Shaarei Tzedek – Orthodox Judaism in Downtown Toronto

Here are a few amazing images to help us celebrate Chanukah! (Thanks to maya_lima on Flickr):

When the Greeks entered the Temple they contaminated all the oils that were in the Temple. One would expect them to plunder the Temple’s gold and silver, the precious stones, as is the custom of warriors — yet the Talmud makes no mention of this type of pillaging. What possessed them to single-mindedly go about desecrating the oil, and with such thoroughness that it was only through a miracle that one jug was left untouched?

Oil played an important role in the Temple. It was used in special offerings and to fuel the Menorah. High Priests and kings were anointed with it. What is special about oil?

The Kabbalists point to oil’s refusal to mix with other liquids. Oil always rises to the top. It is a liquid that embodies transcendence, holiness. In Kabbalistic terms, oil is the embodiment of that aspect of the soul that relates to G-d in a manner that transcends intellect. Oil is the intuitive love and commitment of the soul to G-d that is not bound by the strictures of rationality and reasoning.

It was the “oil” aspect of the Jew, his supra-rational commitment to G-d, that the Greek could not abide. By all means, learn Torah! Do a mitzvah! But do it as a rational human being, following a rational code of conduct. Why see it as a supra-rational deed, a G-dly deed, an act that is bigger than you?

And so they went after the oil. Every enemy goes after the life-source of their opponent — the wells, the food stocks. The Greeks went after the oil. For therein resides the secret of the Jew.

– Victory of Light, page 15-16

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the US and it’s a great time to reflect on the power of thanks giving and gratitude.

We Jews give thanks each morning when we awake. We thank Hashem for returning our soul to our body with the famous Modeh Ani prayer:

מודה אני לפניך מלך חי וקים שהחזרת בי נשמתי בחמלה, רבה אמונתך

Here’s an interesting commentary on the US Thanksgiving holiday from a well known Orthodox Jew. Mr Dennis Prager:

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite national holiday. In fact, although I am a religious Jew (or rather, because I am a religious Jew), it rivals my favorite Jewish holidays for my affection.

It does so because it is quintessentially American, it is deeply religious without being denominational and it is based entirely on one of the most important, and noble, traits a human being can have — gratitude.

Gratitude is the foundation of both happiness and goodness. Neither happiness nor goodness is possible without gratitude. If all human beings were grateful, there would be little evil in the world.

It says an immense amount about America and its value system that it long ago began, and later officially enshrined, a national holiday just for the purpose of giving thanks.

It speaks to the centrality of God in American history (something many Jews, being deeply secularized, may not be happy about, but which is nevertheless a fact), and it speaks to the optimistic, happy and goodness-producing spirit that has been at the core of what I and others call Americanism.

American Jews should celebrate Thanksgiving with particular enthusiasm.

Read his entire article here.

It’s Monday morning and across the globe shuls are full of daveners for Shacharit services.

Unfortunately there are a collection of shuls in downtown areas that always struggle to get a minyan. This is a tragedy that is repeated everywhere.

I am writing this while waiting for number 10 at Shaarei Tzedek in downtown Toronto. We haven’t been able to say Kaddish or read from the Torah.

We need a global initiative to ensure that we have minyanim in every shul.

Anyone want to join me in this mission?

from Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh (inner.org):

In the Torah portions read during the month of Kislev, we find most of the dreams mentioned in the Torah. Throughout the five books of the Torah, we find ten explicit dreams (dreamed by seven “dreamers”) all in the Book of Genesis. The first dream of Avimelech, King of Gerar, appears in the Torah portion of Vayeira, read in the month of Cheshvan. The other nine dreams appear in the Torah portions of Vayeitzei, Vayeishev, and Mikeitz, all read during the month of Kislev. According to the well-known Torah principle that one should “live with the times” (namely, with the weekly Torah portion), the topic of dreams would be a proper meditative subject during the month of Kislev. During this “month of dreams” one should strive to examine and clarify in one’s soul the topic of “the dream,” to plumb the depths of its roots in the soul, and to solve its riddle in a good and proper fashion.

Read more …

by Rabbi David Lapin

It is strange that with the passage of time children “grow up” but adults “get older”? At what point do you stop growing up and start getting older? The truth is, there isn’t a point on a spectrum of age where you suddenly stop growing up and start getting older. Children get older too and adults also grow up. It depends what your perspective is on growth and aging.

If you experience the world through a physical lens, then as a child gets bigger and stronger, he or she is growing up. When we begin to go into physical decline (probably sometime in our twenties) we grow older. But that is like looking at a glass as you fill it with water and only seeing the volume of air in the glass diminishing.

During life two simultaneous processes occur: one spiritual, the other physical. The spiritual process is the soul growing bigger and stronger as you exercise it, develop it, and overcome the resistance to its growth. But at that very same time, the second, physical process happens: your physical strength begins to wane. Physical waning can be slowed by good health practices just as spiritual growth can be accelerated by healthy spiritual practices, but neither can be avoided.

We start life as predominantly physical beings; we end life as purely spiritual beings leaving our physical bodies behind. Everything in between is the movement from the predominantly physical to the purely spiritual. During this movement, our bodies contract their physical power so as to create “space” for the growing soul. In considering growth and aging then, it is important to see both of these processes and their relationship with one another. We should see the soul expanding at the very same time as the body contracts in strength. The total result if a person is working on himself spiritually, is that he grows holistically into a much more dynamic, powerful, wise and insightful person with every passing year. This is the growth that birthdays celebrate.

Milestones in Decades

Many milestones mark the journey through this life-process. The most significant are the ones tracked by Yehuda ben Teima in Pirkei Avot (5:24).[1] In my own life I have found them to be astonishingly accurate. Towards the end of every decade I begin to feel seismic disruption somewhere deep in my subconscious. Sometimes these tremors break through to the surface, sometimes they manifest in major shifting of the ground I used to feel firm on. Then, at the end of the decade comes the decade-birthday marking the beginning of a new era in the journey to ultimate spirituality. With this birthday I feel a profoundly deep and peaceful awareness ushering in the next decade, a time of new and promising breakthroughs. These breakthroughs have always occurred exactly in the areas featured by Yehuda ben Teimah and the sum of the transitions he outlines, produce an elaborately exquisite chain of spiritual! evolution.

The twenties are Lirdof, Ben Teimah says, a time of ambition and the pursuit of goals. The thirties are when people are at their physical peak. At forty the decreasing graph of physical strength and the increasing trajectory of spiritual growth intersect. The forties are a time of Binah, the understanding of complexity and intellectual innovation. During the fifties, when wisdom is growing, ego is in decline and the individual has accumulated some life experience, he becomes a competent consultant to others. The characteristic of this period is Eitzah, the giving of sound advice.

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Ancient (timeless) technology (Torah, brachot, tefillah) and new technology (iPhone) live together harmoniously in 2009 – well, at least for 24 hours/6 days of the week.

Opera York in partnership with the Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre and the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto

present

“AND THE RAT LAUGHED…”

An opera by Nava Semel, author 
and Ella Milch-Sheriff, composer

Date: NOVEMBER 5 & 7 – 8:00 pm 
NOVEMBER 8 – 2:00 pm
Place: Richmond Hill Centre for the Arts 
10268 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill
“A spellbinding experience from start to finish” – 
Ha’aretz news, Israel

The North American premiere of a poignant new Israeli opera about a child hidden during the Holocaust.

The opera is presented in Hebrew with English subtitles.

To purchase tickets call 905.787.8811
 or visit: richmondhill.ticketwindow.ca

Graciously supported by:

• Joseph Gottdenker, in memory of the members of the Gottdenker and Zuckerbrot families, who perished during the Holocaust, and those who miraculously survived but have since passed away.
• May and Fred Karp and family honour the memory of the victims of Fascism and racial hatred.

For more information about the Opera 
or other programs during 
Holocaust Education Week, please visit: holocausteducationweek.com

Our own Sholom Langner is one of the nominees for the Jewish Community Heroes Award.  Read more about Sholom here.

There are several other Ontario based nominees for this great North American award – read more about them here.

500,000 votes later and the 20 semi-finalists have been chosen by the community.