Rabbi Michael Leo SamuelOne little candle can create much light. The candle’s light reminds us that our mission in life is not to shake up the world but to fasten its pegs, not to climb to the heavens and holler and roar, but to walk softly on the ground, not to create a storm but rather a dwelling-an earthly home for God’s reality to become the center of our reality.
One of my favorite 20th century Jewish mystics is Rav Abraham Isaac Kook. In ...
Learn More ShareOnce upon a time, some American tourists went to Mexico on a vacation; they toured some hot springs, where they saw the natives washing their clothes! One tourist said to his guide, “My, isn’t it wonderful how Mother Nature provides her children with hot water to wash their clothes?” The tour-guide replied, “So you might think, Senor, but the natives complain that Mother Nature doesn’t provide the soap!”
It’s been said that the hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables ...
Learn More ShareMeditations: Rediscovering the Meaning of Rosh Hashanah
As I prepare my thoughts for Rosh Hashanah. I become aware of time. Yes, the New Year has arrived. We are blessed to have received it. It ’s true that for many of us the arrival of any New Year on some level makes us a bit anxious. Why is that?!!Time marches on …. We are all a bit older, but are we necessarily wiser? Rosh Hashanah stresses that while time is fleeting, we ...
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The Sins of Swiss Neutrality
During the week of Yom HaShoah, while Holocaust services were being observed all over the world, the United Nations reconvened its Durban Conference to discuss human rights issues and violations that are taking place throughout the world. Traditionally, the onus of blame has always been directed at Israel, as if all the other human rights issues of the world seem to pale, in comparison e.g., the genocide ...
Learn More ShareCategories: Holidays, Holocaust Related Issues, Israel, Jewish History, judaism, Political Commentaries
Tags: Holocaust, Iranian threat, The Dangers of Neutrality