Makor MiMakor מקור ממקור A New Lens on My Blog Shvuot: To Swear on Seven: A Shavuot Conversation with the Bronx Senior Center This blog model is called “Makor MiMakor”--the source from the source. Every month or so, I will share a piece of Torah or a quote or article (the Makor) that I learned with a member of the Kinneret community-- either a group of students, teachers, parents or senior citizens from our school’s intergenerational learning program (A Makor). I will then share their thoughts and reactions and conclude with a brief takeaway from that conversation. This blog’s subject is about the mitzvah of tochekah—of giving criticism. The Makor: R. Shimshon Refael Hirsch on Gen. 21:23- 'R. Hirsch points out that the word הִשָּׁבְעָה “seems to be formed from הִשָּׁבְעָ meaning seven and in its reflexive form, would mean literally “to give oneself up to the seven.” As the world was created in 6 days and on Shabbat, God rested, the numbe...
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A New Lens on the Blog : Makor MiMakor מקור ממקור Tochekah: To Criticize or Be Criticized: An 8th Grade Conversation in Room 108 I remember once sitting in a silent classroom, with nothing but the Tanakah sitting at the front teacher’s desk. “The Tanakh,” the Professor said half jokingly and half seriously, “says nothing.” This exercise was to teach us that our sources and our Torah speaks to us, only when we engage with them. It is in that spirit that I try a new blog model called “Makor MiMakor”--the source from the source. Every month or so, I will share a piece of Torah or a quote or article (The Makor) that I learned with a member of the Kinneret community-- either a group of students, teachers, parents or senior citizens from our school’s inter-generational learning program (A Makor). I will then share their thoughts and reactions and conclude with a brief takeaway from that conversation. This blog’s subject ...
Whipped Cream, Card Games, and Important Lessons from Life and the Aftermath from our Holy 6th Grade “If you could have witnessed one miracle from the Pesach Story, what would it have been?” That was this week’s Question of the Week at the famed Cafe Frank. Yes, this year I have the wonderful opportunity to run a small cafe every Friday out of my office. Our amazing Hebrew teacher, Hanita, sends four students to my office for cookies, hot cocoa, and whipped cream for a discussion all in Hebrew about life. Expecting to hear answers such as the Ten Plagues, Moses’s stick changing into a snake, or other amazing Passover miracles, two of the answers made me think most as they helped me to frame a central idea of life. The first student said that she would have liked to have witnessed “Kryiat Yam Suf”--the great splitting of the sea. This was the moment of such miraculous nature, where, according to the midrash, even “a handmaid saw what [the prophet] Ezekiel, did not ...
Florida Teens, Shushanites and Two-Way Wordlessness: Two Mini Blogs for Purim First Blog: Florida Teens and Shushanites: The Power of the Moment is Sometimes Felt by the Most Unlikely While we were cooking for Shabbat last week, my wife said, “Maybe Emma Gonzalez is the next Rosa Parks.” And while I sort of laughed that off, maybe I shouldn’t have. In a world where fighting and bickering among politicians has led to an increasingly frustrating lack of progress, Emma Gonzalez, the survivor of the tragic shooting in Florida, has stood up and said “enough.” Calling out adults and telling them that they are behaving “like children,” this teenager has been the one that has moved people from both sides of the aisle to realize that we have to make change. She has become representative of the movers of this moment, the youth that has to identified this moment and seized it. Something similar happened in Shushan. In his thoughts about Purim, R. Zevin quotes Tehilim 98:...
The Great Big Sort: The Wonderful Blessing and Terrifying Danger of the Time in Which We Live They gave out lettuce. Yes, one time, someone I know, got lettuce from a neighbor as a trick or treat food. Not owing to make lots of friends and not the most neighborly thing to do. There is a Chinese proverb that says that “A good neighbor is like a priceless treasure.” Well, lettuce on Halloween, may not be so priceless, but we all know how priceless a good neighbor can be. From the big moments in life, to the day-to-day routine, supportive people who share your life and neighborhood make a big difference. And Rebbi Yose feels the same. In Pirkei Avot 2:9 he tells us that the good path of life is being a שכן טוב --a good neighbor. R. Lau, in his commentary, tells us that this means that we should choose where we live with great care, making sure we are surrounding ourselves with a proper environment. He shares the famous quote: “You c...
Holiday Windows, Cups and Scrolls-Chanukkah Lessons from the Miraculous "Big Three" It’s that time of year again. The time of windows. People make the trek to Manhattan to look at windows--- Macy’s windows, Bloomingdale’s windows and even pizza shop windows give stores the opportunities to show all passersby that they are in the spirit of the season, whether it be commercially, spiritually, or both. And for us, as Chanukkah approaches, windows become central as well. This is because the central mitzvah of Chanukkah, lighting the Chanukiah, must be done so all who pass by can see, (Shababt 21b) Each night we must either place the Chanukiah by the door or by the window fulfilling the principle of pirsumei nissa , publicizing the miracle. (Megilla 3b, 18a, Pesachim 108b and Brachot 14a) The obligation to publicize the miracle appears in the Talmud most prominently 3 other times. It is found when discussing the reading of the Megillah on Purim,, the drink...
We are All Away, We are All Home and We are All Bozos on the Bus We sometimes talk to people. We sometimes talk to pets and these days we often talk to Siri and Alexa. And in Judaism, we sometimes talk to books. Whether it be a tractate of Talmud or an order of the Mishnah, upon completion, we say the hadran. The hadran, is a promise given. In a sense, we talk to the book and say, “We will return to you.” It is in these weeks that we return to the story of Avraham and to one of the most profound statements of identity that he makes. And every year, the more I experience life in the halls of school and beyond, his statement rings more true. He identifies himself as a ger v’toshav , both a stranger and a dweller (Gen 32:4). Even after years of success in the region, he still feels like a stranger. And while he is saying this to Bnei Chet, I think Avraham, himself, feels like both a ger and a toshav - as it is a deep seeded reality ...