Messages from April 2017

Rabbi O’s Weekly: Tazria-Metzora A Different Kind of Vacuum

April 28, 2017
Leviticus
Metzora, Tazria

Speak to the children of Israel, saying: When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male, she shall be tameh for seven days… If she gives birth to a female, she shall be tameh for two weeks. (Vayikra 12: 2, 5) Tumah (ritual impurity) is a spiritual status that impacts a person’s involvement in […]

Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Shmini (Leviticus 9-11) We Don’t Build By Destroying

April 21, 2017
Leviticus
Shmini

Moses saw Elazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s two sons, offer a sacrifice. He became angry because he thought they had acted improperly. However, they were correct in their actions. Aaron intervened and humbly asked a question to clarify the matter. Moses then realized that he himself had made a mistake. And Moses heard (the point that […]

Message for final days of Pesach

April 14, 2017

In 1922, in the small Russian town called Luban, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein asked the following question in a sermon: How can we celebrate freedom when we have been constantly persecuted, exiled, and harassed? Are we really free if we are denied equal rights and protection in the countries in which we live; how can Jews, […]

Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Tzav-Shabbos Hagadol The “Gift”

April 7, 2017
Deuteronomy
Tzav

The Shabbos before Passover is called Shabbos Hagadol-the Great Shabbat. Many reasons are given for this nomenclature but what concerns us is that it has a special Haftorah. It is taken from one of the last books of the Bible, Malachi and opens with a verse that is the final sentence of the Amida (Silent […]