Rabbi Levin's Blog

At the end of Parshat Shemot, we learn about Moshe’s complaint to Hashem. After all the excitement of the Burning Bush and the miracles that Moshe had performed for the Jewish people and Pharaoh, instead of the promised liberation, Pharaoh ratcheted up the hard labor. In addition to making bricks for the buildings, the Jews now had to find their own straw, and produce the same quota of bricks. They were beaten and whipped and it was a dire situation.  “Moses returned to God and said, “God, why have You mistreated this people? Why have You sent me? For ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has made things worse for this people, and still You have not delivered Your people!” (Shemot 5:22,23)  Hashem answered him (23:1): “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: that because of a strong hand he will send them forth, and indeed, with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” Rashi comments on the double term “with a strong hand”: The first “with a stro...

Our forefather Yaakov had a very difficult life.  Beginning as a young man he had to contend with his brother Esav.  He had to step away from his path of absolute truth to follow his mother’s prophetic guidance and mislead his father into believing he was his brother.  When he succeeded in receiving the blessings and securing the future of the Jewish people and the world, he was threatened with death by Esav.  He had to leave the land he grew up in and his family and wander out to Charan, a place of corruption and danger, and contend with his crooked uncle.  Once again he had to deal with deception and intrigue as his uncle Lavan cheated him again and again. On his way back to Canaan, his uncle chased him and wanted to wipe out the whole family, and Hashem saved him.  Then he hears that Esav is coming to war with 400 men.  After Hashem helps him past that danger and he finally settles back with his father in Canaan, his beloved Yosef is taken away, and...

Yosef was an extraordinary person.  The description of how he ran Egypt, his prophetic vision, interpreting of dreams, his brilliance, and the way he rose to the top wherever he went, shows how unique he was.  Then add to that the way he treated his brothers, the people who had upended his life, almost killed him, sold him into slavery where he suffered so much for 20 years.  Not only did feed them in Egypt, but he comforted them and assured them he had no ill will toward them.  The ultimate example of repaying bad with good. There is more.  There is a verse in Psalms where King David prays to Hashem:  “O Shepherd of Israel, He who leads Yosef like flocks.” (Tehillim 80:2.)  “Yosef” in this context refers to the Jewish people.  The reason the entire nation is referred to as Yosef, is because he was like a shepherd to his family and saved them all from famine.  So there is a lasting impact that Yosef had on all generations of our people. In ad...

We are not defined by our suffering.  We are a people with a mission and a purpose that defines us, despite our suffering.  We are still in the Shiva period for the beautiful Jewish souls who were wiped out, along with all their future generations, by people who don’t deserve to be described as such.  The world witnessed it.  We all witnessed it and we grieve.  We grieve for the holy martyrs who sanctified Hashem’s name, we grieve with their families who are suddenly left without their loved ones in such a cruel and horrific way. May Hashem avenge their blood.  And we pray for the wounded and the traumatized, and all good people around the world. But we are not defined by our suffering.  Our mission is to bring light, and that is what we continue to do, proudly and without fear.  That is the spirit that has kept us going through the ages facing monsters of all types.  It is gratifying and quite remarkable, though not surprising, that public M...

  It’s almost Chanukah!  What a beautiful, inspiring and enlightening holiday this is!  And no, it’s not just an alternative winter holiday.  Chanukah is a uniquely Jewish celebration with a global message, marking the victory of the faithful to Torah against those who tried to secularize Jewish life, and sending a powerful message of religious freedom. The threat against the Jews from the Greeks was not a physical one, at least that was not the original intent.  They had taken control of Israel and occupied the Temple, but their goal was not to commit physical genocide like Hamas and their supporters around the world.  They wanted to show the superiority of their culture, their “moral path” and their “superior” intellectual teachings.  And like all good people who can’t win an argument, they would make the Jews accept the truth of their views by force. The Greeks did not care if the Jews studied their books along with the Greek books, or if they follo...

What happens to us in this world is a reflection of the spiritual worlds above.  This is a fundamental belief of Judaism.  Nothing is random.  Hashem is constantly creating the world, and Hashem’s energy is the life-force of everything.  It follows that whatever is happening around us is happening for a purpose.  Just as our purpose in life is to make a home for Hashem in this world by doing Mitzvot and acts of goodness and kindness, the purpose of all events that happen around us are in order for us to fulfill this purpose. This belief was evident in Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s attitude when he was arrested on suspicion of treason in Russia in the year 1798.  Here was the most revered, saintly and scholarly Jewish leader in his generation, and one of the foremost influencers of Judaism of all time, being carried away in a black wagon reserved for capital criminals. He had been slandered to the Czarist government by a fellow Jew who didn’t agree with his philoso...