דרך השם

Chanuka According to the Maharal of Praga Rav Yehuda Amital In his work "Ner Mitzva," which purports to deal with Chanuka, the Maharal actually discusses this holiday very little. Rather, the significance of the book lies in the broad perspective which it affords us concerning the holiday, elucidating themes which remain meaningful to us today. The background of his analysis is the midrash regarding the four empires which ruled over the Jewish people (patterned after the vision of the four beasts in the Book of Daniel): Babylonia, Persia, Greece and Rome. At the heart of this discussion lies the question of the inner meaning of the miracle of Chanuka. The straightforward answer recounts the persecution of the Jewish people at the hands of their Greek overlords, the desecration of the Temple, and God's miraculous intervention. Nevertheless, the essential question remains: in what way did the Jewish people become more enriched as a result of this trial and salvation? ...

Este año el inicio de Januka coincidió con la sidra vaieshev.  De ello aprendemos, que el relato de la Torah nos muestra a Iosef sufriendo como modelo de lo que jazal nos relatan en nuestras fuentes, de: prototipo mesiánico. El hilo del relato deja un lado al patriarca asentado en la tierra de kenaan para centrarse en la vida de Iosef, ¿por qué ocurre ésto? porque en el sentido más profundo, mientras pareciera cortarse el habitual hilo narrativo, lo que ocurre en esferas más profundas es que Hakadosh Baruj Hu nos lleva vía Torah a ver como se va trayendo la luz del Mesías.  Por eso es que en el mismo relato de donde se extrae el prototipo "mashiaj ben iosef" es donde ocurre una caída, un descenso espiritual de Iehuda. Éste momento de aparente depresión en la vida de Iehuda ocurre ya que es a él a quien corresponde traer la chispa del Mesías, y por ende, debe experimentar lo bajo para poder identificarse con Israel en sus momentos bajos y así cree en cada alma de Israel el i...

What is a Former Christian Minister to Do, Convert? By: Rabbi Tovia Singer http://www.outreachjudaism.org Shalom my friend, I am an ordained minister who has been studying the Hebrew roots of Christianity for around 10 years. Over time I have been forced to "unlearn" much of what I inherited and learned at higher levels of education. The bottom line is that much of Christianity is a false faith which detracts from the true faith given to all mankind at Sinai: Biblical Judaism. I am questioning converting. It seems to me that as a god-fearer I have the best of both worlds. Let me explain. Understanding the Laws of Noah, and then going on to choose those things that please Hashem and taking hold of His covenant in Isaiah 56 by acquiring other mitzvoth and incorporating them into my life....is this not a better position for me to be in than full conversion where I would then be obligated to fulfill all the 613? You see where I live there is not a Jewish commun...