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Some thoughts on the death of an arch-terrorist

For all of us who were old enough to understand what those terrible towering billows of smoke drifting from lower Manhattan to Brooklyn, visible from as far away as Connecticut, and worldwide electronically meant on 9/11, the death of Osama bin Laden cannot but strike a chord in that place in our hearts that seek to see revealed justice in this world. After all one of the basic tenets of the Noahide the universal law of humanity is - “Shofech dam hadam beadam damo yishafeych” He who spills the blood of man, his blood shall be spilled”. Yet we understand that this is not out of a Divine concession to a desire for revenge, vengeful feelings are unworthy of human being (kedoshim). Rather we grasp that there is no place in the world for a person who does not respect the image of G-d that is each one of us. The murderer all the more so the cold blooded ideological murderer says: “I decide the value of a human being”. This is a more direct denial of g-d than even Idol worship, which simply...
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In Those Days at This Time - Chanukah Redux

  Our Chanukah Message, and for this year, and an announcement of new classes at Bnai Torah Boruch Hashem! “In those days at this time” So goes the Refrain of Al Hanisim – the additional prayer we add to the Amidah and the Grace after Meals During Chanukah and Purim. Chanukah is about the attempt to destroy Judaism and co-opt the Jews of the Land of Israel into the idolatrous, immoral, hedonistic and polytheistic Hellenist world. Our enemies, the Seleucids -with an empire centered in Syria, sought to use both the blandishments of societal acceptance and when that failed, force of arms and persecution to coerce us towards this goal. They desired that we bow to the prevailing values and beliefs held by the whole world -except for us Jews. In effect they said: “How can it be that you have the Chutzpah to believe the whole world is wrong and you are right?”. We responded that – “This is indeed the case, which is why empires, kingdoms, values and beliefs come and go, but our nation, ou...
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Baseball and Elul

  As we enter the fall, and prepare for Tishrei – The High Holidays, Sukkot and Simchat Torah, we are also poised at a key moment of the great American sport - the climactic crescendo of the Baseball season. True, in the grand scheme of things this may seem trivial, yet - all happens by Divine Providence. As a result of this reality, Rabbi Israel Ba’al Shem Tov taught “Everything we hear and see must teach us a means of enhancing our Divine work”. Since this sporting milestones are always close to this most intense period of the Judaic year, they must teach us something important. One of the special characteristics of baseball is the need for thorough preparation outside the games themselves. The perfect strike, the brilliant at-bat, the towering homer, the gravity-defying leaping catch at the wall, the perfectly choreographed double (or triple!) play all are the products of intense preparation and practice over many hours, days, months, and years. The necessary development of th...
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