Rabbi Levin's Blog

The Great Flood had happened.  Noach and his family were back on dry land, and in appreciation, Noach offered sacrifices to Hashem.  The Torah tells us Hashem’s reaction (Bereshit 8:21): “G-d [figuratively] smelled the appeasing fragrance (i.e., He acknowledged Noah’s appreciation), and in response, G-d said to Himself, “[I hereby swear that] I will never again curse the soil because of humanity, for the inclination of a person’s heart is [challenged by his] evil [inclination] from his [earliest] youth. Never again will I strike down all life as I have done.” Because the evil inclination challenges us from our youth, Hashem will be merciful and never again destroy all life. Now, let’s take a look at a remarkably similar statement in last week’s Parsha, and the end of Bereshit (Bereshit 6:5):  “And the L-rd saw that the evil of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of his heart was only evil all the time.”  Therefore, "I will blot out man, whom I created, ...

One of the descriptions in the Torah for Sukkot, the holiday we just celebrated, is “Chag Ha’asif” - the Harvest Festival. The literal translation of the words is “holiday of ingathering.“ Another verse says: “Make for you a holiday of Sukkot when you gather in [the produce of] your granary and your wine press.” As the Midrash tells us: Although it is a Mitzvah to be joyous on all the festivals, the Torah does not tell us explicitly to be joyous on Pesach, it says once “you shall be joyous” on Shavuot, and three times “you shall be joyous” on Sukkot.  This is because on Pesach the crops are still in the fields and we don’t know yet what the harvest will be like. By Shavuot we are celebrating the successful grain harvest but the fruits are not yet ripe. On Sukkot, however, the Torah tells us three times to be joyous, because now all the fruits have been harvested and we can enjoy all the produce.  (Jews around the world celebrated this holiday the ingathering of the remaining l...

We connected to Hashem in Elul, we accepted Him as our King on Rosh Hashanah, we did Teshuvah over the Ten Days of Repentance, and we bonded with Him and started with a clean slate on Yom Kippur.  This all brings us tremendous joy, like a child reunited with his or her parents after a period of distance.  We can imagine what joy both parents and child feel. This joy is expressed in the next phase of our holidays, the “Time of our Joy,” Sukkot.  It is a beautiful holiday with many wonderful observances, culminating in the joyous day of Simchat Torah. This is how we express our joy in our connection with Hashem, by observing extra Mitzvot.  And this holiday has several.  Sitting and eating - actually “dwelling” - in the Sukkah, shaking the Four Species, special prayers and meals, including kiddush and challah, parties and gatherings, cutting back on work and dancing with the Torah. This joy, and the “tying it down” with the physical observance of the joyous Mitzvo...

Yom Kippur!  There is hardly a Jew in the world who does not relate to this day in some way.  For many, it is a day of prayer, fasting and forgiveness.  For some it is a long, boring day sitting through the prayers and sermons.  (A young boy was bored during the Musaf service on Yom Kippur after many hours of services.  He walks out to the synagogue lobby and starts reading the names on the memorial board.  He notices that several of them have American flags next to the name.  A congregant sees him and tells him:  You know what the flag means?  Those are people who died in the Service.  The boy’s eyes open wide and he says:  Which service, Shacharit or Musaf?)  For some it is a day of sadness and for others it may not mean much, but as our Sages teach, every single Jew’s soul is somehow moved on Yom Kippur. I believe that Yom Kippur is a day of great joy, and relevant to everyone.  The first recorded event on Yom Kippur wa...

We spent the last two days reconnecting to Hashem, reaching into the depths of our soul and finding the essence of who we are - His people.  We crowned Him as King, and He once again found pleasure in us mortals making the choice to accept our role in the world.  Rosh Hashanah is the time of renewing the bond, reaffirming that Hashem created us and gave us a mission.  In fact, the entire universe and all the spiritual worlds that preceded it were created by Hashem in order for us humans to choose to serve Hashem.   Specifically because we naturally tend to just follow our own needs, when we choose to rise above that and do what Hashem wants us to do, that brings Him real pleasure. This is the annual work of Rosh Hashanah, for us to show our commitment and for Hashem to “renew the lease” on the world. Now it’s time to start examining how we have been doing on that commitment.  The next eight days are called “Days of Teshuva.”  Everything has a season, a...

Parshat Nitzavim is always read on the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah.  Our Sages taught that one connection between the two is a mystical interpretation of the first verses of the Parsha.  The simple meaning is that right before Moshe passed away, he charged the people with a covenant and an oath between Hashem and all the people: “You are all standing today before G-d, your G-d — the leaders of your tribes, your elders, your sheriffs, and every Israelite man, your young children, your women, and your converts who are in your camp, from your woodcutter to your water-drawer — in order to perform a ritual by which you will enter into a covenant with G-d, your G-d — and to take His oath to uphold it—which G-d, your G-d, is making with you today.” (Devarim 29:9-11) In addition to the actual event that happened then, there is an eternal message here that relates to all times.  “Today” refers to the special day of Rosh Hashanah, the birthday of the world.  On this day the e...