Join Rabbi David Aaron on an exploration of the fifteen separate elements of the seder and how they combine to create one holistic experience. Listen Now … [Read more...]
Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron
March 14, 2013 by
(print version) SOUL-UTIONS TO PAIN The archetypical story about pain is recorded in the book of Job, who experiences horrible tribulations. Job's friends try to give him answers to explain his pain, but Job is not satisfied with any of their answers. In the end, G-d Himself speaks to Job and gives him resolve. Job's friends tell him that … [Read more...]
Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny – Portion of Vaikra
March 14, 2013 by
(print version) It wasn’t the danger, or the tension, or even the uncertainty of what lay ahead that was the most challenging part of being in Lebanon, it was the drain of the routine. Day in, day out, patrol after patrol, eight-hour shift after eight hour shift, Lebanon had a way of wearing you down, until it all became one big blur of … [Read more...]
Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron
March 8, 2013 by
(print option)Successful People are UnaccomplishedSix days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy, a day of solemn rest to the Lord. (Exodus 35:2) During the forty years that the Israelites wandered in the desert they carried with them a portable temple referred to as the Tabernacle or the Mishkan. The … [Read more...]
Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny – Portion of Va’yakhel Pekudei
March 8, 2013 by
(print version) There are sounds that you hear and things that you see that will always make you stop whatever you are doing. People yelling, the sound of an ambulance racing down a Jerusalem street, or even the backfire of a car, if you’ve just finished reserve duty...and always, the sound of a child crying. I recall one time I was … [Read more...]
Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron
March 1, 2013 by
(print version) Shabbat: Rest Assured Keep the Shabbat for it is holy unto you..... because in six days G-d made heaven and earth: and on the seventh day He abstained from work and rested. (Exodus 31: 14-17) Most people know what you don’t do on Shabbat: you don’t tear toilet paper, you don’t drive, you don’t write, you don’t turn … [Read more...]
Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny – Portion of Ki Tisa
March 1, 2013 by
(print version) There is an amazing story told about Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was on a speaking tour across India, part of his non-violent struggle for independence from the British. At that time, the only affordable mode of travel across the country was by rail. When there were no whites waiting for a train, the British rail company, in an … [Read more...]
Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron
February 21, 2013 by
(print version) Purim: Secrets Behind the Purim Mask Purim celebrates the salvation of the Jews from the wicked Haman's scheme to exterminate all the Jewish men, women, and children living in the Persian empire in the year 357 B.C.E., which essentially meant all the Jews in the world. Some of the commandments of Purim, such as hearing Megillat … [Read more...]
Small Tastings of Torah, Judaism and Spirituality from Rav Binny – Portion of Tetzaveh
February 21, 2013 by
(print version) “Dayeinu.” Such a powerful word: ‘Enough!’ We sing it every year on Passover, but the song is rather puzzling. If you take a careful look at the words, they are challenging, to say the least. “ If we had only been taken out of Egypt, without all the miracles, Dayeinu! It would have been enough... “If G-d had … [Read more...]
Sparks – by Rabbi David Aaron
February 14, 2013 by
(print version) The Simple Art of Ecstasy How to See Divine Presence Here and Now “ And let them make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell amongst them.” — Exodus 25:8 In this week's Torah Portion we encounter the precise design and magnificent beauty of the holy tabernacle and its' vessels. What is the relationship between this … [Read more...]
