Sefer Chabibi Deepest Torah

Yitro; Why the Dove is the Symbol of Peace

2010-02-05T22:39:03.089+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanEverybody knows that the dove with the olive branch is the symbol of peace. It's even the logo for the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival. But why is that exactly? The dove's return to Noah's ark with an olive branch symbolized a new era of peace. Granted, after the flood narrative's depiction of the violent end of life excepting the ark's inhabitants, any

Beshallach; Leaving Josephied

2010-02-05T22:22:06.046+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThe Torah says..vaChamushim alu vnei Yisrael me-eretz Mitzrayim (Ex 13:18).Various translations of CHAMUSHIM abound, from "carrying weapons" to "well provisioned" to "in groups of five" to "one out of five." This also alludes to Yosef HaTzadik, in view of the following verse which specifically mentions that the Bnei Yisrael took his bones with them upon

Bo; the Heavy Heart

2010-02-05T22:02:59.932+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThe Talmud teaches us Rachmana Liba Baee, meaning "G*d wants our hearts." G*d wants us to have a heart connection with Him. And if we are to have a heart connection with G*d, how much more so are we to try to achieve such a connection with G*d's creatures, our fellow creatures! It's hard enough to love a stranger, but does that extend to our enemy as well?In

Va'eira; the stench of the frog heap

2010-02-05T21:52:15.860+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThe popularly known refrain to the Negro spiritual was "let my people go." But while it is an accurate Biblical quote, it is also an incomplete one:The full text reads (Ex 8:16 among others," ...ko amar Hashem shalach ami veya'avduni-...thus saith the L*rd, let my people go (so that/and) they shall serve me."In other words, the proper question we might ask

Shemot; Love and Surrender

2010-02-05T07:21:04.330+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThere are two kinds of surrendering. There is the surrendering out of love and there is the surrendering out of fear. This mirrors the two ways to serve G*d - out of love or out of fear/awe. There is the surrender to totalitarianism (political or religious) which stems from fear and compulsion. Then there is the surrender to our children which is born of a

Vayechi; the Last of the Patriarchs

2010-02-05T07:05:06.358+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanOur parsha, Vayechi, deals with the life and end-times of Jacob. His passing evokes thought on what it means to put one's affairs in order, to have one's body returned to the Land of Israel for burial, the nature of dying itself, and the connection between this world and the world to come. As Jacob initially embarks on his first exile, crossing the borders

From VayiGosh to Goshen

2010-02-05T06:05:56.925+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanDo we have the courage to break free from our limiting paradigms?To what extent does our anger limit us from growth and conciliation?Finally, what reward awaits us for finding this key to change?Jacob was forever trapped in a cycle of deception and trickery. Either on the giving end (Esau and Isaac) or on the receiving end (Laban and his own sons). He was

MIKEITZ; on being an avrech

2010-02-05T00:53:28.412+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThere is a traditional saying that the experiences of the Patriarchs are signposts for their descendants: "maaseh avoth siman lebanim." Indeed, the idea that each of the Patriarchs alone ventured utterly alone into alien zones of being is further played out in Joseph's life. Abraham confronts idolatry and is imprisoned and later redeemed and blessed. Isaac

VAYEISHEV; OF ABANDONMENT AND HOPE

2010-01-14T07:54:15.958+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanClothing may at times betray our deepest wishes. And at times it may betray our deepest fears.When we dress for success it reflects the former. When we veil our women it reflects the latter.In the Tamar and Yehudah narrative, Genesis 15:38 states:"vayireha Yehudah vayachshevaha lezona ki chista paneha-Judah saw her, and because she had covered her face, he

VAYISHLACH; THE COURAGE TO BE VULNERABLE

2010-01-14T07:40:57.989+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanA unifying theme to this week's parasha is the seemingly paradoxical idea of the acquisition of inner strength through the display of outward vulnerability. Jacob faces his fear of encountering his brother Esau, and instead of unifying his camp which would make himself stronger and thus more able physically to defend himself, counterintuitively opts to

VAYEITZEI; KISSING AND A WEEPING TONIGHT

2010-01-14T07:05:35.144+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanMany of us travel many miles until we meet our soulmate. Sometimes our true soulmate was always there but we didn't notice. Sometimes we get it right the first time around. Sometimes the one who we think is our soulmate isn't, and the one who we don't think is our soulmate is. Sometimes we might find our soulmate. And then we might find our deepest truest

Toldot: Holy Names/Holy Laughter

2010-01-14T05:30:24.322+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanOur name is our essence, the keenest description of our most innate beingness. In Parashat Toldot we experience the birth and the naming of Ya'akov and Esav, the disparate twins of Yitzhak and Rivka. Ya'akov means supplanter, or heel, the ergonomically accessible point by which to pull another back and pass him by in the process, in the very same instant.The

CHAYEI SARAH: At Eventide

2009-11-13T07:43:33.381+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanAvraham's partner in kindness, Sarah, had just left the world. She lit the lamps of kindness in their home. Their home was the first mishkan, and in a sense she was the first Kohen Gadol, the High Priest who lit the lamps each day in the future Holy Temple. As in the story of Chanukah, the lamp must be kept lit continously.Since his mother Sarah's passing,

VAYERA: REVELATION ALL AROUND US

2009-11-06T16:00:36.545+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThere is a Talmudic expression that salvation can come in the "blink of an eye,""b'heref ayin." That refers to the kind of salvation that is waiting in the wings for the propitious moment. But in our parsha, Va'yera, we learn of another kind of salvation- the salvation that was always right in front of us before our very eyes, but because of depression and

LECH LECHA; GOING, GOING, GONE

2009-10-30T06:09:50.533+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman"...as bread and wine are brought forth to sanctify this moment of mankind's first recorded act of altruism, so too we use bread and wine to sanctify the Sabbath, which crowned Creation, G*d's enduring act of altruism for all time.""We are bidden to circumcize even our hearts to serve G*d. This means, in the deepest sense, ironically, that only through

NOACH; A CHANGE IN THE NATURE

2009-10-23T05:21:03.830+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanLet's see. Take two of every species. Seven pairs of the kosher (clean) species (Gen 7:2). And take food for them all as well. Lions and tigers, leopards, panthers and bobcats are all carnivores by nature. And yet they ostensibly were vegetarian while on board the ark. Otherwise the antelope, elk, sheep, zebra and deer would nowhere be found once the hatches

BREISHEET: GUARDIAN OF EDEN

2009-10-16T17:22:59.500+02:00

Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThe ultimate challenge in life is in giving back, in repaying the Source of Life for the gifts which we have freely received. Paid forward, we have yet to earn them. Through giving back, whether by tzedaka (righteousliving), tefilah (self-judgment) or teshuva (turning to G*d), gemilut chasadim (deeds of loving kindness) or learning Torah, we restore equilibrium

ROSH HASHANA: FRESH STARTS

2009-10-16T16:58:08.422+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanRosh Hashana is the time of new beginnings and fresh starts. It's about changing. We change the world only when we change ourselves.The word "shana" in Hebrew means many things. It is most commonly translated as year, but it also has many deeper related meanings. Shana also means "teach,"and the word "mishna," the oral teachings, comes from the same root.

HAAZINU; SHABBAT SHUVAH- ANSWER YOUR SOUL

2009-09-25T23:50:04.743+03:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThe Messianic Age represents the fulfillment of that "going beyond." The Pagan Idea represented the eternal cyclicity of life. The Judaic Revolution realigned human consciousness to synchronize with the DNA blueprint, substituting the two dimensional pagan circle theory which has no sense of progression, with the three dimensional Hebraic spiral theory - G*d

NITZAVIM VAYELECH: CONTEMPLATION AND ACTION

2009-09-11T10:17:22.389+03:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanNitzavim means "are standing." Who is standing? The Jewish people in Deuteronomy at Moses' farewell to arms? Who else might be standing?Rosh Hashana is a traditional time of visiting the matzevah, the burial place of our loved ones. A matzevah is literally the memorial stone, the headstone that contains our essential data. We are to pause before it, we, the

KI TAVO: On Being an Am Segula

2009-09-04T19:30:13.068+03:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanWhat does it mean to be called the Chosen Nation? Actually, the term used in Ki Tavo isAm Segula, often translated as "treasured nation." But whether understood as chosen or as treasured, it seems to be frequently misunderstood.It does not imply supremacy or arrogance. Rather, it embraces the idea of service. As Israel is a mamlechet kohanim, a nation of

KI TEITZEI: LOVING AND HATING

2009-08-28T04:16:44.751+03:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanBehind everything which we hate there is to be found a Divine lesson for us. Sometimes we hate a person because he reminds us of a defect in our own character. That is a Divine message. Sometimes we hate someone because they are so good that we become jealous of him and look for petty ways to find fault with him to assuage our sense of regret for our own

SHOFTIM: TWO HEARTS, ONE YEARNING

2009-08-22T00:06:44.273+03:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanJewish DNA reflects a yearning to simultaneously ascend two figurative mountains: the universal call to serve humanity on the one hand, and the particular call to serve the Jewish people on the other hand, and in so doing preserve our culture, religion and heritage and be alone with our G*d.Ultimately through fulfilling both yearnings we then come to serve G

RE'EI: LIKE WATER FOR BLOOD

2009-08-14T07:10:58.687+03:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanNative Americans honor the spirit of the hunted animal by drinking its blood. They recognize the spiritual nature intrinsic to the blood, and seek thereby to identify with its spiritual essence. The Torah, on the other hand, also recognizes the spiritual essence of life being in the blood, but at the same time forbids us from drinking it.In parshat Re'ei we

EKEV: TRANSFORMING EVIL WITH KINDNESS

2009-08-07T18:36:41.921+03:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThe most spiritually refined often have the harshest challenges. Both the refined Eve and the refined Jacob faced challenges from evil personified in their lives. Eve was challenged/tempted by the nachash/snake, while Jacob competed for the blessing and had his life threatened by his brother, Esav.Eve with hindsight, could finally recognize that the snake

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