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March 25, 2024 – 8:50 pm | Comments Off on Why We Must Resist The Cease Fire Resolution36 views

Tzav: Fighting Evil
We are surrounded by evil; every so often, it rears its ugly head as it did on Simchat Torah—the October 7 massacre. Pure evil raped Jewish mothers, burned Jewish babies alive, mutilated their fathers, and beheaded their neighbors. Pure evil burned loving couples clinging to each other, to …

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Articles in Tragedy

Acharei Mot: Post Shivah

April 6, 2014 – 4:03 am | Comments Off on Acharei Mot: Post Shivah8,551 views
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The Shelf Life
I have seen it as often as you have. Someone loses a loved one, family, friends and acquaintances close ranks around them, attend Shivah, coordinate details, bring food and provide comfort. Then Shivah ends, everyone bids the bereaved farewell and return to daily life.
It is now post Shivah, …

Shemini: Silence is Golden

March 17, 2014 – 4:21 pm | Comments Off on Shemini: Silence is Golden4,066 views
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Aaron
When Aaron experienced the tragic loss of two sons, he responded with silence. He didn’t accept with silence, he replied with silence. The Torah says, “Vayidom Aharaon,” Aaron fell silent.[1] At first he cried, but later, fell silent.[2] It wasn’t a passive silence, he wrestled with himself to achieve it.
For …

Shemot: Faith in Auschwitz

December 15, 2013 – 3:57 am | Comments Off on Shemot: Faith in Auschwitz2,965 views
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Where was G-d?
Where was G-d during the Holocaust is one of a questions fielded by theologians and religious thinkers. Is it possible to believe in G-d despite such tragedy? Was faith possible in Auschwitz?

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Vayechi: Anguish

December 8, 2013 – 12:50 am | Comments Off on Vayechi: Anguish3,840 views
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No Break
If you have ever seen a Torah Scroll you know that it contains paragraph breaks. Some paragraphs are longer than others, but at the end of the paragraph there is usually a break, especially at the end of a portion. There are very few portions that are not preceded …

Acharei Mot: Response to Tragedy

April 14, 2013 – 4:06 am | Comments Off on Acharei Mot: Response to Tragedy4,932 views
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A Silent Response
During his inauguration to the High Priesthood, Aaron lost two sons. In response to tragedy Aaron was silent.[1] As High Priest, Aaron was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies on occasion, but only in silence – without bells on his tunic.[2] Silence seems to be thematic to …

Let Us Stop School Massacres

December 16, 2012 – 8:06 pm | Comments Off on Let Us Stop School Massacres4,885 views
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It is a terrible tragedy, a heinous scene, words cannot describe it and the camera dare not capture it. The grimace plastered on grim faces of devastated fathers, the haunted look in the eyes of howling mothers, children screaming, teachers herding, police officers protecting and the most horrific of all,  …

The Nine Days: Suffering Leads to Growth

July 22, 2012 – 5:49 am | Comments Off on The Nine Days: Suffering Leads to Growth5,660 views
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Why Nine?
Life isn’t a coincidence. Everything has meaning, it’s all “Bashert” [providential]. In 350 BCE and again in 69 CE, during the days leading up to the destruction of the Temple, our ancestors suffered greatly. The Babylonian forces and later the Roman Legions ransacked Jerusalem and brutalized the inhabitants. Every …

Shemini: G-d and the Holocaust

April 4, 2010 – 4:58 am | Comments Off on Shemini: G-d and the Holocaust2,883 views
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And He Was Silent
In the middle of his inauguration Aaron, the High Priest, suffered a terrible personal tragedy; the sudden death of his two elder sons. Moses offered words of comfort, but Aaron was silent; he accepted the Divine judgment with a full measure of faith. Our sages taught that …