Purim - The Holiday of Hidden Miracles

This coming Saturday night is the beginning of the holiday of Purim. It ends Sunday night.

Everyone knows the basic storyline -there was a king (Achashverosh) and his evil minister (Haman). Haman hated the Jews so much he decided to murder all Jewish men, women and children. By happenstance, Esther the Queen happened to be Jewish. Through the intervention of Mordechai and Esther the Jewish People were saved. Amazing story - but why do we bother with it year after year? After all, the name of G-d isn't mentioned at all as our savior.

This is the exact point to be made. In the Purim narrative, G-d doesn't save the Jewish People through open miracles (like in Egypt) but rather is behind the scenes creating situations for the Jewish People to be saved through "natural" means.

I like each of our holidays for different reasons. About four weeks after the holiday of Purim - we have Passover. I like Pesach because G-d came into our lives with a strong "hand" and outstretched "arm" and with great wonders... and we were saved.

I like Purim because it's more along the lines of our lives today. We don't see G-d's hand so easily in our everyday affairs. (I wish we did sometimes.) We take the "coincidences" and "lucky" moments that permeate our lives for granted - rather than see the finger of G-d helping us choose the right direction to head in.

Take a moment this Purim to think about those "coincidences" and "lucky" moments. Let us realize that we are not alone in our lives.

On Purim we have four mitzvot (commandments).

1. The mitzvah of hearing the megillah (story of Esther) read.
It's important to know why we are celebrating. It's also important to note that we gather as a group rather than individuals. We are all part of the Jewish People. Haman wanted to destroy us all - men, women and children. It's important that all of us realize we're all in the same boat - no matter the philosophy a Jew may subscribe to.

2. The mitzvah of giving mishloach manot - gifts of food.
We are required to give at least one package of ready made food (two types) to a friend. This is a way of connecting with one another.

3. The mitzvah of matanot l'evyonim - monetary gifts to the poor.
Yes, there are poor Jews out there. It's important on this holiday to give money to organizations that help our People in their time of need.

4. The mitzvah of seudah - eating a festive meal.
Eating good food is a huge part of the holiday. Haman wanted to physically destroy us. On this day we enjoy our physical body by eating, drinking and having a good time (within Torah guidelines).

All of these mitzvot are geared to bring the Jewish People together. It's important that we show love for one another, and by showing love for G-d's creations - we are also showing love and appreciation for G-d, our Creator.

This Purim realize that Queen Esther was not alone when she approached King Achashverosh to ask for the lives of the Jewish People, and realize that we are not alone when we are faced with problems that seem insurmountable.

Chag Sameach!
Happy Purim!

For more on Purim - click here!

Shemot: Parshat Bo: Got the Message?

Through the reading of last week's parsha and this week's parsha - we see the awesome hand of G-d in the everyday lives of the Egyptians and Hebrews (Jews) through the plagues brought upon Egypt.

In the 6th aliyah/reading of Parshat Bo, we find the death of the first-born:

12:29 It was midnight and G-d struck down every first-born son in the land of Egypt, from the first-born son of Pharaoh sitting on his throne, to the first-born son of the captive who was in the dungeon, as well as every first-born animal.
12:30 Pharaoh arose at night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no house where there were no dead.

Where was Pharaoh when death was dealt to Egypt? In 12:30 we see that he "arose at night". Rashi expands on this to bring us an amazing point... Pharaoh "arose" - from bed. What's the big deal? If it's the middle of the night - where else would he be?

Generally this would be true. However, we know that Pharaoh and the whole of Egypt was forewarned by Moses about this terrible plague back in 11:4-6.

...About the time of midnight, I will go out in the midst of Egypt. Every first born in the land of Egypt will die, from the first-born of Pharaoh sitting on his throne, to the first-born of the slave girl, behind the mill stones, and every first-born animal. There will be a great cry throughout the land of Egypt, the likes of which there never was and like there never will be.

Pharaoh knew that all the other plagues that Moses had foretold had come true -- wouldn't it worry him that all first-born males in Egypt were about to die? What about his own first-born son at least?

Rather than staying up worrying - Pharaoh got into his pajamas and went to sleep. Not a care in the world. Why would he do that?

He missed the message. Pharaoh was so firmly entrenched in his own faulty world view - no matter how clear the message was - he missed the message. After the nine other plagues had destroyed the land of Egypt, he was still blind to the path he needed to take. Pharaoh was willing to sacrifice his own child in order to maintain his world view.

We shouldn't miss the message. We must make sure to periodically re-evaluate our short-term and long-term goals. We should look for and find G-d in our everyday lives. Unlike Pharaoh, we shouldn't be sleeping when it comes to realizing the messages that are sent our way.

Shavua Tov - Have a good week.

Thank-you to Rabbi Felder of Shomrai Shabbos for this concept. Majority of this is his - I have changed it some. Any mistakes are mine.

Parshiot Shemot and Va'eira: Looking for Inspiration

Last week we read Parshat Shemot - the beginning of the Egyptian Exile. This exile was the forerunner of all the exiles the Jewish People have experienced - and the redemption from that Exile is the forerunner of the ultimate Redemption.

The period of Egyptian slavery began when the 12 Brothers/Tribes were no longer in the Land of Israel and after the brothers had died. The Hebrews (as they were called at the time) were no longer surrounded by the holiness of the Land, their environment had changed. The same way the Hebrews had to deal with being outside the Land and in exile, so do we.

In the era of exile...G-dliness is hidden, and we are presented with many obstacles to our observance of the Torah and its mitzvos. We can no longer rely on our environment to deepen our feelings for G-dliness. Instead, our focus must become internal. In this manner, exile arouses our deepest spiritual resources, and strengthens our connection to G-d.
In the Garden of the Torah, vol. 1 pg. 76.

In todays world we are all looking for inspiration in our Judaism. We feel limited [Mitzrayim is Hebrew for Egypt meaning boundaries/limitations] by ourselves and our environment. We each have busy schedules, keeping us running from when the sun comes up until it sets. It's hard to see past our everyday routines - and attempt to do more with our Judaism. Whether our Judaism is practiced by rote, or not practiced at all we face the same challenges... we need inspiration.

What is inspiration? The inspiration I speak of is the type that we see in this week's parsha of Va'eira. Seeing G-d in our lives. The Jews enslaved in Egypt were finally able to see G-d's hand in their lives - through the bringing of the plagues on Egypt. We too are in exile - unable to see G-d's plan for us. We are hamsters on the wheel of life.

...any setting in which a person lives creates an inertia that resists change. To borrow an expression from our Sages: "A person in fetters cannot set himself free." Since every person's thought processes are today shaped by the environment of exile, many find it hard to see past that setting.
In the Garden of the Torah, vol. 1 pg. 82.

This is the challenge of exile - to be caught in the inertia of the mundane. The solution is inspiration - a jolt of G-dliness to shake us up in order to see past the routine. But once we have that jolt we must do something solid to hang onto that inspiration before it slips away from us.

Where do we find inspiration? Some might find it in nature. Some might find it watching a child at the zoo. I'm afraid that I am not that good. I personally believe in going to lectures by Torah teachers. A week ago I went to hear Rabbi Dr. Akiva Tatz - speaking about finding happiness. I believe he is one of the best speakers I have heard, no matter the topic he is worth hearing his perspective. That lecture got me to thinking about how I approach life's challenges.

The challenge, once you feel inspired, is to do something solid - to make a physical change in the world. To add something Jewish into your life. To bring the G-dliness that you felt into the physical world. To remove those limitations that keep you from exploring and bringing more meaning into your life.

These parshiot are about exile and redemption. We are all in exile - an exile that seems to make it difficult to connect to G-d. But it is that same exile that forces us to search for and depend on our own internal resources - to find and build that connection. To look for that inspiration. To find that inspiration.

That inspiration should bring us to connect with G-d, to bring spirituality into our lives and to improve the world around us. To make a world a dwelling place for G-d.

To learn more about Rabbi Dr. Akiva Tatz take a look at his website. To read his articles and get free MP3s of his lectures - click here and enjoy.

Jewish pride (National Post, 23 Dec 2009, Page A21)

A letter to the editor I wrote about Chanukah got published!

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Jewish pride

National Post
23 Dec 2009

Re: Jew Versus Jew, James Ponet, Dec. 18. James Ponet has deemed it his duty to tell us the dirty little secret that everyone (including religious Jews) already knows about — that the history of Hanukkah includes a Jewish civil war. What possibly could...read more...

Tech Tags: National Post newspaper LETTERS

Chanukah 5770!

Unbelievably we are arriving at Chanukah! I feel like we just celebrated Rosh HaShanah and then ... here we are.

Chanukah is not a Jewish alternative to Christmas - although some may think so around about this time in the malls. In fact, the history of Chanukah took place before Christianity existed at all.

Our narrative begins in 336 BCE - when Alexander the Great conquers the known world at the time. Alexander dies in 323 BCE, leaving his kingdom to his generals to fight it out amongst themselves. The kingdom gets split into parts - the Seleucids Greeks - located in the Syrian area of the empire end up in control of Israel. In 168 BCE, Antiochus IV begins sending out his decrees against the Jewish religion.

The Hasmonean Revolt lasted from 167-165 BCE (when the Maccabees recaptured the Temple from the Greeks) and from then until 140 to drive the rest of the Greeks out of Israel.

Antiochus wasn't out to destroy the Jews physically - to wipe us out like Hitler - but rather to destroy us spiritually. There were three specific decrees:
1. Banned Shabbat
2. Banned Rosh Chodesh/Beginning of the Jewish month
3. Banned Brit Milah/Circumcision

Banned Shabbat
Shabbat is a very special day. Since it does come once a week, people have a tendency to take it for granted. The question is - why is the Shabbat all that important to the Jewish People? To continue that question, why would Antiochus think that this was an important way to destroy us?

What is Shabbat? It's the seventh day of the week. The day, we know, that after six days of creation, that G-d "rested" and therefore we rest. On Friday night we make kiddush over wine. The kiddush includes these words...

You are blessed, Lord our G-d, the sovereign of the world, who made us holy with His commandments and favored us, and gave us His holy Shabbat, in love and favor, to be our heritage, as a reminder of the Creation. It is the foremost day of the holy festivals marking the exodus from Egypt...

It's not only the Creation we are reminded of, but also the Exodus itself. The Exodus is a turning point in Jewish history. We go down to Egypt as a tribe of 70 souls and are taken out by G-d as a nation.

Creation included everybody - all nations, everywhere. The Exodus was specific to the Jewish People. During the kiddush on Friday night we are saying that G-d takes a personal interest in us as a people - and in our everyday ordinary lives. G-d didn't just create the world and walk away, rather, G-d cares about each and every one of us. By banning the celebration of Shabbat - the Greeks were saying the exact opposite... G-d is impersonal and cannot be accessed by ordinary people. This is not Judaism. We do not need a middle-man to reach G-d.

Banned Rosh Chodesh/Beginning of the Jewish month
In today's world this would not have been a big deal. Knowing when the beginning of the Jewish month falls requires us to check our calendars and move on with our day. However, at the time of Chanukah, this was a big deal. The entire procedure of announcing the new moon (and the new month with it) required time and effort.

While all this is true, we must understand why the banning of Rosh Chodesh is important. If you don't know when the beginning of the month is - you won't know when the holidays fall. You won't know when to celebrate any of them whether it's Rosh HaShanah, Pesach, Sukkot or Shavuot, all holidays established in the Torah. Once Rosh Chodesh is eliminated, those holidays are soon to follow.

Banned Brit Milah/Circumcision
The Brit Milah symbolizes the direct connection between the Jewish People and G-d. By not allowing us to perform the brit milah the Greeks were effectively destroying the physical mark that identifies us as Jews.

All of these decrees were specifically designed to destroy our spiritual lives as Jews. By examining these decrees one by one, we can see how the Greeks were attempting to eliminate our connection to our heritage and to our G-d. They didn't want to to destroy us physically - like in Purim - but rather to make us like everyone else. We shouldn't be any different than our neighbors.

We celebrate two miracles on Chanukah.
* The first is the military victory - the few Jews against the many Greeks.
* The second is the miracle of the oil. The small flask of pure oil lasted eight days - long enough to make more pure oil for the Temple Menorah.

The Military Victory-
We have to remember that the Jews of that day were not warriors, they were farmers or merchants. The Greeks were an occupying force in the land - in other words soldiers. Mattityahu, father of Judah Maccabee, began the revolt only when the spiritual life of the Jewish People was in danger, not before. The revolt was not about political freedom - but about our spiritual lives.

The Oil-
When we light candles/oil - we think about the light of the Torah. The Torah is compared to a candle's light. While we are used to flipping a light switch to get our light these days - imagine a dark room with one candle. That one candle is enough to dispel a lot of darkness all on it's own. The Torah is a candle that we can illuminate the world and our own lives with.

During this time of Chanukah we should examine our own lives with respect to what the Maccabees were fighting against. What can we do to integrate our Judaism into our everyday lives? Ask yourself these questions:
* Do I light Shabbat candles Friday night?
* Do I know when the Jewish holidays are?
* How can I celebrate those holiday?
* Do I believe that G-d cares about me?
* How can I learn more about my heritage?

The world is many times a dark place. Each of us can be a Maccabee - bringing the light of the Torah into our lives. It is not an all or nothing process. Each new Jewish idea you learn, every Shabbat candle you light, every holiday you begin celebrating - brings another candle into a dark world and more light into your own life.

Happy Chanukah!

The How
Chanukah this year begins this coming Friday night (December 11th). We light the first candle of Chanukah before lighting our Shabbat candles. This is because once we light Shabbat candles - it is officially Shabbat and no more work can be done - which includes lighting even our Chanukah candles. [To find out more about the 'how' and the 'why' of Shabbat candles - click here.]

We continue lighting Chanukah candles until the last night - which is also a Friday night - December 18th.

We set up our candles from right to left, but always light the new candle first - which means lighting from left to right.

You can find the find the brachot/blessings in a siddur/prayer book - but here they are in English.

1. Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to kindle the Chanukah light.

2. Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who performed miracles for our forefathers in those days, at this time.

The next blessing is only recited on the first night or on the first occasion that a person lights a menorah during the course of Chanukah - The Sheh'Hechiyanu Blessing.
3. Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion.

For more information - including coloring pages for your kids - take a look here.

Breisheet/Genesis: Chayei Sarah - Using our Time Wisely

Sarah's lifetime was one hundred years, twenty years, and seven years... - Breisheet Chapter 23:1

This parsha begins with Sarah's death. As we see from the quote from the Torah - her life is broken into parts. There's a focus here on time.

We can divide our own lives into parts as well. Growing up, being a teenager, young adult, midlife and our older years. How have we been using our time?

We have two jobs in this world:
* To create yourself in the image of G-d.
* To make this world a dwelling place for G-d.

Everything we do should be focused on these goals. Every moment, day, week, month and year - should be examined to see if we've grown in learning Torah, doing mitzvot, helping our neighbors, and creating a world G-d would be proud to share with us.

We've all heard the expression - "killing time". Time is a precious gift, we don't know how much of it we've been allotted in this world. Why would we waste the time that we've been given?

If you have "free" moment - what are you going to do with it? Turn on the television or read a Jewish book? Give a dollar to tzedukah (charity) or buy a candy bar? Choices, big and small, face us every day - what are we going to choose?

Sarah used her time - every moment - focused on these two goals. She was a true partner with G-d. We see from her life that she knew what her job was here on earth. She knew that time matters - that we only get so much of it.

Take a moment to look at the way you spend your time during the day. Is most of it spent in front of the television? Listening to the radio? How much of it is dedicated to being a better Jew? Doing mitzvot? Learning new things?

Introduce 5 uninterrupted minutes into your day (every day) reading something Jewish that you're interested in. Not more - not less. You can even set a timer. Begin today - you will quickly see what a difference it will make.

Breisheet/Genesis: Parshat Vayeira

This is a great parsha for many different reasons. This is the parsha with the three angels, when Sarah was promised she would have Isaac, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot and his salty wife, Lot and his daughters, the travels of Avraham and Sarah, the birth of Isaac, the sending away of Hagar and Ishmael and the binding of Isaac.

There is so much here to choose from.

I want to start with a side note: We start this chapter with G-d visiting Avraham. Everything is in the Torah for a reason. This is a one liner. "Hashem appeared to Avraham" - why was G-d appearing (not literally, G-d doesn't have a physical form) to Avraham? Because He was visiting the sick. This is important since if G-d takes the time out of His schedule to visit the sick, there's no doubt that we too must take time to visit the sick as well.

In Chapter 18:2-7 Three angels were sent to visit Avraham after his circumcision. The moment Avraham saw what he thought were men, he ran to greet them. This is a fellow who only three days earlier had a circumcision! Then Avraham hastened to Sarah and asked her to make cakes. Then he ran to prepare a calf to eat. All of these are hurried actions to feed the guests. Run, run, run.

What we can learn from this is that we should not let a mitzvah get cold. In the words of the Sages, "When a mitzvah comes into your hand, do not let it pass."

There are so many opportunities that pass our way that we don't take advantage of. We figure that we'll catch the chance when it comes by our way again. Whether it's keeping kosher or Shabbat, or being friendly to a brother or sister, greeting another with a smiling face, going to a Torah class, visiting someone who isn't feeling well, feeding guests, or just cleaning after ourselves so someone else doesn't have to, we cannot let these opportunities pass us by.

Rabbi Hillel said, "Do not say, 'When I have free time, I will study' - since you may never have free time." (Pirkei Avos/Ethics of the Fathers 2:4)

This is a very true statement. Free time always seems to get swallowed up by all sorts of mundane activities. We need to take the time to grab that mitzvah walking by.

[Some information is taken from Don't Look Down by Rabbi Michael Haber]