Rabbi Levin's Blog

  I start with a wish for a “Gut Moed,” a good and joyous holiday.  This is a greeting that many write at the top of any correspondence during Chol Hamoed, the intermediate days of a holiday, to acknowledge that we limit our work during this time, and even limit what we write, as laid out in the Code of Jewish Law.  I am writing these lines on Wednesday, under the influence of the news of the miraculous salvation of many Jews on the Flydubai flight.  I imagine that by the time you read this we will know many more details of the whys and hows, but one thing seems to be sure:  We have witnessed an open miracle.  Miracles don;t have to be splitting the sea.  There are many examples of Hashem tweaking nature in a way that seems natural.  But as we say in the story of Purim, when Mordechai and Esther each “happened to be” in the right place at the right time, and so many other great miracles, everything just “happened to fit” and people and things happ...

The Etrog is a unique fruit.  The Torah refers to it as “Pri Etz Hadar” - the splendid fruit.  That is the only description in the written Torah.  The Lulav is described as “Kapot Temarim” - date palm fronds, Hadassim (myrtle) as “Anaf Etz Avot” - a branch of a braided tree, and Aravot as "Arvei Nachal” - willows of the brook.  So how do we get from a splendid fruit to an Etrog?  Maybe a pomegranate is a splendid fruit, or a mango?  Well, I don’t think there were mangos in the Middle East in those days, but there were certainly lots of pomegranates.   The Talmud explains that the word “Hadar” also means “that dwells,” and the Etrog is the only fruit that dwells on the tree around the year.  Every fruit has a season, and if it is not picked at the end of that season, it falls off the tree.  Summer fruits don;t stay on the tree in winter and vice versa.  An Etrog, on the other hand, can stay on a tree through all the seasons. The Etro...

I would like to share a story of Divine Providence and kindness that happened over the last few days. I am writing this on a plane heading back from a trip East. I went to Philadelphia for my grandson Dovid Abba Brownstein’s Bar Mitzvah and had planned to return today from Philadelphia.  (By the way I have to share that the highlight of the Bar Mitzvah was something that I have not seen before. The Bar Mitzvah boy made a Siyum (celebration of completion) of the entire six orders of the Mishnah. This is a monumental achievement for a 12 year old. @Proud grandpa.)  I changed my plans because my mother was taken to the hospital. She is thank G-d recovering and we expect she’ll return home today. (If you would like to say a couple of Tehillim for her that would be nice and I would appreciate it. I recommend chapter 20 and 99.  Her name is Rachel bat Mariasha. Thanks.). I got a ride from the Bar Mitzvah to New York  last night and was able to visit my mother, and am now o...

It’s Rosh Hashanah.  The Shul is packed.  The service went as expected.  The cantor for Shachris was wonderful.  The Torah reading was inspiring.  You even enjoyed the Rabbi’s sermon.  Now comes the moment you have been anticipating all season, the main Mitzvah of Rosh Hashanah and what defines it as unique among all holidays.  The blowing of the Shofar. You have told your kids that they need to be quiet at the special holy time of the Shofar blowing.   You have read the Chassidus about the significance of the Shofar.  How it creates a new “Ratzon” - will of Hashem, to continue giving life to the worlds.  That this Mitzvah affects the rebuilding of - in Kabbalistic terms - the holy Sefira of Malchut of Atzilut, crowning Hashem as our King and recommitting to His Torah.  The simple sound of the Shofar represents the cry of the essence of our soul, piercing all obstacles, and reaching the essence of Hashem.  Hashem takes great pl...

This is the last Shabbat of the current year.  Next Shabbat will be Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the year 5787.  This is our opportunity to prepare ourselves for the great days of Rosh Hashanah, the Ten days of Teshuvah, and Yom Kippur.  Everything important requires preparation.  How much more so the most monumental event of the year, when the entire Creation is renewed.   It is interesting to note that the written Torah does not expressly state that the first of Tishrei is Rosh Hashanah.  This day is defined in the Torah as “Yom Teruah” - a day of blowing the Shofar.  We pair this with a verse in Tehillim (Psalms 81:4,5): “Sound the shofar on the New Moon, on the appointed time for the day of our festival. For it is a statute for Israel, the judgment of the G-d of Jacob.”  The only festival that occurs at the time of the New Moon is the one on the first of Tishrei.  All others happen when the moon is full or already well lit up....

Every time we read this week’s Parsha, a troubling question comes up.  Why all the curses?  It’s very difficult to read, and in fact the Ba’al Kore - the Torah reader in the Synagogue - lowers his voice for this section and reads it faster than the rest.  The answer in Chassidic teachings is complicated, multi-faceted and probably difficult for many to comprehend.  The gist of it is that there are revealed blessings, and then there are blessings that are too lofty spiritually to be revealed.   It is written that no bad comes from G-d.  Some misinterpret that to mean that anything bad is not from G-d but from some other force.  This idea is inconsistent with the Torah view of the unity of Hashem.  Everything was created and is controlled by Hashem, including forces of evil.  So the only other interpretation is that what appears to be bad is really not bad.  As I said, this is something that is very difficult to comprehend, and I am n...