Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- The Four Parshiyot
- Hachodesh
But I suggest there is another level of meaning, as well: Without vowels, the phrase can be read, Ha-Chadash Ha-ze, this "newness," Lachem, is something unique to you, the Jewish People. Hashem has bestowed upon us the amazing ability to renew ourselves, to re-create ourselves (as we have miraculously done in Israel), to be the most creative & industrious people in history. And with this uncanny power, we are able to perpetually discover new insights into the Torah (something we fittingly refer to as Chidushim!) for the Torah itself is a living thing (Torat Chayim) that stays ever fresh & new throughout the ages.
Yet if we are New, then the Almighty is Old. Not old in the sense of outdated or archaic, of course, but old in the sense of eternal, permanent, reliable, fixed. There is great comfort in knowing that some things – Divine protection & guidance, a firm hand on the wheel of history, a moral standard for humanity to emulate & obey – never lapses or goes out of style. That is the essence of what we refer to as "Hashem Echad:" One G-d that is both imminent & immortal, the same G-d that was with our grandparents & their grandparents, all the way back to Avraham & Adam.
Nisan, as its name clearly implies, is the month of nisim, miracles. It reminds us that as long as we have Hashem’s blessings, we are capable of performing miracles & wonders that not only have the power to change us for the better, but to change the entire world for good.
Rabbi Stewart Weiss
Was ordained at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois, and led congregations in Chicago and Dallas prior to making Aliyah in 1992. He directs the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra'anana, helping to facilitate the spiritual absorption of new olim.
Jewish Laws and Thoughts Shul “etiquette:” can we honor Hashem while respecting our fellow congregants?
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Hosha'ana Rabba FLYDUBAI & HOSHANA RABBA- ANI VAHU HOSHIA NA- I & HIM SAVE US
"Ani vaHu Hoshia Na", "I and Him, Save Us". We don't just pray to Him, but we also pray to and for ourselves that we should emulate and educate our children to have that instinctive altruism with which He created the world. President Trump seemed amused about Yaniv Hayon, our PLUMBER who confidently worked with G-d like Superman (he learned from a pilot on a TV show!) to save 174 lives on the Dubai hijacking, but we in Israel are totally accustomed already 78 years to our plumbers, teachers, garbage-men, rabbis, farmers & doctors being Hashem's shlichim! This is what Zionism is about.
Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
P'ninat Mishpat A Non-Contractor in Changing Times – part I
(based on ruling 85128 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Moreshet Shaul Our King on Rosh Hashana, Our Father on Yom Kippur.
Based on Aroch Siach, p. 221 (Rav Shaul Yisraeli)
