Inspirational Torah

Who Is the Stranger ? Parashat Mishpatim (Exodus 21:1-24:18)  Shabbat Parashat Mishpatim: 25 Shevat 5778  כ"ה בשבט תשע״ח "You shall not wrong or oppress the stranger for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." (Exodus 22:20) כ   וְגֵר לֹא-תוֹנֶה, וְלֹא תִלְחָצֶנּוּ:  כִּי-גֵרִים הֱיִיתֶם, בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם.  (שמות כב:כ) Ger  (or Stranger ) is the  Hebrew term used by the  Torah in reference to what we might today term the " O ther "  living amongst us .  We often speak about celebrating diversity, pluralism and embracing people who are different from us, but how do our actions reflect our lofty ideals?  In this week's Torah portion, we are commanded not to wrong or oppress the stranger; the rationale for the commandment is quite clear -- empathy: you were strangers in the Land of Egypt and know what it feels like to be the stranger/other! How strongly does the Torah feel about...

שמות פרק יט:ג           ...וָאֶשָּׂא אֶתְכֶם עַל כַּנְפֵי נְשָׁרִים וָאָבִא אֶתְכֶם אֵלָי: I just wanted to share a Torah thought with you before Shabbat from this week's Torah portion. In preparation for God's revelation at Sinai and the receiving of the Ten Commandments, the Holy One Blessed be He asks Moses to remind the people that they themselves have just seen and experienced the redemption from Egypt. God instructs Moses to say this to them in quite a vivid, powerful, even poetic way:"I carried you on Eagle's wings and brought you to me." On the surface, this verse seems to express the divine protection the Children of Israel experienced as they came out of Egypt. But what does the part of the verse, "And I brought you to Me," add or tell us? Perhaps "to Me" alludes to what we are just about to read, that is, revelation and encounter with God at Sinai and the receiving of the Ten Commandments? Add...

🎵🎵🎵 From Anxiety and Fear to Joy and Song  🙈   👸🙊😰😀 ---Rabbi Yonatan Sadoff--- Song of the Sea We all find ourselves in fear-provoking or anxiety-inducing situations from time to time or, for some, even daily. I t is no wonder, as t here are so many stresses and pressures in our lives. We are concerned about our own health and the health of our loved ones; we have fear in connection with financial matters (paying bills, sending our kids to university); the work place can invoke all kinds of fears; there's a fear of heights, of small spaces, of water, of wind and you can fill in your favorite fear... We can try to control all of these external situations. For example, if one has a fear of flying, then he can take a bus, train or boat -- but then other anxiety-provoking situations seem to pop up in their place. In short, the problem is the fear and anxiety within and not the external situation. Fear, worry and anxiety will probably not disappear from ou...

GIVE ME A SIGN! Parashat Bo, 5778 Our firstborn daughter Tiferet Tehilla has been speaking and saying words for a long time. She could even say her sister's name - Maayan(i)  ever since she was born four months ago. But for all of her talent for speech, she has not been able to say her own name ! To be fair, her name, " Tiferet " תפארת (meaning splendor) is not so easy to say.  Her concerned father (me) went to work teaching her her name syllable by syllable (Tee--Fe--Rhet). She would repeat after me one syllable at at time, always giving herself applause after she finished. But she wasn't yet able to put it all together into one word, one name: Tiferet .  Perhaps out of frustration or perhaps out of incredible brilliance, she decided to give herself a nickname. What did she call herself? אֶת [ET]. Not the the extra-terrestrial E.T. but rather the last sound in her name. We found it interesting that she called herself the Hebrew word אֶת  [Et], ...

WHO IS GOD? PARASHAT VA'ERA by Rabbi Yonatan Sadoff Reading the weekly Torah portion as a holy text, a sacred vessel that offers a path to God, rather than  as a history or story book, raises  important questions: who is God and what is God's real name? This week's reading begins with a perplexing verse in which God speaks to Moses, mentioning not one but two of God's names: Shemot (Exodus) Chapter 6 3  and I (God) appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as  El Shadai  (God Almighty), but by My name YHWH (the ineffable name of God) I was not known to them. שמות פרק ו פסוק ג וָאֵרָא אֶל אַבְרָהָם אֶל יִצְחָק וְאֶל יַעֲקֹב בְּאֵל שַׁדָּי וּשְׁמִי יְקֹוָק לֹא נוֹדַעְתִּי לָהֶם:  The verse seems to be saying that God appeared to the forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as (or by the name of) El Shadai , but that they did not know God by a far more essential name,   YHWH.  This name is known as the tetr...