Rabbi Levin's Blog

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....