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Vaeira 5760 - January 8, 2000 |
 Elderly Key To A Better World, Says Contest Winning Sixth Grader
A Chinese Chanuka
It's Only Natural
The world consists of pagans and transcendentalists. Pagans eat, drink and sleep; transcendentalists work for world peace. Pagans believe that the way things are is the way things should be; transcendentalists believe that we were placed on this earth to change the way things are. Pagans worship nature; transcendentalists worship G-d.
| FROM THE CHASSIDIC MASTERS |
The Divine Response
"I am G-d," said G-d to Moses. I am in the process of revealing My quintessential truth to you. But the only part of you that can apprehend this revelation is your own quitessential self. And your own quintessential self rises to the surface of your souls only under the terrible conditions of galut.
The Loan
A simple Jew once borrowed one hundred rubles from the free-loan fund managed by Rabbi Shmuel Shtrashun. Four months later, when the loan was due, he went to Rabbi Shmuel's home, but was told the rabbi was in the study hall. The man went there, and found Rabbi Shmuel deeply engrossed in a complex subject in the Talmud. The man laid the money in front of him. Rabbi Shmuel looked up, nodded, and went back to his study.
Family
"What kind of a G-d wouldn't want a son to be with his mother on Rosh HaShanah?" my mother asked, exasperated when I said we couldn't drive on a Jewish holiday.
"For thirty-six years you don't care whether or not it's Rosh HaShanah. Now you care, but you can't bring your children to be with their grandmother?" I knew I was in trouble.
The Man in the Glass Case
The Talmud relates that before the famous sage Rabbi Nachman was born, a fortune-teller told his mother that her unborn child would grow up to be a thief. The Rabbis advised the distraught woman that from the moment her child was born, she should be scrupulous to see that his head was constantly covered.
This story of Rabbi Nachman can instructively be contrasted with one about Jeremy Bentham, the founder of utilitarianism. Bentham endowed the University of London on the condition that his portly body be embalmed and hung in a glass case over the entrance to the University and there you can see it today. Bentham thought this would ensure him eternal gratitude and respect.
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Vaeira
Exodus 6:2-9:35
Week of January 2 - 9, 2000
The Parshah In A Nutshell
Full Parshah Summary With Commentary
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