Rabbi Levin's Blog

Throughout the month of Elul we heard the shofar every day, increased our prayer, study and Mitzvot, especially tzedakah.  We observed the holy days of Rosh Hashanah, when we recommitted to Hashem as our King.  Then we had seven days of teshuva, and then the day of Yom Kippur, fasting and praying and achieving atonement.  Now what?   Now we celebrate.  There is no question that our efforts produced great spiritual results.  The holiness of the days themselves brought new Divine energy to the world.  We are all on a higher plane, whether we feel it or not.  So now comes the beautiful holiday of Sukkot when it all comes together in a joyous festival.   The Sukkah represents a “hug” for each of us from Hashem.  Chassidus teaches that the covering of the Sukkah represents the cloud that was created by the High Priest burning incense in the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur.  The Torah tells us that the Sukkah is to remind us of the temporary...

Yom Kippur. What does it evoke for you?  It’s safe to say that most Jews have strong feelings about it. There are so many emotions that I hear expressed when I speak to people about this holy day.  For some it's “A day of awe,” a day of fasting, prayer, Teshuva (repentance) and beating our chests. For others it’s nostalgia and childhood memories.  One word I rarely hear, that deeply resonates with me, is “gift.”  While we do deny ourselves some physical needs on Yom Kippur such as eating, drinking, bathing, wearing leather shoes and more, it is not a sad day like Tisha B’Av, when we mourn the destruction of our Holy Temple.  Rather than lamenting our sins, negative actions, and our “sorry state of existence,” we celebrate the wondrous annual opportunity  to  atone and receive forgiveness from Hashem.  I heard a story about Rabbi Mendel Futerfas, the great Chassid who sacrificed everything to help Jews escape the Soviet Union, and subsequently spen...

Shabbat is a special day.  It is a day of rest from mundane and physically creative work.  We emulate Hashem, Who rested from creation on the seventh day.  In current times there is a movement to have an “electronic Sabbath,” because the world has begun to recognize the value of unplugging for a day.   But there is more.  According to Kabbalah, on Shabbat the world is on a higher spiritual plane and our soul experiences a completely different, uplifting energy than during the week, which mundane work would interfere with.  Even food on Shabbat has a different flavor  –  at least spiritually  –  and some would argue that it affects the physical flavor too.  Whereas during the week the Torah encourages us to focus on the nutritional value we get from food, on Shabbat there is an actual Mitzvah to enjoy the spiritually enhanced food.   So the world is different on Shabbat.  Throughout the week we are toiling to create our liv...

What can a loving parent do for a suffering child?  Of course whatever they can to alleviate the suffering, but beyond that, what helps the child most is the parent’s presence.  Imagine you are taking your young child to the doctor for their shots.  The child is crying in fear and in pain from the shot, and to add to this, the parents themselves are actually causing the pain.  The parent knows that the shot is necessary, so they hold the child in their arms and comfort them.  If the child had to endure this experience on their own, it would be much more difficult.   This helps explain a verse in this week’s Parsha, which contains a seeming grammatical mistake.  As always, what seems to be a mistake is actually a deeper message for us in our service to Hashem.  There are many layers of meaning to every word in the Torah, and often a word or letter appears misplaced in order to teach us something, and it is the Oral Torah that illuminates its meanin...

  The month of Elul is a special month.  Every day is a precious day that can be used to come closer to Hashem, to strengthen our Jewish connection, to transform our challenges to positives and to prepare for the great days of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and the “Days of Atonement” in between.   Then within Elul itself, there are extra special days – the last twelve days of the month.  Our Sages tell us that each of those days corresponds to a month during the past year.  Beginning with the 18 th of the month, which corresponds to Tishrei, then the 19 th , corresponding to Cheshvan, etc.  Practically this means that each day we think back to how we spent that month, and how we can build on our successes and fix the things that need to be fixed.   This twelve day period begins this Monday,with the 18 th of Elul, which is itself a very exalted day.  Two of the greatest luminaries of all time were born on Elul 18.  The Ba’al Shemtov, founder of ...

  “When you make a vow to the Lord, your God, you shall not delay in paying it… [if you do, it will be counted as] a sin.  But if you shall refrain from making vows, you will have no sin. Observe and do what is emitted from your lips just as you have pledged to the Lord, your God, as a donation, which you have spoken with your mouth.” (Devarim 23:22-24.) The verses above refer to offerings committed to the temple and donations pledged to Tzedakah, (charity).  But in a broader sense, it applies to every vow and promise that we make.  We learn the importance of keeping our word, but are also instructed not to make vows in the first place.  You may have heard me and others say “Bli neder” – meaning “without a vow” when making a commitment.  This does not give us a free pass to ignore our commitments, but it does not bind our commitment with a vow.   A vow implies a special commitment to Hashem.  A person does not actually have to say “I vow” fo...

  Last Thursday, I went to the National Jewish Retreat in Palm Springs. This year, the annual event was held in a place with one of the hottest temperatures, but it was a good preparation for my upcoming trip to Phoenix, which is even hotter, for the bris of of my grandson, born to our daughter Devorah Leah and Chaim Leib Halbert. (Truth is, I wouldn’t really know what the heat was like because I spent the entire time indoors.) I went with a group of eight people from Palo Alto. We joined over 1,000 others in Palm Springs, spending close to a week learning, exploring life’s meaning, having great conversations, enjoying world class entertainment and - oh my gosh - the food! Close to 80 of the world’s top lecturers, teachers, and guides spoke on a wide variety of Jewish topics, from the relevance of Talmud to our lives, to the confluence of Torah and science, to the history of Jewish music, to how to pray, to wine tasting and Challah baking.  This was just the tip of the iceberg...