Parsha With (the other) RBG: Recent Episodes
Barry Gelman
Listen here for relevant, insightful and provocative takes on the weekly Parsha from Rabbi Barry Gelman.
What do we do when the work is hard? What does God expect of us when faced with a challenge.
The point is that it is the effort that matters when it comes to doing God’s will. We never really know if we will succeed in any endeavor - but that does not free us from the obligation to toil in it.
I was thinking about this approach in the wake of the awful tragedy in Uvalde, Texas this week.
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I dedicate this Dvar Torah to my father, Martin Gelman ob”m who always “showed up” and had a knack for knowing what was really important.
Judaism focuses particularly on the everyday, the common, regular, mundane activities which comprise the bulk of our lives.”
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Why is there no mention of Yom Kippur in the Neviim?
How did Yom Kippur become so popular?
What is the root of human curiosity?
Celebrating Pesach During The War In Ukraine
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Link to original article by Rabbi Weinberg
How we learn interconnectedness from the leper. How far does our responsibility for each other go?
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What does it mean to be totally committed to an ideal? Did Nadav and Avihu sin? A few midrashim have a different take.
Full text...plus a bonus idea at the end.
Why people lose faith? How to help people find it again...but what if they don't?
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What is God's favorite food? Seems like a strange question, but some verses in the Torah seem to hint at what flavors God likes best.
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The Rebbe of Gur connects the 100 "sockets" (Adanim) to the practice of reciting 100 blessings each day.
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Shabbat and the Shabbat meals as models for appreciating the moments we are experiencing. Full text here.
Is there room in Judaism for private communion with God. With so much focus on community and family, what about private time with God. Moved by the notion of the "private shabbat", I consider some ways to personalize our relationship with God.
Link to the full text
Modeh Ani Rap
Can we find God and feel God's presence? How. can we find spirituality in the absence of miracles? Lesson from Avraham Ha'Ivri and Rabbi Soloveitchik.
Listen here (8:10 mark) for an interesting example of finding God and reasons for blessing in unexpected places.
"...the crown of the Torah, behold it, there it lies ready within the grasp of all Israel...Whosoever wants it may come and take it.” (Rambam. Laws of Torah Study 3:1)
Torah is available to us all and we all have something to contribute.
More on this here and here
Rabbi Soloveitchik discusses this idea often:
Halackhic Morality Pp. 39-53
Halakhic Man, 43–44
And From There You Shall Seek, 59-60
Lonely Man of Faith, 61–62