agenda so important and of course who will wait for me when my time comes. By the way let me tell you are story of patience that occurred to me. As we all know if you need to get down Tilly Mill Rd. when the college is letting out forget it. The traffic has to stop and start as it works its way through the stoplight at N. Peachtree. Earlier this week I found myself stuck in the backup. I decided that instead of zooming ahead then parking as each group goes through the light I would just let the car idle along at 2 or 3 mph not touching the gas or the brake. Of course the traffic got way ahead of me but as they were stopped I caught up. All of this was too much for the car behind me. He honked and when I didn't speed up he zoomed around me and caught up with the traffic. Of course 30 seconds later I pulled up behind him and guess what I did? I honked. And honked again the next time I caught up with him and the next. After the third time he leaned out of the window and hollered at me "I resign from the board". Why don't we have patience? Where are we going?
Boruch Hashem we are part of an integrated community. We share the shul lobby with wheelchairs and strollers. The verse in the Torah says mipnay sayva takum / you should rise before sayva which means we are supposed to stand when elders enter the room. How old is sayva? The mishna in Pirkei Avos says that sayva is seventy and gevuros is 80. Although people say that nowadays gevuros is the new sayva.
All of the other stages of life have their challenges but they have their rewards. Childrearing, marriage are all demanding but they have their payback. Reverence of parents seems to me to have only one reward. It makes us Holy.

Tazria - Metzorah Bar Mitzva of Daniel Lor

2009-04-24T16:26:00.002-04:00

This week we will read about Tzaraas. Tzaraas is an affliction that discolors the skin, clothing or even walls. The parsha describes how to identify Tzaraas and how to treat it. If the Cohen identifies the Tzaraas the afflicted party is isolated outside the community for a week and maybe even two weeks during which he may not shave. Anyone who witnesses him must call out "impure! impure!"
Why is one afflicted with Tzaraas? The talmud tells us it may be the result of a variety of sins with loshon hora or evil speech being a primary culprit.
Can you imagine what a world with tzaraas is like. A person sins and is afflicted. Now everyone knows . What embarrassment , what disgrace. Earlier this week I was in NY. A man there told me about a great Chassidic Rebbe from Tosh. A follower came to see him and the rebbe refused to look at him until the man immersed in the mikva to cleanse himself from acts of impurity he had committed. Years ago in Israel i remember a certain kabbalist who the yeshiva students who visited him would wear their had brims pulled low over their brow. It seems that the kabbalist could read your recent activities on your forehead. What a terrifying world tolive in when one may be struck by tzaraas at any moment. Yet Ramban Nachmanedes in his comment on the parsha (13-47) says tzaraas was not a terror at all it was a blessing . The Torah states when you will enter the land I will send an affliction in your houses. Not if I send but I will send . Ramban explains that in ancient times the holiness of G-ds' presence was visible upon those that he dwelled among. As will happen in the course of life a person may do something that distances G-d from him. Tzaraas is the stain that is left behind when G-d removes his presence from a person or his possessions. The absence of the glow of the presence of G-d appears as a disfigurement. Tzaraas afflicted only those who enjoyed G-ds presence. This is why tzaraas only appeared in Israel. And this is why the afflicted are given the option of recognizing tzaraas or not. The Torah says if one is afflicted and brings it to the Cohen. If one chooses to ignore the tzaraas one may. Those who enjoyHashems presence are informed of his departure. This is done to give them the option of repairing the relationship before they drift apart and the relationship is irreparably destroyed.
The appearance of Hashem in our lives and even the evidence of His departure is precious because it shows us G-d cares about us and wants us close to him.
Now that we have lost the close proximity of Hashem as we live in this long exile we never experience tzaraas and hardly ever see evidence of G-d in our lives. Yet there are times when special people merit special signs. They are not always pleasant because tzaraas is not pretty but they are always precious.
Today we have Daniel Lor before us. he has read his Torah portion and last night led us in the services. He delivered a great dvar Torah which he prepared in conjunction with his father. Daniel is a good student at GHA. This is how one of his teachers Rabbi Karp characterised him
"It is a delight to have Daniel in out Kesher Group. He participates in all of our CPR (Circle of Power and Respect) activities and is never afraid to lead an activity or break the ice on an activity. He communicates with others in a respectful manner, and is an example of a true "Mensch"!" Daniel is a lights out pitcher at the JCC baseball games and it has been a delight to get to know him better these past few months. Daniel also shows us G-ds presence in our lives and that of his family. Some five years ago when the community had assembled for a pre pesach shabbos hagadol meal in shul Daniel had an accident. He sustained a small cut. The cut however was in the main artery in his leg. Contrary to what his parents were told within a few short moments Daniel lost almost all of his blood and started to go into shock. Mordechai Daneman, Drs. Dan Cohen and Eric Solomon hung onto Daniel and kept him alive. The ambulance arrived IVs were started. Daniel had surgery. When i saw him on Saturday night he looked not to much worse for the wear and in a few weeks he was pitching at the JCC . What happened? had we drifted apart from G-d? If so in what way? And why Daniel Lor? I would like to speculate that G-d sent His message through Daniel and chose him to be the representative of G-ds' hand in our midst because Daniels parents pray with devotion and feel Hashems presence. He cherishes their communication. And as much as they prayed before this event how much more did they pray after it. So thank you Daniel for reminding us always that Hahsem is in our midst. Thank you Marc and Rita for bringing the presence of Hashem to our community. Mazel Tov to the Saba and Savta Lor from New Orleans and of course to our dear Bubbie Kris Salutsky. To all the Aunts Uncles and cousins and friends let us always remember that the appearance of Hashems is a blessing and Daniel reminds us of that.

Shabbos Chol Hamoed Pesach

2009-04-19T13:05:00.002-04:00

As is the custom of Ashkenazi Synagogues we read Song of Songs. This book presents difficulties to the sincere reader looking for meaning. The sensual nature of the text seems out of charachter with what we normally find in synagogue. If we understand it as an allegory what is it really trying to tell us? In an attempt to deal with these questions i drew upon the comments of Rabbi Mordechai Gifter zt"l whose introduction to Song of Songs appears in Hebrew in the beginning of the Song of Songs by Mesorah Artscroll. What appears below is my free flowing translation of the parts of the introduction that I drew upon for my drasha.

All the songs are holy but the Song of Songs is Holy of Holies

1. The purpose of creation is in the creator doing good to others. he bestows upon His creatures a goodness that is found nowhere else but in Him. The only way to achieve this goodness is to cling to Him.
2. Love is defines by the clinging of the lover to the beloved not for any personal gain but purely because of love. For this reason are we instructed to serve G-d not to receive reward but simply because we love him.
3. In Parshas Mishpatim it says that at the giving of the Torah the children of Israel looked at G-d and they ate and they drank. The gemara in Tractate Brachos 17a says 'in the next world there is no eating or drinking ...just basking in the glow of G-d as it says "they looked at G-d and they ate and they drank". Rashi explains that they were satiated by the glow of G-d as thought they had eaten and drunk. Onklos comments that from here we see that enjoying G-d is charactarised by the terminology of eating and drinking. The spiritual experience of the next world is parrallled by the phisycal experience in this world. ed.
4. Total love of G-d means negating ones existance to G-ds oneness. in order to acheive this one must experience love with the senses. The story of creation concludes with the words "therefore will a man leave his mother and father and cling to his wife and they shall be as one flesh. That is the clinging of the lover to the beloved. When a man clings to his wife they experience becoming one with another and then they can experience becoming one with G-d. This is why G-d created woman and why he said it is not good for man to be alone. Rabbi Yitzchak of Acco commented that any man who has not experienced the love of a woman is as far from experiencing the divine as is a donkey.
5. This would explain why Yaacov recited Shema upon his reuniting with Joseph.
6. Now we understand that the woman who has lost her lover is bereft of her purpose in life and her longing to regain him is great. This longing is one and the same as the longing of Israel for G-d.
7. The shining of G-ds light upon those who cling to Him is called Holyness. Song of Songs which is devoted entirely to the yearing of the lover to experience the shine of the beloved is called Holy of Holies.
8. To us from our limited perspective the words of Song of Songs appear to be an analogy. Were we to achieve a higher level of understand we would see how they accurately the words describe the relationship.
9. Since Song of Songs describes the ultimate relationship included in it are all of the major themes of Jewsih philosophy/ theology. Exile, redemption, reward , punishment, revelation and hiddenness.
10. All of the above may be viewed as a short explanation of the words of Maimonedes in the Laws of Repentence chapter 10 law 3 "What is love of the divine? it is a very great and powerful love to the point that ones soul is bound up with G-d to the point that one can think of nothing else. When eating or drinking sitting or standing one is consumed by thoughts of G-d exactly as one is lovesick for their beloved. This is what King Solomon meant when he said 'for I am lovesick'. The Song of Songs describes this relationship"

Last Day of Pesach

2009-04-19T12:54:00.000-04:00

In this mornings drasha I quoted the Talmud Tractate Chullin 7a. This Gemara tells the famous story of Rabbi Pinchus ben Yair. I focused on the first part of the story. Rabbi P.b.Y was on his way to redeem a captive when he was blocked by the Ginai river. He demanded that the river split for him. The river said "you may fulfill Hashems will, I certainly will fulfill Hashems will" Meaning, man may or may not be sucessful in his efforts to do the will of G-d. The natural world always fulfills G-ds' will. R' PbY would have none of that, he responded "if you don't split I will decree that no water ever pass through you again" The river split. R' PbY said "and split for my fellow traveler who is going to grind flour for Pesach" the river split. R' PbY said "and split for the Arab merchant that is traveling with us so that people don't say we don't care about our fellow travelers" the river split for him also.

The three points I derived from this passage were

1.The natural world exists only to serve the righteous. If the river isn't going to split when R' PbY needs it too there is no reason for its continued existence. This is a central theme of the holiday of Pesach with its ten plagues and famous splitting of the Red Sea. The miraculous events were in essence not unusual. They Sea was created to split. Only when the children of Israel came did it have the opportunity to actualize itself.

2. Although this is true vis a vis the very righteous the sea also split for the Jew who was on his way to make shmurah matzah which is watched from the time the flour is ground. Why off all mitzvos did this happen to be the mitzva the fellow traveller was going to preform. I offered that tzaddikim live with the understanding of the true reality of nature all year long. Those who observe Pesach rise to that level through their observance of the holiday especially the man in the story who was traveling to make shmurah matzah. He like many of us began his Pesach preparation weeks in advance. He understood the importance of the most central of all holidays and the essential lessons it teaches us ubout man, Hashem and nature. Thats why he was preparing in advance. Thats why the river split for him.

3. The third was a simple Arab merchant who happened to be traveling with the other two. R' PbY would not think of leaving him behind. This speaks to me of the role of the Jew in elevating the world around him through his service of Hashem. When the Jew properly serves Hashem, nature falls in line to serve the Jew. All of mankind benefits. This also indicated the ultimate method of managing our enviornment. We dedicate ourselves to Hahsem and he dedicates the would to our service. Then the climate will be as we need it. The resources will be available to us as we need them and the entire world will live in a healthy and productive fashion.

Parshas Shmini

2009-04-18T22:30:00.000-04:00

Cong. Ariel enjoyed a drasha from Rabbi Pinchus Landis of Mason Ohio.

Parshas Tzav -A day of blessings

2009-04-13T20:54:00.000-04:00

On the eve of passover we had the opportunity to engage in a string of mitzvos that I believe was unprecedented in history. On the morning of Shabbos Hagadol I used the derasha to review these mitzvos and their blessings.
1. It began on Tuesday night with the one night a year search for chometz. Artscroll siddur pg.654
2. Wednesday morning we participated in a siyum or completion of a tractate celebration. Although a siyum may be celebrated anytime this is done annually on the eve of passover so that the first born in our midst may partake of the feast. If they didn't they would have to fast in commemoration of their salvation when Hashem slayed the firstborn of the Egyptians but passed over the houses of the children of Israel.
3. We then crossed the street to ball field three at the JCC to recite a blessing that presents itself only once every 28 years. The blessing of the sun and the earth being in the same relationship as they were on the fourth day of creation when the sun and planets were created. See Artscroll siddur pg. 228
4. Next was the annual burning of the chometz and the declaration of nullification of chometz. The Torah tells us to remove the chometz from our possesion which we fulfill by burning it. Then we ensure that we don't own any chometz by nullifying any chometz that we know of or don't know of. See Artscroll siddur pg. 654
5. In the afternoon the eruv tavshillin was placed. Although we are allowed to cook on the holiday we may only cook for the holiday but not for any other day even shabbos. How then are we to have fresh food for shabbos when the holiday occurs on Friday? It truth most of the problem is solved because we can cook on Friday for Friday and since if guests were to come unexpectedly we would serve them the food we just cooked on Friday we can cook and use that food for shabbos. So when every few years Yom Tov falls on friday our sages had us begin the cooking for shabbos on Wednesday the eve of the holiday this year. In that way when cooking on friday we would merely be adding to that which we had begun on Wednesday thereby not degrading the holiday that much. This beginning of the cooking of the meal is called an eruv (mixing ) tavshilllin (of cooked foods). We customarily take an egg and a matzoh and pronounce the blessing over the fulfillment of this rabbinical enactment. See Artscroll Siddur Pg. 654
6. Of course then it is on to seder preparations and the seder night full of once a year mitzvos.

Parshas vayakhel / Pekudei Parshas Hachodesh

2009-03-27T15:55:00.000-04:00

The writings and speeches of Rabbi Chaim Friedlander have been published under the name Sifsei Chaim (the lips of Chaim). The weeks drasha is based on the first essay in the Passover section of Sifsei Chaim. The second Torah we read told us of the first mitzva commanded to the Israelites. Hashem tells Moshe to consecrate the new moon of the month of Nissan and to establish a lunar calendar. (As we see later this lunar calendar is to be modified by inserting leap months to keep it in sync with the solar calendar). Once month have been established the commandments for the Passover observance follow. On the 10th of the month take a sheep, on the 14th slaughter it etc. The great commentator Rashi in his very first comment on the Torah asks why this commandment wasn't the beginning of the Torah. Others have questions Rashis question. Did Rashi seriously question why we have the book of Genesis and the first part of Exodus? Rabbi Friedlander explains that the commandment to make a calendar was the act of creating a new world. Up until that time the world was dominated by Hashems unwavering will. The plan was in motion and it didn't deviate. When Hashem told the Israelites to make a calendar he was placing them and the world in a new position. Henceforth Hashem was going to react to their actions. They would be given commandments and their obedience or lack thereof would determine His reaction. This was an entirely new world. A Jewish world that resembles the moon with change not constancy. The moon waxes and wanes as do the Jewish people in their observance. Hahsems presence is felt commensurately to the conduct of His children. Rashi says we live in Jewish / Lunar world. Every 30 days we bless the new moon and recognize the role we play in the universe. The Torah is not a history book it is the Book of the Jews. Why not start it from when the Jewish world was created.
Opposite the moon is the Sun. Unwavering consistency. That is the world of the gentiles. Hashem doesn't change the world because of their actions. To be sure is they will be punished or rewarded for their actions but that doesn't mean that Hashem changes the word due to their actions. That was the first creation. Every 28 years the sun and earth return to the same positions they occupied vis a vis each other when the world was created. We bless the sun and recognize that Hahsem has placed us in a world with a solar nature.

Parshas Key Seesaw - Parah

2009-03-14T23:31:00.000-04:00

This drasha should be sponsored by Chic fil -A. The two Torahs that were read this shabbos make up a tale of two cows.
The first is the golden calf. The golden calf was made when pieces of gold were thrown into the furnace. Out came the calf. When Moshe returns he grinds up the calf throws the dust into water and has the people drink the water. Those that had participated in the golden calf perished (Yoma 66b).

The second is the red heifer. When a Jew is in the presence of a corpse he becomes defiled and may not enter the Temple. To purify the defiled person a red heifer is slaughtered and burnt. Its ashes are mixed with mayim chayim spring water and sprinkled upon the defiled person. The defiled person is purified and may resume a full spiritual life.

Both of these cows are difficult to understand. The red heifer is even the classic 'chok' or inscrutable law. Lets examine the golden calf first. Everybody struggles to understand why the Israelites built the calf. Just three months from the exodus, a mere forty days from the ten commandments and they proclaim "these are your Gods Israel which took you out of Egypt"? The most popular approach to this issue contends that the people were not rejecting Hashem for an idol. With Moshe now presumed gone they were looking for a tangible representation of Hashem in their midst. In the Book of Ezekiel we read of Ezekiel's vision of Hashem borne on a chariot. The chariot is made up of four beings a man , an ox, an eagle, a lion. If the people were looking for an earthly representative of Hashem with the man Moshe gone they turned to the next vehicle of Hashem the ox. Their mistake was that they thought it was in their power to establish the manner in which they interfaced with Hashem. Rabbi Meir Shalom Cohen of Petach Tikva , Israel in his work Meshech Haparsha views this as gaavah haughtiness. Their punishment was to have the calf ground into dust and consumed.

The red heifer is used when a person has come into contact with death. Rabbi Cohen quoting kabbalistic sources approaches this homiletically. Death is what comes from a mitzva preformed without joy. Mitzvos are performed without joy when we strive to understand them and our intellect becomes the gatekeeper of our mitzva performance. When we only do that which makes sense, we don't really do any mitzvos with joy. The joy in a mitzva can only come from the awareness that we are connecting to Hashem thereby drawing life from the performance of the mitzva. This is true whether or not we understand the mitzva. When the cow representing our haughtiness is burnt and its ashes are mixed with mayim chayim living water we are rejuvenated. On Friday night after we sing Lecha Dodi we make a large circle and dance around the shul. Some people don't like to dance. 'Dancing is a Rabbi Friedman shtick' or 'I just came to daven'. The reason I want the shul to dance is because I want the shul to be known as a place of joy. Our children may grow up and say they don't like our shul or Judaism for a variety of reasons but don't let them say there was no joy in that congregation. If we do not perform our mitzvos with joy they are dead mitzvos and our children will not repeat them.
The holiday of Purim is devoted to this idea. The day of joy when we drink ad dlow yada until we don't know. Not that we are unconscious or lose our minds but rather we drink until we don't know we just feel. We don't think about the mitzva we just feel the joy in it. This Purim I had an exceptionally joyous experience. On Purim morning I placed $7200.00 cash into envelopes marked with the names of needy persons in our community and Israel. Our small congregation had give that sum for matanos laevyonim gifts to the poor. This year the congregation gave more that double the average of past years. No one was coerced or even solicited. Everyone who gave, gave with joy. As I walked out of shul to my car to begin the deliveries I held the envelopes up to Hashem. "look at what your children have done" I proclaimed. Then I thanked Hashem for allowing me to be the messenger for this mitzva.
I hope we will be able to grind down our golden calf and mix the ashes in living water. Then we will preform mitzvos with joy. We will be joyous because we have connected to Hashem the source of life.

Parshas Tetzaveh - Zachor

2009-03-14T23:27:00.000-04:00

Cong. Ariel celebrated the Bar Mitzva of Jonah Adler. We were honored to hear Rabbi Yitzchok Adler of Cong. Beth david in W. Hartford Conn. address his nephew. I did not speak.

Parshas Terumah

2009-03-02T14:05:00.000-05:00

The past weeks the Parsha told us how to build a mishkan a dwelling for Hashem. The famous drasha or elucidation of the phrase "build for Me a dwelling and I will dwell in them" teaches that when we build the mishkan with sincerity Hashem dwells in us. I feel that we all want to build such a mishkan the question is how? One way would be to look at the directions in the Parsha but that might be a bit too esoteric for most. Another way would be to look at someone who had built a mishkan. One such person that we could look at is Rabbi Noach Weinberg zt"l founder of Aish haTorah and a pioneer in the world of kiruv or Torah outreach.

With his passing a few weeks ago numerous articles and eulogies have appeared in the Jewish media in general and of course at aish.com. In the Mishpacha magazine tribute to Rav. Noach his students shared lessons that they learned from thie rebbe. Rabbi Alon Tolwin of Detroit said something that made a big impact on me. Rabbi Weinberg once told Rabbi Tolwin that if after doing a mitzva you don't have more energy that you did before the mitzva something was missing in your kavana intent when preforming the mitzva. I found that very striking. Personally after performing some mitzvos I am uplifted but after other I feel drained. I have observed many in our own community take on mitzvos, come to classes or services, do acts of loving kindness and find that they become burdensom. Rav Noach seems to be telling us we are doing it for the wrong reason.
What then is the right reason. The 2nd verse in Parshas Terumah says vyikchu li take for me an offering. Rashi quotes the rabbinic dictum "li - for my names sake". If we are doing it for Hashem we will be energized. Mitzvos for any other reason ultimately the mitzvos become exhausting.

On Thursday nights Jeff Cohen an Atlanta in Monsey New York spends time packing shabbos care packages for needy families. he says that the maariv evening minyan that the workers pray after working is very energetic. After an exhausting evening of doing mitzvos the workers feel energized. According to rabbi Weinberg this would show you that they are doing it for Hashem.
So when we want to build ourselves in to a mishkan but we feel a little tried we need only look to powerful examples of people like Rabbi Weinberg. Rabbi Weinberg was a man of boundless energy and he told us where it all came from.

Parshas Mishpatim / Parshas Shekalim

2009-02-16T13:17:00.000-05:00

This week in addition to the weekly Torah portion we read from a second Torah. The second reading was Exodus Chapter 30 Verses 11-16 dealing with the taking of census via collection of half shekels. I had intended to speak on the topic of the recurring Torah theme of how tragedy leads to success. This happened when King David took a census and a plague broke out killing 70,00 people. Through that episode the site of the future temple was identified and purchased. You can read about that in the last chapter of Samuel II and Chronicles I chapter 21. Also see Ramban / Nachmanides comment on Number 16 verse 21 where he explains why King David sinned and others died. I addressed the topic earlier in the week at a lunch and learn and even with a full hour was not able to adequately explore the issue. Therefore I decided not to try and squeeze it into a 20 shabos morning drasha. I encourage you to look at the sources I have cited. I am sure you will find it rewarding.

Instead I confined myself to the issue of why a census can lead to a plague if we don't use the holy shekel to atone. What do we need to atone for anyway? Also I quoted the Gemara (Jerusalem Talmud, Tractate Shekalim) that says that when Hashem commanded Moshe to take the shekel he couldn't grasp the instruction until he was shown a fiery shekel. What was so hard to grasp about a coin?

The answer to the first question is that a census is limiting. The items counted become mere ciphers. #46 or #73. Furthermore the item is what it is and no more than that. Jews are different. Their lives have impact all around the world and throughout the heavens. Also we might count the Jews and feel we only have a small number and become disheartened or think in a constricted fashion. Therefore whenever we count Jews we do it by taking the Holy Shekel and donating it to the Temple. We are reminding ourselves that we are not just what we see , mere ciphers , but holy shekels whose existence is to serve Hashem. Moshe struggled to understand how the Holy shekel overcomes that. This Hashem explained to him by showing him a vision of a fiery shekel. The flaming shekel goes beyond a coin. It is holy and it can burn just like the Torah and is just like the nefesh of a Jew. By the way shekel is spelled shin,300 kuf ,100 lamed,30 = 430 nefesh (life) nun ,50 pay,80 shin, 300= 430

Parshas Beshalach

2009-02-15T22:39:00.000-05:00

In parshas Beshalach we have the story of the mannah that fell in the wilderness for the children of Israel. G-d says to Moshe I am sending the manna "in order to test them, to see if they will follow my Torah or not" Exodus 16-4. All events in general but certainly events of the magnitude of our current economic collapse must be viewed from two perspectives. These two perspectives are the topics of two works by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto d. 1747. The first work explains how G-d is leading the world toward a Revelation of Himself. This work has been published in English translation as The Knowing Heart (Feldheim). The second work has been published in English under the title The Way of G-d. The Way of G-d describes how G-d interacts with each individual within the greater umbrella of His plans for the world.
My drasha attempted to frame the economic turbulence we are all facing, as well as all of the personal challenges in each of our lives, as tests. According to Ramban (Nachmanedes d. 1270) G-d wants to see if
a. we can put our faith in His ability to provide for us
b. can we conduct ourselves appropriately by providing material and emotional support to the needy.
Ramban further states( see Genesis Chapter 22 verse 1 and Rambans comments there) that G-d doesn't test us to find the answer. He know what is in our heart. He tests us to bring out qualities that He know are within us. If we couldn't rise to the occasion we wouldn't be tested. Therefore it seems to me that we should all view the current distress as a test. When we pass this test we will actualize our potential.

The Four Sons

2009-02-15T21:57:00.000-05:00

In my drasha on Parshas Bo I discussed the four "sons" in the Haggadah three of which appear in Parshas Bo. Many of you expressed your intention of using this as discussion material at your seders. The following are the sources and question we raised.

The first time the Torah addresses relating the Exodus to our children is in Exodus, Chapter 12 verse 26. The author(s) of the Haggadah understood this to be referring to the wicked son.

The second reference is in Exodus chapter 13 verse 8. The Haggadah identifies this as the son who does not know how to ask.

The third reference is six verses later in 13-14. The Haggadah identifies this as the simple son.

The fourth reference is in the other end of the Torah Deutoronomy Chapter 6 verse 20. The reference is identified in the Haggadah as the wise son.

The classic questions we discussed are
1. The order of their appearance in the Haggadah (wise, wicked, simple, doesn't know to ask) is not the same as their appearance in the Torah (wicked, doesn't know to ask, simple and wise.
2. The answer to the wise son in the Haggadah is not the same as the answer given in the Torah
3. The answer to the wicked son in the Haggadah is the answer the Torah gives for the simple son.