Jacob, David, their Enemies, and the Mashiach
God saved Jacob from his father-in-law Lavan, his brother Esau, and his “son-in-law” Shechem (his daughter’s rapist), three generations. Jacob is the all-inclusive Jewish soul. From him we learn that...
View ArticleMaimonides and the Ba’al Shem Tov
Today, the 20th of Tevet, marks the passing of Moses Maimonides, named “the great eagle,” master of law, philosophy, and medicine. In his interactions with non-Jewish patients he was known for...
View ArticleShevat: The Sense of Eating
People with guts get things done. Without guts you’re better off sleeping. Your guts are in your lower abdomen. That’s the place to begin serving God. Maimonides says that to serve God properly one...
View ArticleSeeing Eye to Eye with Arabs and Christians
The prophet says that when God will return to Zion we will see Him “eye to eye,” which reads literally “eye in eye.” In the future, the inner prophetic spiritual eye will be enclothed in the outer...
View ArticleWaving the Flag of Torah
Consummate service of God unites meditation (919), prayer (515), and action (415). They complement one another. Together, 1849 = 43^2. Meditation connects mind to heart. Prayer connects heart to mouth....
View ArticleNot a Body
One of our basic tenets of faith in God, in the words of Maimonides: “He is not a body and not a power in a body.” God is both omnipresent and omnipotent. Maimonides explains that if He were corporal...
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No Body – No Anger
The phrase “He is not a body and not a power in a body” (אינו גוף ולא כח בגוף) contains 16 letters. Written as a square, the corners spell באפו, “in His wrath” = גוף, “body”. The diagonal from...
View ArticleCleanliness of Speech, Purity of Thought, Chastity of Deed
In the ten-rung ladder of spiritual growth outlined by Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair, three consecutive rungs are: “Cleanliness brings one to purity, purity brings one to chastity (i.e., abstinence from...
View ArticleClose to God
The sign of having done a good deed is feeling close to God. Feeling far, estranged from God is the sign of having done something wrong. The 11th of the 13 Principles of Faith outlined by Maimonides is...
View ArticleSex and Politics
“Give not your strength [i.e., your seed] to women, nor your ways to that which destroys kings” (“אַל תִּתֵּן לַנָּשִׁים חֵילֶךָ וּדְרָכֶיךָ לַמְחוֹת מְלָכִין”). This is the Biblical source for the...
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