Vayera – October 30th, 2015
S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
This Shabbat:
- Friday Candle Lighting: 5:44 pm
- Shabbat Ends: 6:31pm
Torah Message:
The beginning of this Parsha describes Avraham’s interaction with three men who are referred to as ‘Malachim’, a word that is commonly translated as ‘angels’, or messengers of G-d, who are sent to perform a particular task.
It is difficult to describe this encounter in terms of a normal prophetic experience during which the prophet is either asleep or in some other semi-conscious state. Here, Avraham was clearly fully awake. They also end up interacting with Lot in Sodom and it is clear that Lot was not a prophet like Avraham.
In order to explain this unusual interaction, Abarbanel notes that the commentators fall into two categories. Ibn Ezra and Ralbag are among those who say that theMalachim were actual men sent by G-d. Others, including Rashi, Ramban and Rashbam, describe them as spiritual entities, which were miraculously provided with a physical human body.
Lech-Lecha – October 23rd, 2015
S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
This Shabbat:
- Friday Candle Lighting: 5:51 pm
- Shabbat Ends: 6:38pm
Torah Message:
Abarbanel offers three reasons why Avram had to leave Haran. First of all, the region was full of heretics who did not recognize G-d’s existence. Secondly, these idolaters — who were his friends, neighbors and relatives — were opposed to his “proselytizing”. They saw what had happened to him in Ur Kasdim, where he was miraculously saved from a fiery furnace, and forbade him from continuing his teaching. Thirdly, Avram was reluctant to correct the behavior of his father and brother who were manufacturers of idols. G-d does not tell him explicitly where to go, in order to prevent his family from following him.
Noach- October 16th, 2015
S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
This Shabbat:
- Friday Candle Lighting: 5:59 pm
- Shabbat Ends: 6:46pm
Torah Message:
The Great Flood
At the end of Parshat Bereishet the Torah states, “And Gd saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth… I will blot out man, whom I created, from the face of the ground.” (Ber. 6:5-7) G-d is stating clearly that man’s evil nature is the cause of the destructive flood. However, in Parshat Noach, at the conclusion of the flood,G-d says, “I will not continue to curse again the ground because of man, since the nature of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I continue to smite every living being.” (Ber. 8:21) Here G-d is saying that man’s evil nature is the reason for notbringing another flood.
Bereshit- October 9th, 2015
S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
This Shabbat:
- Friday Candle Lighting: 6:08 pm
- Shabbat Ends: 6:55 pm
Torah Message:
The narrative of Cain and Abel (Kayin and Hevel) presents numerous difficulties. Why did they choose their respective professions? Why was only Hevel’s sacrifice accepted? Why does G-d challenge Kayin’s justifiable anger? Why does Kayin murder his brother, and why does he lament his punishment of being forced to wander? He should have been executed for murder!
Kayin, the farmer, saw that the ground was the source of all life. His name, which means “acquisition”, indicates that he was rooted in materialism. Hevel, as a shepherd, pursued the less material objectives of leadership, honor and power, as the shepherd is the leader of his flocks. The word “hevel” which connotes the ethereal is an indication of his lack of concern for materialism. Kayin, the firstborn, chose farming, since plant life precedes animal life, just as acquisitions precede honor. Hevel, on the other hand, viewed shepherding as a higher and more honorable profession, as evidenced later by the Patriarchs.
Abarbanel on Succot- October 3rd, 2015
S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
This Shabbat:
- Friday Candle Lighting: 6:17 pm
- Shabbat Ends: 7:04 pm
Torah Message:
Prose and Poetry
Abarbanel offers several insights into the holiday of Succot and the succa itself. First of all, the temporary nature of the succa is a reminder of our temporary life on earth. The seven days of the festival correspond to the seven decades of the average lifespan. The number of bulls which were brought as sacrificial offerings decreases with each day of the festival. This is to remind us that each passing decade brings us closer to the inevitable end, and encourages us to make the best use of our time to develop our spiritual potential.
Vayelech – September 18th, 2015
S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
This Shabbat:
- Friday Candle Lighting: 6:37 pm
- Shabbat Ends: 7:23 pm
Torah Message:
Prose and Poetry
“And Moshe wrote this poem…” (31:22)
Prose and poetry are worlds apart.
Prose is more or less like someone speaking from a page.
No one speaks like a poem.
Prose is speech committed to writing.
Poetry is a written concentration of words divulged by speech.
Nitzavim – September 11th, 2015
S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
This Shabbat:
- Friday Candle Lighting: 6:47 pm
- Shabbat Ends: 7:33 pm
Torah Message:
Little David
“You are all standing today…” (29:9)
Who would have thought that anti-Semitism would make such a virulent comeback?
As a schoolboy in 1967 I remember reading the Sunday Times reporting the Six Day War. You would have thought that the English army had just won the war. Plucky little David against the Arab Goliath.
And now, little David has been recast as the “blood-thirsty Goliath” devouring the “hapless waifs” of Gaza.
Ki Teitzei – August 28, 2015
S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
This Shabbat:
- Friday Candle Lighting: 7:06 pm
- Shabbat Ends: 7:52 pm
Torah Message:
The Evanescence of Desire
“And it will be that if he did not desire her…” (21:14)
Nothing is as transitory as desire.
Really, there are two kinds of desire: There is the lust of the feelings for immediate gratification — a craving, doomed to the law of diminishing returns; and then there are the true deep-seated desires of the soul — the aspirations that express who we really are.
In this week’s Torah portion there is a grammatical anomaly that captures these two kinds of desires precisely.
Shoftim – August 22, 2015
S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
This Shabbat:
- Friday Candle Lighting: 7:14 pm
- Shabbat Ends: 8:01 pm
Torah Message:
Did You Hear That?
When you go out to battle against your enemy and you see horse and chariot. Let not your hearts be faint; do not be afraid, do not panic, and do not be broken before them. For Hashem, your G-d is the One who goes with you, to fight for you with your enemies, to save you. (20:1-4)
The Torah gives four warnings here: Let not your hearts be faint; do not be afraid, do not panic, and do not be broken before them. Rashi comments that these four warnings correspond to four strategies that the kings of the nations use in battle: Let not your hearts be faint — from the sound of the stamping of horses hooves and their neighing. Do not be afraid — of the sound of shields being banged together. Do not panic — from the sound of horn blasts. And do not be broken before them — from the sound of their shouting.
All of these fears are based on sound. The power of sound is that it draws from the world of imagination, intimation. It lacks the immediacy of sight, but therein lies its power.
Re’eh – August 14, 2015
S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
This Shabbat:
- Friday Candle Lighting: 7:23 pm
- Shabbat Ends: 8:09 pm
Torah Message:
Ladies and Gentlemen, Due to Circumstances beyond Our Control…
“The blessing that you listen to the commandments And the curse that you do not listen and turn aside from the way” (11:27-8)
I remember being the grateful father of a newborn son.
There are very few occasions that compare with the joy of a brit mila, the spiritual rite of passage when a Jewish boy is brought into the covenant of Avraham on the eighth day of his life. A feeling of expectancy filled the house. Relatives came from thousands of miles away. The sage and the saintly were duly informed of the time and the place.
Everything was set.