Category: Holiday Teachings

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Shabbat Cholo Moed Pesach – 2010

Shabbat Cholo Moed Pesach April 2, 2010

Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith

It is an ancient custom to read the Song of Songson Shabbat Cholo Moed Pesach. The Song of Songs is described by the great Rabbi Akiva, the holy of holies. Why does Rabbi Akiva place this song above all others? Rashi, in his introduction to his commentary on the Song of Songs gives us a very profound insight into why this song is deemed the holiest of all. Rashi explains that King Solomon saw in a prophetic vision, the Jewish Nation destined to suffer two exiles and two destructions. In their exile they will mourn as they recollect upon their previous relationship with Hashem while they were living as G-d’s chosen people in the land of Israel. They will say “let us go and return to our first husband.” They will repent over their sins that brought them out of the land and will remember Hashem’s kindness and the good that He promised them at the end of days. In this background, with Divine inspiration, King Solomon wrote the Song of Songs portraying a widow desiring to return to her husband as she recalls the love they shared as youngsters and admits to her sins that caused their separation. At the same time her husband feels her sorrow and remembers her kindness, beauty, and talent that first brought them together and bounded them with a burning love and informs her that this separation is not a separation for she still is his wife and he her husband and he is destined to return to her.

There are those that look upon this holy song with secular eyes not being able to see the true depth of it thus putting it on the bookshelf with other love songs. Harav Avraham Isaac Kook zt”l calls such people cross-eyed midgets that are crawling around the lowest level of stones of a fortified tower on a hill and measure the tower’s height that reaches the clouds with a mere outstretch of their short arms. They say that Rabbi Akiva called the Song of Songs the holy of holies because of his personal love story with the daughter of Kalba Savua, Rachel, and therefore it meant so much for him. Rav Kook continues that those with pure hearts will see Rabbi Akiva in his greatness. Rabbi Akiva that laughs when he sees a fox come out of the holy of holies in the temple, because as the love of G-D flowed from the depths of his heart the future was close to his uplifted soul as he pictured Rome an its pagan ways dissipate and vanish giving way to the light of Zion that will shine forever. It was Rabbi Akiva that while the Romans were combing his flesh with combs of iron was able to say “all my life I remorse over the verse that one must serve G-D with all his soul when will such an opportunity come to my hands and I will do it in his dying breath. Rabbi Akiva was able to utter the Shema Yisrael and his soul left his body while saying the word one (Achad)! Only Rabbi Akiva can say that the entire world is not worthy as the day that the Song of Song was given to Israel for all the scriptures are holy but the song of song is the holy of holies!

As we read the Song of Songs in this very generation of the bride being returned to her husband, we merit the witnessing of the fruition of prophesy. We have to be able to discern what is really happening today, and uncover all the husks that are trying to cover over this reality. The light of the Holy Land, of it’s people returned to her, will overcome all obstacles.

“Many waters cannot extinguish the love, neither can the floods drown it.”Song of Songs 8:7

Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith

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Shabbat HaGadol- Pesach – 2010

Shabbat HaGadol- Pesach March 26, 2010

 Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith

The Shabbat before the holiday of Pesach is known as Shabbat Hagadol, the great Shabbat. Many explanations have been given by our sages as to the reason this Shabbat is called “Hagadol”. The famous Rabbi Yaakov Ben Asher (1269-1343) in his Tur Shulchan Aruch writes “The Shabbat before Pesach is called Shabbat Hagadol because of the miracle that occurred on it. That Shabbat, the Shabbat of leaving Egypt, took place on the tenth of Nissan. That same day the Jewish people were commanded to take a lamb, the very animal that was worshipped by the Egyptians, and to tie it to their beds preparing to offer it to G-D on the 14 day of Nissan. The Egyptians observing this then asked the Jews – “What you are doing?” The Jews answered that they are preparing to offer their lamb to Hashem. The Egyptians were grinding their teeth and churning their stomachs in anger but were not able to do anything to prevent this Pesach sacrifice from taking place. The great miracle was that the Jewish people, although a slave nation, nevertheless, were able to find the courage to overcome their fears and defy the evil Egyptians their tormentors and say – “We are going to slaughter your false gods.”

An insight into this unique event is that the Jewish nation was on the way to leave the world of slavery to serve Hashem in complete freedom! The Egyptian world power was entrenched totally in idolatry and lust. The Jewish slave nation that they oppressed and held hostage were holding within them the light of G-D which was waiting to shine forth. As we all know from our prophets, the Jewish nation has an important function in this world to be a light unto the nations. Am Yisrael didn’t waste any time in fulfilling this mission on their last four days as slaves, they were commanded in practicing out this mission in Egypt when they took the Egyptian idols and tied them to their bed posts. They were declaring to the Egyptians that they must stop this idol worship and worship only Hashem!

Idol worship can be defined as any worship that focuses their worship to a creation and not to the Creator. The Egyptians, instead of worshiping Hashem, were worshiping His animals. Throughout history the nations of the world have replaced the Egyptain lambs with other forms of pagan idolatry as we know many have turned man into a god. The Talmud in the tractate of Sanhedrin brings down in the name of Rabbi Nechemaya that the generation of the coming of the Messiah the nations of the world will become heretics. The famous Jewish commentator Rabbi Don Yitzchak Abbarbanel (1437-1508) explains that the Talmud is teaching us that the gentiles of the world will rebel against their own religions. They will no longer accept their pagan ways and will truly seek the truth. They will turn to the Jewish nation for guidance. We must be there to reach out to them and show them the proper way. This is a process which is taking place right now throughout the world and will eventually lead to Hashem being the one G-D for all the nations. ” And Hashem will be king over all the earth; in that day the G-D will be the only one, and His name the only one.” Zachariah 14:9

Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith

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Parshat Tizaveh- Purim – 2010

Parshat Tizaveh- Purim February 25, 2010

In this week’s Parasha there is a clear hint to the holiday of Purim. In Parshat Tizaveh Moshe Rabbeinu is commanded to tell Aaron the High Priest to make special garments and ornaments called the bigdey kehunah. (Exodus 28:12) “The two stones placed on the shoulders of the High Priest, (each one symbolizing 6 tribes) will be a remembrance of the twelve tribes of Israel.” This imagery brings to mind the first station in the Land of Israel when Joshua entered the land straight to the shoulders of Israel- Shechem (literally- shoulder), to Har Gerizzim and Har Eval the two mountains that received six tribes on each. The Priests stood in the valley of Shechem and blessed the nation. This occurred in the tribal portion of Yosef who signifies unity, who gathered all the brothers to him. The ideal of achdut (unity) is what protected and blessed the Bnei Yisrael. This is what Haman noticed about the Jewish people and it disturbed him greatly. Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is one nation scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people and they do not observe the king’s laws, so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain in peace.” (Ether 3:8) As long as the Jewish nation remained united they were able to conquer the land and defeat their enemies. Later, as we read in the book of Judges, they began to assimilate and fall apart. They became exposed, endangered and most of all disillusioned. Their faith dropped. They lost their national and religious identity. This was a good time for the enemy to strike.

The first scene in the book of Ester has Achashverosh, the evil king that swears to annihilate Israel, dressed up in the bigdey kehunah (the very ones we read about in this parsha) at his banquet. This was a clear act of disrespect for the sanctity of the Priesthood, and the Jewish people, but worse, the text vividly describes how the Jews who participated in the merrymaking there, at this point of the game ate, drank, and danced the disco of peace, love and music for all… (Oh the illusion of assimilation!) There was one person that stood in holy chutzpah and did not bow down to Achashverosh and Haman – Mordechai the Jew, from the tribe of Binyamin. When Yaakov came to the Yabok on the Jordan after leaving Lavan’s house for once and for good, he met Esav, who he feared. The Torah describes how all the camps of his household bowed before Esav, one after the next. The only one not to bow before him was Binyamin. ( He was not born yet.)

Achmanijad was invited to speak at a famous University in New York. The liberal Jews said, “what the heck, let him talk”. Goldstone, a Jew, thinks he’s placating and discoing the dance of peace. But a Jew is a Jew is a Jew. Purim is not even a story of banquets, partying, and masquerading. It is a scenario familiar to us all. Whether it’s a Haman, Pope Urban II in 1095, a Nazi, or a Chamas terrorist- they DO NOT differentiate if we are partying with the world or being actively Jewish. It is those that don’t bow down, like Mordechai Hayehudi, that have the holy chutzpah and wear the uniform of an idea, the ones that call for achdut (unity), the ones that go to fight for the truth- they are the heroes- They have internalized the message of Purim.

Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

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All Torah Teachings Holiday Teachings Succoth

Succoth – Rain! 2009

Hoshanah Rabbah October 9, 2009

The renowned Abarbanel(1437-1508) teaches us that the three major holidays: Pesach, Shavuot, and Succot each represent a stage in building the Jewish Nation. Pesach is the leaving of Egypt and the formation of the Jewish nation, Shavuot is the receiving of the Torah. The holiday of Succot represents the coming into the land of Israel. The first two are very clear but why does Succot represent coming to Israel? Succot is the time where we are judged on how much rain we are going to get in the coming winter. Almost everything about succot is centered on this idea. The holiday of Succot is called Chag Haasif the holiday of harvest because on Succot time we just completed an agricultural year and reaped the fruits of our hard work and another cycle begins. The judgment on rain will determine how much bounty we will merit in in the coming year. Most countries have a bountiful supply of water throughout the year as G-D lets nature provide them water whether they are deserving of it or not. The land of Israel, on the other hand, does not have this luxury. Because of the tremendous holiness of the land there is a different system of rules that apply to it. As the verse says in Deuteronomy 11:12 “a land for which Hashem has high expectations; the eyes of God are always on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year”The amount of water we will get is directly related to our Divine service. Only if we prove deserving of the gift of water we will receive it. The land Of Israel is in another realm altogether. The tremendous spirituality of the Land and Nation of Israel require a very high standard of purity and righteousness. Let us pray that the Jewish nation will live up to its important goal and be a true light to the Nations. Let it be a very rainy and bountiful year!

Please join us in prayer:

A Prayer for Time of Drought

Answer us, G-D of the Universe, with the power of mercy the One who chose His people Israel to proclaim His greatness and honor. The One who hears prayer, give rain and dew on the earth, satisfy the entire world from Your bounty and fill our hands from Your blessings and from treasures, the gift of Your hand. Protect and save this year from everything bad and from all types of destructive agents and from all types of suffering and provide it with hope and peace. Have mercy and compassion on us and on all our produce and fruits and bless us with abundant rains that we may merit life, satisfaction, and peace as in the good years. Remove from us plague, the sword, and famine, evil beast, captivity, and destruction, the evil urge, bad and harsh illness and bad and harsh events. Decree for us good decrees from before You, let Your mercy be revealed over Your other attributes, Treat Your children with the attribute of mercy and accept with compassion and desire our prayer. Amen!

Chag Sameyach, Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith

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All Torah Teachings Holiday Teachings Succoth Written Teachings

Succoth 2009 – Hashem hugging us

Sukkot 2009–10–03

At the beginning of fall, at the height of harvest time, we celebrate Sukkot: Z’man Matan Simchateynu, the season of our rejoicing. The storehouses are full; we have a full new year to anticipate. We are told to go out of the solid walls of our homes and spend the coming days in a makeshift booth(sukkah) with no ceiling, only some branches with a few leaves (s’chach) here and there. It seems a little out of the ordinary, but this commandment has been practiced every year since the clouds of glory covered over us in days of yore.

Here in Israel, it is a perfect time of year. Mornings, through the canopy of s’chach, you can see tens of white clouds floating by on the powder blue sky. In the evenings, when you lie down on your bed, hundreds of stars glimmer in the dark ink over your head. The timelessness of looking up at the sky of Israel, the feeling that this moment in which you are in the sukkah could be now, or centuries ago- you can’t tell which.

There is a particular blessing we say only on Sukkot: “May the compassionate One erect David’s fallen booth”. Looking back on the nights of Sukkot in despairing times like the Holocaust, the pogroms in Europe and Arab countries, the evenings of the Inquisition, and more recent times like the Sukkot of Gush Katif and the North Shomron that were uprooted here in the Land ( in these times! )- these are the fallen booths of David. It seems like sometimes there are no walls and there is no safe side. As a people, and also personally we come in contact with many many obstacles that make our lives difficult…But, there is always a morning- we know that “A new light will shine out of Zion”. In the morning we perform the mitzvah of lulav and etrog. We strengthen ourselves in perfect faith and know that “come what may” with the help of Hashem, we will continue to stand till the end of days when the crown (Keter) will be placed on the head of King David (Malchut)- and so, the connection of thinking and doing will be brought to a perfect state. This is what we pray for on Sukkot when we place the s’chach ( Crown- Keter) on the vessel of Kingship ( Sukkat David ).

There is a concept in Kabbalah that overcoming obstacles creates a new vessel to receive G-d’s light. G-d will never “push you” though, over your limit. If there are obstacles in your path right now, it is because you are actually being given a chance to perfect yourself and ascend to a higher level. For this you need humility. This is a hard task when we live today in a world that stresses boosting up your ego, strengthening your assertiveness, it’s a “dog eat dog” world. It wasn’t “kochi veotzem yadi asah li et hachayil hazeh” (by my hard work, I reaped the earnings) but, Hashem blessed me with this! Hashem did it for me. The Sukkah, in it’s flimsiness (it can be beautiful beyond words- and should be), in it’s totally temporary dwelling-place as it is tells us- Hashem is my wall- who am I anyway?… Hashem is hugging us; we are entering Him as we realize we are no more than a cloud that wafts by, or a tiny star in a myriad of galaxies.

Chag Sameyach- Moadim Le’simcha, Leah Goldsmith

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All Torah Teachings Holiday Teachings Rosh Hashana New Year Written Teachings

Rosh Hashanah the concealed holiday – 2009

Rosh Hashanah the concealed holiday September 18, 2009

Our sages bring down in the tractate of Rosh Hashanah (11A) a list of events that occurred on Rosh Hashana (New Year) two of them pertain directly to Yosef. He was conceived by his mother Rachel on this day and it was on Rosh Hashana that he was released from prison. In addition, it is mentioned that the slave labor of the Jewish people in Egypt ceased precisely at this time. In order for us to try and understand the connection between Yosef and the stopping of slave labor to Rosh Hashana we must first take a quick glance in what the meaning of Rosh Hashana is and why we celebrate it. In the written law very little is mentioned about the Rosh Hashana holiday. In the book of Leviticus 23:24 it says “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by shouting, it shall be a holy day. In the book of Numbers 29:1 it says “on the seventh month on the first of the month it shall be to you a holy day you shall not do any work and it shall be a day of shouting” Afterwards the Torah mentions the various sacrifices that are offered on this day. What is so unusual is that all other holidays the reason behind the celebration is clearly outlined in the Torah whereas on this day the Torah does not explain why we celebrate the holiday. Even the word “Teruah” where most translate as sounding trumpets literally means shouting. As we learn out in the book of Joshuah chapter 6:5 “It shall be that when they make a long blast with the sheep’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead.”Here the verse clearly distinguishes between the horn of a sheep and the “Teruah” – the shouting of the nation. In other words, the major mitzvah of the day blowing the Shofar is also not mentioned directly in the verse it is only alluded to in the word shouting. This means that all the laws of this day are concealed in our oral traditions!

In addition it is brought down in the oral law that this special day of Rosh Hashan is the Day of Judgment for the entire world, (see the first Mishna of Rosh Hashana) this also is not mentioned in the written Torah – Why did Hashem want to hide this and only reveal us these details in the oral law? In the book of Psams 81:4-6, King David reveals a little more about this special day by clearly mentioning the Mitzvah of blowing the Shofar, at the same time he alludes to the secrecy of this special day. He does mention the connection between Joseph and bondage in Egypt to this special day. Blow the horn at the beginning of the month, at its appointed time on our feast day. For it is a statute for Israel, An ordinance of the God of Jacob. He established it for a testimony in Joseph When he went throughout the land of Egypt. I heard a language that I did not know: When do we blow the horn on the beginning of the month on its appointed time? – on our New Year.

Interestingly, the Hebrew word for its appointed time is called “Keseh” – which comes from the root meaning to hide. In other words this appointed time is centered on hiding. What is G-d hiding from us? All the other holidays come out on full moons this is the only one that is at the beginning of the month. The entire world is now closing in on the completion of the sixth thousandth year since man’s creation, where our sages teach us that we have the job through rectification of reaching world perfection at the conclusion of these sixth thousand years. This is achieved by revealing Hashem in the world. One of the most basic concepts of creation is to realize that G-D withdrew Himsef when he created the world in order to allow for man to have free will. It is then our duty to rediscover our creator. This is the major principle of creation. G-D created man in order for man to connect and unite with Him. On Rosh Hashana Hashem judges the world to see if we are getting closer to the goal of creation. Every person is judged – he is asked – what did you do to help the world achieve this unity with G-D? Every nation is judged as well on a national scale to see what they have done in regards to this purpose.The Nation of Israel has the role of being teachers to the world and helping everyone reach this special level of connecting to Hashem. This can only be done when the nation of Israel reaches its proper spiritual height.

When we were slaves in Egypt this special function of our purpose in this world was hidden. We were slaves who would ever expect from a slave nation that they will have such as special purpose in this world. This is what our sages were telling us when they taught us that on Rosh Hashana the slave labor in Egypt ended. Although there was still 6 months left in Egypt until we finally left but the beginning of our redemption began with the end of slave labor: Joseph, who left prison on Rosh Hashana, represents the freedom of the beginning of redeeming his family from the famine and establishing the basis of the Jewish nation. But the nation still had to go through the 210 years of bondage before being liberated. The sound of liberty is represented in the Jubilee year.

Amazingly, it is from the Jubilee year that we learn our in the oral law the mitzvah of blowing the Shofar on Rosh Hasahnah. You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths of years, namely, forty-nine years ‘You shall then sound a ram’s horn abroad on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall sound a horn all through your land. shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.” When Moses blesses each tribe he blesses the tribe of Joseph with having the strength of a bull and the horns of a Re’em. (See Deuteronomy 33:17). Our sages teach us that his horns had the strength of a Bull and the beauty of the Re’em. Yosef had the special gift of the horn. To sound the horn of freedom for the Jewish Nation. Joshuah who came form the house of Joseph conquered Jericho by having the priests sound the horns of the Shofar. The actual word mentioned there is Yovel meaning Jubilee in Hebrew. In closing the concept of Rosh Hashana means concealing the redemption of the world that slowly comes closer and closer each and every year by revealing more and more the presence of G-D in the world. The sounds of the Shofar which first represented the freedom of Joseph and later the beginning our redemption from Egypy and then the contuinuation by entering the land of Israel. We will continue to sound our Shofar until we reach our final redemption when it says in Isaiah 27:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great Shofar shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

Dear readers it has been nine years since the desecration of the tomb of Joseph almost to the day(the 9th of Tishray Taf Shin Samech Alef) we ask Hashem especially at this time of renewal to reinstate the Jewish presence in the land of Shechem and return to us this our holy site.

I take this opportunity to bless all our readers with a Shanah Tovah Umituka – may the blessing that Hashem gave to Yosef “Kol Ma SHehu asah Hu Hitzlicah” – everything upon which he touched succeeded” – be upon you!

Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith .

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Tisha B’Av – The Nine Days – 2009

The Nine Days July 24, 2009

The nature of the 9th of Av and the days leading up to it can only be described as one of dread. It is a time when “exaggerated vision” comes into motion. The overstressing, overestimating, amplified by the essence of judgment on this date give it the title “catastrophic times”. Truly it is time of calamity for the Jewish people, a time that signifies the meltdown of The Kingdom of Israel in Israel and the staggering blows they have had to face since then.

It was on this date that the spies that were sent by Moses came back with a “bad report” about the Land of Israel. It brought fear into the hearts of Am Yisrael upon hearing the intensified stories of a land that eats its inhabitants. When the spies made the people panic, they said they wanted to go back into exile- to Egypt. They didn’t want the land G-d promised them. This was more than an offense to the Shechinah. This reaction of “exaggerated vision” deformed that generation and most of them died in the desert. The 9th of Av signifies multiple severities. This was the very day, in more ancient a time, at the beginning of the foundation Am Yisrael, when Yosef was thrown into the pit and sold for 4 pairs of shoes. In the not so distant past, the Jews of Gush Katif were thrown out of their kitchens, living rooms, bedrooms, babies grabbed out of their cribs and tens of synagogues bulldozed to the ground. Under the influence of the element of fire, the symbol of Divine severity, again the brothers were sold. But instead of 4 pairs of shoes only rockets launched unto Israel’s southern cities. 4 years later, most of these people STILL have no permanent homes. Eicha!!!

We learn that sinat chinam(hatred for no reason) was the reason for the destruction of the Holy Temple, which in fact happened on this day precisely both times (first and second temples). 14 million Jewish people lost their lives in the Holocaust that banished them from their land. A year later, exactly on this date, a pagan Temple was erected on the Temple Mount. While the survivors were being taken to exile and sold as slaves they were forced to run and not shed a tear. If they over-rode those rules they were put immediately to death. (Therefore the verse: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and also wept when we remembered Zion”.)

If on Pesach we eat Matzah, and on Sukkot we sit in booths, on the 9th of Av we are commanded to shed a tear. We today, who stand in the field of view in the renewed State of Israel, at the time that prophesies, are unfolding every moment MUST pray for unity, brotherly love, protection, and that the knowledge of Hashem’s word will reach the far distant corners of the world, and into the hearts of our leaders and kinsmen. We pray for a turning of the tables. We pray that Mashiach who is born on the 9th of Av will come as a perfect leader and redeem the world. As we shed a tear about the past, let us rectify our vision for the future in loving our fellow man and building the Land in these merits.

Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

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All Torah Teachings Holiday Teachings Pesach

Pesach – Malchut(Kingship) 2009

Pesach April 2, 2009

The Talmud refers to Nissan as the month of liberation. “In Nissan our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt and in Nissan we will be redeemed.” (Rosh Hashanah 11a) The result of this emancipation is expressed by the meaning behind the word “Peh-sach” – talking mouth. The central mitzvah of this month of Nissan takes place on the seder night when we actively tell of the Exodus. We read from the Haggadah – the book that talks and tells. If Rosh Hashanah has us listening to the shofar, Sukkot sitting in the sukkah, Chanukah looking at the candles, Purim drinking wine and making merry; then Pesach has us speaking and telling about our redemption. (I’m not talking about all the stuff we have to do to make the house kosher before Pesach!).

In Kabbalah, the sphere of Kingship (Malchut), the ultimate sphere that receives the lights of all the other spheres, is represented by the mouth. On the seder night we sit like kings, reclined on pillows and we are free to tell all. A person not able to verbalize and convey his feelings is likened to a person in exile, a slave. Shackles lock over his ability to “say what he thinks”. If a person is in a healthy state of mind and feels his independence, integrity and lives his goals, he can describe reality as he sees it, not worrying about someone else mastering over him. It goes without saying that we know from the recent past about Jewish people living under the “Iron Curtain” and the locks they had to put on their mouths. The Jewish community in Venezuela and Sweden aren’t in a much better situation today. But even those who feel like they are “living in a free land” conform to the culture of their time and place and voluntarily become slaves to that culture subconsciously being careful to blend in, keep quiet and not stand out. Being in exile for so many years has taken away the confidence we feel when we speak about -YES all of Israel, YES keeping the Torah, YES to working the Land. When we say, “Yes!” to these things, the words of the prophet comes to mind: “My spirit that is with you, and My word that I have placed in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, or the mouths of your children or children’s children. Now and forever.” (Isaiah 59:21)

Together, our dear readers and ourselves say “Yes” to a stronger Israel. We appreciate your great support over the years for the community of Itamar. Your actions demonstrate clearly your love for Eretz Yisrael. YOU HAVE MADE A STATEMENT! I want to take this opportunity to wish all of our readers a very happy and healthy Pesach. May Hashem bless you all with much bounty and good health. We extend always an open invitation to you to come and visit. Just give us a call.

All the best, Shabbat Shalom and Happy Pesach Leah Goldsmith

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All Torah Teachings Holiday Teachings Pesach Purim Written Teachings

Purim Pesach – Redemption 2009

Purim – Pesach March 13, 2009

The thirty days that exist between Purim and Pesach bring with them an association of different ideas. For some people, it is the budding of the trees, the sweet earth becoming warm with beautiful spring. For others it’s time to start taking action in readying the home for Pesach. The feeling of coming out of the seclusion winter brings with it also can be described by many people too, a kind of redemption. If Purim has us preparing slowly towards it, Pesach brings with it a sense of immediacy, like we’re leaving Egypt RIGHT NOW! The overrunning mood of this time is making a personal appearance(whether in costume or not) in the new start of 1) the natural process of redemption and later 2) the spiritual and physical rescue that happened to our forefathers through miracles and it’s affect upon us today as we recall the coming out of Egypt.

1) The redemptive process starts first with actions we take and is confined to the natural order of the world. How does it happen? By good people doing good things, like Mordechai and Ester. By the acts of chesed and lovingkindness that we do on Purim by sending manot and giving charity, the opening is made here on earth to receive the Divine light. This process of regeneration in essence paved the road to the rebuilding of the 2nd Temple. Purim is the holiday of Joy. Our Rabbis say that being happy always is the greatest of mitzvoth. The joy we feel here despite what we are faced against, in knowing that Hashem is all good and wants only good is what creates the opening for Divine Light. This is when we can overcome the klippah (husk) of Amalek.

2) Pesach is the first of the 3 festivals but preparations for it are made on Purim. When the opening is made by our actions, Hashem Himelf pulls the opening wider and showers miracles upon us. This is Pesach. The days leading up to Pesach are the transition days from our actions, mainly prayer and good deeds, to witnessing real miracles. Last week I was at a wedding. Under the chuppah it is standard practice to put ashes on the head of the groom in memory of the Temple that has been destroyed for 2,000 years. This particular groom has the ashes of the Tomb of Joseph, Kfar Darom ( a settlement from Gush Katif ) and the Temple Mount placed on his head. Recent and distant tragedies that befell these most holy places. Our relationship with Hashem on Pesach is like a bride standing under the canopy with her groom. It is the union of Israel with God himself. We acknowledge the pain of the past but every new home being built by every new couple forming new generations is the redemption itself. We pray that the Tomb of Joseph in Shechem is restored, as well as all of the communities of Gush Katif and our Temple in Jerusalem will stand everlasting.

3) We pray for the final redemption to take place when “God will be king over all the world, on that day, God will be one and His Name one” (Zecharia 14:9). Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

Shabbat Shalom Leah Goldsmith

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All Torah Teachings Holiday Teachings Purim Written Teachings

Purim – Aday Lo Yada – 2009

Purim – Aday Lo Yada March 6, 2009

Purim comes out of a box we keep stored way up in the tip top of our closet.

Every year when it is dripping wet outside and a bright green in the valley, cold and windy but warm inside our home, our kids (who have grown to be my size) pull the magical box down and begin the ritual of the month of Adar. They parade through the house singing and dancing, happy with new additions stuck into this box. There are costumes of Sadaam Hussein, Bin Laden and other Hamans of the recent past that have not even hid their desire to destroy us. We have other costumes of Queen Ester, witches, Tinker Bell, Spider Man, a Hannah Montana wig and plenty of masks, veils and other disguises too. From the bottom of the box there are relics from the early days of Itamar, wreaths of fake flowers that we used to adorn the head of our then pet, Lolita the donkey. She led the Purim procession through the little row of houses.

There is a Purim that especially stands out in my memory; the day we pulled off the masking tape from the windows and came out of the sealed rooms. It was the year of Operation Desert Storm when Sadam’s missiles flew directly over our heads and exploded in Israel’s coastline cities. As whole buildings were demolished, people walked out without a scratch. It was a low that became a high. When you come to think of it, there are always missiles falling on Israel in different places. All the more so, it seems that there are endless miracles. Our enemies keep coming at us each time wearing different masks. Amalek is always rearing its head. As we prepare our costumes for this year, Iran is reaching the capacity of producing 50,000 centrifuges. Tachliss this means that right now Persia threatens to wipe Israel off the face off the earth. Luckily, we manage to overcome crisis when zero hour hits. Nevertheless, time is running out as Iran’s nuclear capacity perfects itself. True, Purim is a time that the imagination runs wild but don’t let anyone tell you this is all in your mind…

King Achashverosh had a wild imagination himself. He thought that it was over for Am Yisrael (who were exiled into the idolatrous kingdoms of Babylon and Persia just short of seventy years before his reign) They ate forbidden food, worshipped idols, and intermarried, descending to a disreputable low point. This is when Achashverosh made a great feast for all of his subjects using the holy vessels of the Temple as his silver service in a totally sacrilegious act. Many Jews participated in this banquet. Mordechai stood firm and did not give any gesture of respect to Haman, the evil advisor to the King. Ester, incognito, playacted with this wicked man who planned to kill her and all of her people. She eventually unmasked her real identity to the King and overturned the decree. Her bravado is followed by Am Yisrael demonstrating gevurah in driving out and killing their enemies. Shortly after this episode a very significant turn in events that reshaped history happened when Ezra and Nechemia returned to Israel with a small contingency and built the 2nd Temple. There were many more obstacles to overcome, (there was no Nefesh B’nefesh then or AACI ) but they learned from Mordechai and Ester’s examples that “When there’s a will there’s a way”.

Purim is the holiday that focuses on the display of different kinds of people with different identities. While we live in a generation that emulates celebrities, we look to our biblical celebrities and try and learn from their stories year after year. That’s what Purim is all about. Sometimes when someone does not totally reveal himself/herself at first there is a reason for this. This is what we learn from Ester. Also in the story of Yosef Hatzaddik, it took quite a few chapters in that saga until he let his brothers finally know who he really was. Rachel and Leah’s identities were also disguised. (Not to mention the ugly duckling!) Sometimes, even Hashem is not mentioned in a story full of miracles like in Megillat Ester. There is a covering over of reality itself like the clouds of glory that covered over Am Yisrael in the desert. Wearing a costume and disguising oneself is part of the mitzvah of Purim. Maybe it is exactly at this time that we ask ourselves, “Who am I. What am I?” (I sure had an identity crisis last year as a friend and I dressed up as a camel. I was the 2 back legs).

In Masechet Sanhedrin (Daf tzaddik zayin, A) it is revealed that in the final days of the redemption, our reality will be in such a state of topsy – turviness that what is up will be perceived to be down and vise versa. Today we experience this in all realms: The weather is bizarre with the unusual effects of El Ninjo- flooding in deserts, dryness in usually wet places. The stock market is erratic as well as the global economic situation. The world media disguises real circumstances causing millions of people to be brainwashed and ignorant. “This overall divergence,” the gemara says, “will completely cover over the truth.” What’s up is down and what’s down is up, like “adey lo yada!”

The happiness we feel on Purim should surpass any level of rejoicing we experience throughout the year. It is our red letter day as we delight in knowing that as we dance and clap our hands in joy we are abating the harshest of decrees against us. The happiness we feel that we know in complete faith that what goes down must come up, what is hidden will eventually be revealed, and this is the greatest mitzvah of all!

Happy Purim, Shabbat Shalom Leah Goldsmith