http://www.chabad.org/search/keyword.asp?kid=12145 Newest articles written by Menachem Posner Copyright 2005, Chabad.org - Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center, all rights reserved. http://www.chabad.org/media/images/50/CtRx507451.gif 130 52 http://www.chabad.org Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1027662 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1027662 Question: So Sarah dies, Abraham needs to buy a burial plot for her, and he asks for a cave in a field belonging to Efron the Hittite. What did Abraham know about that cave that he was willing to pay 400 shekels for it? Answer: Allow me to share some history as it is recorded in the mystical texts: Rabbi Rechumai taught that after Adam was banished from the Garden of Eden, G‑d Himself hewed a place out of rock near the entrance to the Garden where he would bury Adam, the patriarchs and the matriarchs. (Rabbi Kisma added that when Eve died and Adam buried her there, he smelled the tantalizingly familiar aroma of the Garden and wanted to burrow further, but a voice rang out telling him to stop. When Adam died, he was buried there as well.) Eventually the location was forgotten, and not a soul knew about it. Until Abraham, who entered the cave, saw it, sniffed the scent of Eden, and heard a voice saying, "Adam is buried here, and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob should be prepared for this place Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1017961 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1017961 As I am sure you can imagine, there are so many ways of understanding these verses where each word is laden with meaning. The key here is that man was created once, but we are told about it twice, once as part of the Six Days of Creation, and once again. Why is this? Rabbeinu Bachya explains that each narrative deals with an entirely different aspect of man. The first deals with an animal called man, and the second tells about the reflection of G‑d called man. The telling in chapter one follows the creation of the rest of the world, and tells of the man who was created after all the other animals. This man is like the other elements of creation, just a bit better. His purpose is to live and prosper at the helm of the planet. To this man, G‑d said, "Be fruitful and multiply…and rule over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the sky and over all the beasts that tread upon the earth (Gen. 1:28)." On the other hand, the creation of chapter two deals with the G‑dly soul of man—something Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1017972 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1017972 Question: Why do Jews consider certain animals, such as pigs, to be unclean and therefore not edible? I am under the impression that G‑d made everything, including pigs and other non-cloven-hoofed animals. Whatever G‑d made cannot be unclean, or perverted. Man has made certain things unclean and perverted, but I don't see how this can apply to non-cloven-hoofed animals. Response: You are entirely correct; G‑d created everything in the world with a purpose. After all, if it had no use, why would He bother bringing it into existence? The question is just what that purpose is. Some edible things have a very clear purpose: Eat the item with the intention to use its energy to serve G‑d. Other things, G‑d tells us in the Bible, have another purpose, and that is that we do not eat them. This does not mean that we have no use for anything derived from a non-kosher animal—just that they are not to be eaten by a Jew. So you can use pigskin to bind your books and you can feed unkosher meat to you Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1013006 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1013006 There are a number of fascinating explanations on the subject to be found in the classic commentaries. Let's begin with the Talmud (Sandhedrin 109a) where we find three traditions: In the School of Rabbi Shila it was taught that they built the tower with the intention of piercing the heavens with axes to drain all the water held therein, making it impossible for G‑d to bring another flood, should they vex Him again. (Perhaps what's meant by this is that they had embraced their understanding of science and its workings to the extent that they felt they were now able to spar with G‑d on His turf—the heavens.) Rabbi Yirmiya bar Elazar taught that there were actually three groups; each with its own plans for the tower: One group planned to climb the tower, safely out of harm's way, should another flood come. A second camp wanted to use it as a shrine for idol worship. Yet a third group actually wanted to use it as a platform from which to battle G‑d. Rabbi Natan, on the other hand, taught Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1007500 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1007500 Question: I would like to know where it is written in the Torah that we should await and yearn for the arrival of a leader who will be the Moshiach. Response: There are many verses in the Torah (you can see some of them in this list of source texts) which predict the coming of Moshiach. None of them state explicitly "Thou shalt await the arrival of Moshiach every day!" Nevertheless, hundreds of commands throughout the Torah are screaming just that. What do I mean? The Torah gives us 613 mitzvot to do. Many of these mitzvot are to be done in the Temple in Jerusalem. Others are only applicable when all or most of the Jewish People are living in the Jewish Land. Altogether, the majority of these mitzvot cannot be fulfilled as long as we as a nation are scattered all over the Diaspora and there is no temple in Jerusalem--and the only way that can be repaired is through the promised leader and sage that we refer to as the Moshiach. So you see that every one of these unfulfilled mitzvot is s Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=993933 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=993933 Question: I have been in the midst of converting to Judaism for three years now, and the process is taking much longer than I had ever anticipated. I am willing to wait and be patient as long as I know that it is for a purpose, but all the procrastination is really getting to me! Response: Yes, it’s so often that way. It’s like one of those home-renovation projects that are never ever finished by the date that the contractor originally promised. Why? Because the job is always bigger than the contractor originally estimated, and there is always some unforeseen detail holding up the progress. But when those long months of homelessness end, and you move into your custom-made new home, it all becomes worth it. That’s where you are now: Preparing a home for your new Jewish soul--and things are taking longer than they should. But remember that when the last nail is hammered in, the paint is dry and your Jewish soul settles into your new self, it will all become worthwhile. Please feel free t Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=987524 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=987524 In the pre-Babylonian era, we find in the Scriptures only four months on the calendar that are identified by name: The first month (Nissan): Aviv Exodus 9:31, literally "spring" or "ripening." The second month (Iyar): Ziv I Kings 6:37, literally "radiance," so called because it is the time when the trees become radiant with blossoms. The seventh month (Tishrei): Etanim I Kings 8:2, literally "strong ones," so called because the ripe fruit are at the height (strength) of their goodness. (Our sages [Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 11a] attribute the names Ziv and Etanim to the birth of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – the radiant and strong ones – in these months.) The eight month (Cheshvan): Bul I Kings 6:38, related to the word for withering, so called because at that time the branches and stubble in the field begin to wither. The other months were just known by their place in the calendar—e.g., third month, fourth month—starting from the first month: first by virtue of the fact that it is the month w Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=976846 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=976846 For some of the classic answers to this question, see Why four cups of wine by the seder? and What is the significance of the four cups of wine? Allow me, however, to share an interesting idea I just came across in the Marcus Lehmann Haggadah. (Rabbi Dr. Marcus Lehman [1831-1890], rabbi and novelist, served as the rabbi of Meintz, Germany, and penned dozens of novels based on historical Jewish figures as well as contemporary stories. Click here to read one of them.) The numerical value of the Hebrew word for cup, כוס, is 86. According to out tradition, the worst and most backbreaking period of the Egyptian slavery lasted for 86 years—the last 86 years they spent in Egypt. Now, the enslavement was supposed to last 430 years. As it is stated in Exodus (12:41): "It came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years, and it came to pass in that very day, that all the legions of G‑d went out of the land of Egypt." G‑d, however, in His mercy, began counting the 430 years from the time Sun, 6 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=974948 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=974948 In the Midrash Rabbah we find two opinions on this matter: Rabbi Yochanan taught that angels were created on the second day of Creation. He sees this reflected in Psalms 104 where we read in the third verse: "Who roofs His upper chambers with water," and in the following verse, "He makes His angels spirits…" He therefore concluded that the angels where created on the second day, the same day that G‑d divided the waters, creating an "upper chambers with water." In addition, in the description of the story of creation (Genesis 1), there’s an interesting lingual anomaly. After the first day of creation the Torah says, "It was evening it was day, one day." After the succeeding days, "It was evening it was day, the second day... third day... fourth day... etc." Following this sequence, after the first day the Torah should logically have said, "It was evening it was day, the first day"? Why "one day"? From this our Sages infer that the first day was a day of "oneness," when G‑d was one and a Tue, 1 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=970982 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=970982 Behab (בה"ב) is comprised of three Hebrew letters: bet – the second letter of the alphabet; hey – the fifth letter; and again bet. The sequence stands for Monday, Thursday and Monday. (As the Jewish week begins on Sunday, the morrow of the Shabbat, Monday is the second day of the week and Thursday the fifth.) There is an ancient Ashkenazi custom to fast on the first Monday, Thursday and then the following Monday of the Jewish months of Cheshvan and Iyar—shortly following the Sukkot and Passover holidays. These fasts serve to atone for any inadvertent sin which may have been committed as a result of over-the-top lightheadedness and merriment during the week-long holidays, when people are off of work for an extended period of time. (Due to the special nature of the months of Tishrei and Nissan, these fasts are postponed until the following months. There is no fasting following the festival of Shavuot, because it is a short two-day holiday, leaving little time to engage in levity.) Some f Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EST