When I lived in Israel, there was an outspoken journalist, TV commentator and politician, named Tommy Lapid (father of Yair Lapid, who is now a powerful person in the Knesset). His political stance was right of center, although he would take each...
Despite the huge praise of living in the Land of Israel in Talmud, like "one who lives in the Land of Israel is as one who has a G-d, one who lives outside the Land of Israel is as one who has no G-d" and "Jews who observe the Torah outside the...
Every Torah Jew has a deep love for the Land of Israel. Whereas some saw Zionism as the fulfillment of the prophecies of Redemption ( to be dealt with in more depth in my next post), others saw it, and continue to see it, as a sinister force of...
No figure in Jewish history has placed more emphasis on the spiritual significance of the Land of Israel than Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. He saw it as the quintessence of Holiness, which each Jew must visit at least once. He embarked on a pilgrimage...
The Zionist call for a mass return to the Holy Land, was firmly rejected by nearly every European rabbi. To be sure, there were communities of Jews living in the Land since time immemorial, surviving mostly on charity provided by their brethren in...
I would like to go further into the words of my teacher, as well as present my conclusions on the topic as a whole. Rav Kiwak was, as I understand, teaching an important general lesson. There are commandments, both Biblical and Rabbinic, that are...
There is only one blessing ordained by the Torah. That is the Birkat Hamazon (Grace after meals), as it is written: "You shall eat, be satisfied, and bless..." (Deut. 8:10). Oral Tradition teaches that one need say Grace only after a meal with...
Many people ask me "what is Kabbalah? Is it a part of Torah? If it is, why is it that most people don't study it; including most rabbis? Why are some opposed to it? Is it taken into consideration in deciding Jewish Law (halachah)? Is it one book,...
In the middle ages, several forms of Kabbalah developed, all rooted in the original Kabbalah of our sages. In France and Germany, the Kabbalists emphasized humility, awe for the Names of G-d, and connecting various mitzvot (commandments) with...
We left off with the exile of Spanish Jewry. They were scattered to many lands; some European (particularly Amsterdam), but mostly Mediterranean countries. The Turkish Empire, especially welcomed them. The King of Turkey said: "The King of Spain...
We left off at the spread of Kabbalah that followed the renown of the Ari. In every corner of the Jewish world, Kabbalah had gone main stream, and spiritual renewal was in the air.
But the 17th century brought many disasters. In 1648 and 1649,...
The Sabbatean and Frankist debacles had torn us apart, made us paranoid about our neighbors, and even our rabbis. The responses were varied, and a new climate was created, not always for the better. Many of our present...
The 18th century saw Kabbalah largely put on a shelf, at best the province of the few. In Middle Eastern lands, it is still treasured, but with the constant fear of another charlatan coming to pervert it.
A positive outcome of the Sabbatean...
It is a well known phenomenon is history, that some times and places produce great men, while other eras are fallow. Consider the late 18th century in America. Washington, Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, and a host of others established and forged...
In dealing with the late 18th century, we have seen that there were giants, great mystical leaders, who brought the feeling of closeness to G-d to East European Jewry, and beyond, at a time when the Chassidic movement was in spiritual, if not...
