Rabbi Levin's Blog

Are we there yet?  The question that all parents dread on a long road trip.  The kids are really excited packing their little suitcases, preparing food and getting into the car.  Then the journey starts, and now the pressure is on.  How much longer, and when will we get there? How many of us live our lives that way?  I had some relatives who came to visit, and I took them to see the breathtaking scenery of California.  A minute into each stop, the same person would say: “OK, let’s move on.”  We felt sorry that they were not able to just stop and soak in the beauty of the location.   We are all on a journey through life, and a productive life means setting goals and working to fulfill them.  But are we constantly focusing on the outcome, or are we finding meaning in every step of the journey? Imagine the disappointment of our forefathers in the Sinai desert, when they found out that, instead of going straight to Israel, they would have to...

  I’m in the mood for a little mysticism today, let's do it. The Torah tells us in this week’s Parsha about the community offerings in the Holy Temple. There were many kinds of offerings. Oxen, sheep, goats, flour with olive oil, and libations of wine. Why Hashem needs us to offer animals and flour on the altar in the first place is another whole discussion. I want to focus on the specific choices of animals for certain days. ( Pardon the interruption - Dena and I are planning to go to Israel in March with JLI, a most amazing experience, and we’d love for you to join us. Find out more here . ) There was a sheep offered in the Temple every morning and every afternoon, every day of the year including weekdays, Shabbat, holidays and even Yom Kippur. Every week on Shabbat there was an additional offering of two sheep. Then there were the special offerings for Rosh Chodesh (beginning of the month) and holidays. These included goats and oxen. Why not oxen every day? It would seem approp...

  This year we will not fast on the 17 th of Tamuz!  The 17 th of Tamuz is one of the six days that we are required to fast.  It is in commemoration of the day (in the year 69 CE) that the Romans, who had come to destroy Israel, breached the wall of Jerusalem, leading to the destruction of the Holy Temple three weeks later.  That day is also a fast day, the Ninth of Av.  The other four official fast days are Yom Kippur, the fast of Gedaliah on the third of Tishrei, the Tenth of Tevet and the Fast of Esther on the day before Purim. But this year we will not fast on the 17 th .  This is because the 17 th day of Tamuz is on Shabbat, and we are not allowed to fast on Shabbat, except if it is Yom Kippur.  So the fast this year is actually on the 18 th of Tamuz, “pushed off” to Sunday.  We do still refer to the fast day as the 17 th of Tamuz, but it is not technically on that day.  So if someone tells you they saw a very religious person eatin...

  Did any miracles happen to me today?  Did water gush out of a dry rock?  Was I protected by the heat of the day by clouds that surrounded me on all sides?  (Well, if you live outside S. Francisco.  Maybe they are closer to Hashem there?  Somehow that doesn’t resonate.)  Did I wake up in the morning and find bread ready to eat that tastes like anything I want it to?  Well, why don’t miracles happen today? I want to suggest that many miracles happened today.  The difference between what happens today and the above miracles that happened for 40 years while the Jewish people traveled in the desert is only that it was much harder in those days to not see that it is all directly from Hashem.  (And even then the Jews sometimes kvetched – “we want meat,” etc.)   When Miriam died, the well that had miraculously traveled with the Jews in the desert and provided them with an abundance of water dried up.  This was because it was in ...