The main reason for the loss of the 2nd Beit Hamikdash as mentioned in numerous traditional sources, was שנאת חינם or - baseless hatred. Acrimony between people - for no (good...) reason. I have heard many times the term "אהבת חינם" ("Baseless love") as a "suggested cure" for the sin of besaless animosity. Easy to say. …
Let’s talk – Shabbat Kodesh Parashat Chukkat
In this week's Parsha - Moshe Rabeinu lost his entry visa to the holy land, to which he aspired throughout his life, especially having led his people for the difficult forty years in the desert. We read on Shabbat: וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהֹוָה֮ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֣ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹן֒ יַ֚עַן לֹא־הֶאֱמַנְתֶּ֣ם בִּ֔י לְהַ֨קְדִּישֵׁ֔נִי לְעֵינֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל לָכֵ֗ן לֹ֤א תָבִ֙יאוּ֙ אֶת־הַקָּהָ֣ל הַזֶּ֔ה אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ …
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1899-2024 125th Yahrzeit
125 years ago, 12 June 1899, Monday, 4 Tammuz 5659, ד' בתמוז ה'תרנ "ט, at 09:57, Rabbi Dr Esriel Hildesheimer זצוק "ל, first spiritual head of Adass Yisroel and founder and rector of the Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin, linked to our congregation since ever, died in Berlin C., Gipsstraße 12a. "You know it well. A prince and a great one of …
Kaddish for Walther Rathenau…
Yesterday evening, as I was preparing for a Shiur on the Parsha, I came across a lecture delivered by Rabbi Avraham A Weingort. The Jerusalem based Rav, is also a scholar, teaching in a Paris University. The topic of his lecture was totally unrelated to my Shiur, but I was somehow attracted to read it. Here …
Forty years delay… Shabbat Kodesh Parashat Shelach
We will read this Shabbat about one of (if not the biggest) mishap of our forefathers on their voyage from Egypt to the Land of Israel. The expedition of the twelve "spies" went terribly wrong. They came back from "tour de Israel" and ten of the twelve agents dissuaded the nation from moving on to the …
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Raise them high… Shabbat Kodesh Parashat Behaalotcha
We will read on Shabbos at the start of the Parsha: וידבר ה' אל־משה לאמר דַּבֵּר֙ אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֔ן וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ אֵלָ֑יו בְּהַעֲלֹֽתְךָ֙ אֶת־הַנֵּרֹ֔ת אֶל־מוּל֙ פְּנֵ֣י הַמְּנוֹרָ֔ה יָאִ֖ירוּ שִׁבְעַ֥ת הַנֵּרֽוֹת Traditionally, this verse is translated : Speak to Aaron and say to him, “When you light the candles, let the seven candles give light towards the middle of the lampstand.” …
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Closeness to G’d
Shabbat Kodesh Parshat Bechukotai We read in the beginning of Parshat Bechukotai : אִם־בְּחֻקֹּתַ֖י תֵּלֵ֑כוּ וְאֶת־מִצְוֺתַ֣י תִּשְׁמְר֔וּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָֽם׃ "If you follow My laws and faithfully observe My commandments" (Vayikra 26,1) Then - וְנָתַתִּ֥י מִשְׁכָּנִ֖י בְּתוֹכְכֶ֑ם וְלֹֽא־תִגְעַ֥ל נַפְשִׁ֖י אֶתְכֶֽם׃ - "I will dwell in your midst, and I will not reject you". Vayikra 26,11). The simple question is, why …
For in the Image of G´d was Humankind Made
Can a disabled Kohen "work" in the Beit Hamikdash? The disabled Kohen is mentioned in great detail in Parshat Emor. While he can get many of the benefits the priests receive (He is on the "Paylist".) He can not serve as a full team member in the Beit Hamikdash, and is restricted to very limited activities in the …
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Reb Yaakov (Yankele) Vignansky ז “ל
In the large synagogue in Munich, people prayed every day at dawn, at half past six. Most of the worshippers were, so to speak, "graduates" of the extermination camps, most of whose families were murdered in the Holocaust. On religious holidays, at "Yiskor", almost all the worshippers (there were still several hundred of them) said …
Pesach 5784 / 2024
Inviting people late in the day... and other ideas for the Seder night The first words of the Seder (After kiddush) are "Ha Lachma Anya": הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא דִּי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְאַרְעָא דְמִצְרָיִם. כָּל דִכְפִין יֵיתֵי וְיֵיכֹל, כָּל דִצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח "Ha Lachma - This is the bread of destitution that our ancestors ate in the land …