Rabbi Levin's Blog

I have been spending a lot of time over the last couple of weeks working on the completion of our Bikur Cholim House, the house we are building behind ours to house visitors who come here for critical medical care. It is very exciting to see it all coming together. I will be happy to give you a personal tour. Please contact me if you would like to come by. You can also see more about it here . What would you tell someone you are sending on an errand for you?  “Go to the store and buy this.” “Go to the neighbor and give them this message.”  So when Hashem is sending Moshe to Pharaoh to bring him a message, you would think He would say “go to Pharaoh and tell him…)  That is not what Hashem said.  He said “come to Pharaoh.  In fact, that is the name of the entire Parsha that we read this week that includes the Exodus – “Bo” – “come.” One way to understand this, and the message it is teaching us, is by recognizing the mystical forces at play here.  Everything ...

One of the well known practices at the Seder is to pour off some wine from the wine cup for the Ten Plagues (seven of which we read about in this week’s Parsha).  Some people have the custom to dip their finger in the cup for each plague and put a drop in a container.  Another custom, and this is the Chabad custom, is to actually pour a drop of wine into a broken container. There are many explanations for why we pour off the wine.  One is that although the Egyptians were wicked and their punishment and defeat were necessary, we still feel bad for their suffering.  They are after all human beings, created by Hashem.  This is the Jewish heart that empathizes even with our enemies. Another explanation is that the pouring off  of the wine symbolizes the punishment the Egyptians received.  Kabbalah explains that wine is related to judgement and the broken container represents impurity.  We are symbolically pouring judgment to the impurity. What do we d...

Redemption from Egypt was close.  The Jewish people were excited that the long awaited moment of their release from the vicious captivity and slavery had arrived.  The feeling of relief must have been overwhelming. The events leading up to this moment were earthshaking.  Hashem had appeared to Moshe in a burning bush that didn’t burn up, and given him three miracles to perform.  A stick turning into a snake, a healthy hand instantaneously becoming diseased with leprosy and then returning to full health, and water turning to blood.  Moshe and Aaron came to the leaders of the Jewish people,  informed them of the great news, and performed the miracles.  The people  wholeheartedly believed them and were elated!  Mission one successful! Then Moshe and Aaron confidently went to Pharaoh and told him to send the people out of Egypt to serve Hashem.  Not only does he refuse, but he ramps up the slavery!  Now the slaves have to find their own...

Tomorrow, Friday, we experience a rare phenomenon - a public fast on a Friday.  The tenth of Tevet is a fast day commemorating the beginning of the Babylonian siege on the City of Jerusalem in the year 587 BCE - 3175 from creation. (Pardon the interruption.  The “year 3175 from creation” may sound strange to some, given scientific studies that show the age of the universe to be billions of years.  This subject will be discussed at length by our remarkable guest speaker Rabbi Krisch, scientist, former science writer for the New York Times and Rabbi, this Saturday night.  Please see the details here .) Fasting on Shabbat is generally not allowed, because it is a day of joy and pleasure.  A day when the physical becomes elevated to a higher level, and it is a Mitzvah to enjoy food on Shabbat.  The only exception isYom Kippur. The prohibition against fasting begins right at the beginning of Shabbat, at sunset, and we therefore make sure to at least eat or drink...

Happy end of Chanukah!  May the light of this holiday permeate our entire year and dispel all the darkness.  In a few days we will celebrate another holiday - the Fifth of Tevet, this Sunday.  I will start with some background. How would you define the word “book?”  I looked up a few dictionaries, and got some interesting definitions.  A common one is something like this:  “a set of written, printed, or blank sheets bound together between a front and back cover.”   In Judaism, our holy books are much more.  The holy Tablets that Moshe brought from heaven were more than just stones containing words.  The stones themselves were considered holy because they contained the Ten Commandments.  Even after the tablets were broken, the pieces were kept in the Holy Ark along with the second, unbroken tablets. A Sefer Torah (Torah scroll) is our most sacred item.  That includes the parchment, not just the content.  If G-d forbid a Tor...

  There is something strange about Chanukah.  We start the first night of candle lighting with one light (not including the Shamash), then light two on the second night, until on the eighth we light eight lights.  Now what’s strange about that, you might ask, that’s the way it’s done.   Well, do we do that with any other Mitzvot?  Imagine someone coming to the synagogue on the first day of Sukkot with a lulav, then on day two with a lulav and etrog, then on day three he adds willows, ten on day four the myrtles.  Or perhaps on Shabbat - one week we call one person to the Torah, then two the next week, then three, etc.  It doesn’t work that way.  We are consistent with these observances.  Four species every day of Sukkot, seven aliyot plus maftir every Shabbat, and so it is for all the Mitzvot.  Only on Chanukah do we increase the number of lights every day. There is another aspect of the change in the number of lights.  (I say ...

It was a very moving and beautiful moment.  Two brothers who had been estranged for a long time meet after 35 years.  There was great tension and fear in anticipation of this meeting.  Yaakov had hoped that Esav had forgiven him for “stealing” the blessings, which were actually rightfully Yaakov’s, and had sent him messengers of peace.  He was warned that Esav was coming toward him with 400 warriors to fight. Yaakov prepared himself in many ways, dividing the camp, praying and sending lavish gifts to appease Esav.  As the Torah says, Yaakiv was afraid and distressed - afraid that he might be killed and distressed that he might be forced to kill.  Because even though it would be in self-defense and he should be fully justified, Jewish nature is such that we are distressed when we have to kill our enemies. This all followed on the heels of Yaakov’s fight with Esav’s guardian angel, from which he emerged with a wound in his sciatic nerve.  We can imagine ...