Sefer Chabibi Deepest Torah

BESHALLACH: BEYOND NATURE/BEYOND THIS WORLD

2012-02-03T08:19:41.616+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThis week's commentary is dedicated to a refuah shleimah for Erica Chava bat Elisheva.Is this world all there is? While on Tu Bishvat we develop a love and appreciation for trees and the gift of nature, should there be any limits to that love? Or rather than set limits, should we perhaps balance that love with a countervailing infinite love of nature's

BO: THE HEAVY HEART

2012-02-03T06:00:10.738+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThis week's Torah learning is dedicated to a refuah shleimah for Erica Chava bat Elisheva.The 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

VAEIRA: THAT SMELL

2012-01-20T23:44:35.330+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThis week's commentary is dedicated to a refuah shleimah for Erica Chava bat Elisheva.The Kotel was a pleasure to visit and immerse myself in prayer. No one would interrupt mydaavening and deep meditation by tapping me on the shoulder in the middle of prayer with requests for tzedaka. Tzedaka saves from death, but so does prayer, so each has their place. The

SHEMOT: LOVE AND SURRENDER

2012-01-20T23:24:20.308+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman This week's commentary is dedicated to a refuah shleimah for Erica Chava bat ElishevaThere 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

VAYECHI; LAST OF THE PATRIARCHS

2012-01-06T08:56:14.071+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThis week's commentary is dedicated to a refuah shleimah for Erica Chava bat Elisheva.Our 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

VAYIGASH; GASHNIUT OR GASHMIUT?

2011-12-30T06:44:27.346+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThis week's commentary is dedicated to a refuah shleimah for Erica Chava bat Elisheva. Do 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

MIKETZ; ON BEING AN AVRECH

2011-12-23T07:45:27.178+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThis week's commentary is dedicated to a refuah shleimah for Erica Chava bat Elisheva.There 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

VAYESHEV; OF ABANDONMENT AND HOPE

2011-12-16T06:45:05.504+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThis week's commentary is dedicated to a refuah shleimah for Erica Chava bat Elisheva.Clothing 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

VAYISHLACH; ON VULNERABILITY AND SEEING THROUGH THE RUSE

2011-12-09T05:41:55.335+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThis week's commentary is dedicated to a refuah shleimah for Erica Chava bat Elisheva.A 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

VAYEITZEI; KISSING AND A WEEPING TONIGHT

2011-12-02T08:19:23.850+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThis week's commentary is dedicated to a refuah shleimah for Erica Chava bat Elisheva.Just as Esav "lifted his voice and wept"- (Gen 27:38), so too does Yaaqov when he meets Rachel (Gen 29:11): "Vayisa et qolo vayevk."Identical language! What can we learn from this?We all have a "low" voice, which we use in our material pursuits. But we also have a "high,"

TOLDOT: HOLY NAMES/HOLY LAUGHTER

2011-11-25T19:27:52.463+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThis week's Torah commentary is dedicated to a refuah shleima for Erica Chava bat Elisheva.Our 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

CHAYEI SARAH; SYNCHRONIZED AT EVENTIDE

2011-11-21T07:48:03.443+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen MelmanThis week's Torah commentary is dedicated to a refuah shleima for Erica Chava bat Elisheva.Avraham'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

VAYERA; REVELATION ALL AROUND US

2011-11-21T07:39:54.359+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; THE SECRET OF THE MOTZEE

2011-11-21T07:35:21.277+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

2011-11-21T07:09:27.245+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

2011-10-25T02:59:40.263+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman The 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

YOM HA K'PURIM: A YOM KIPPUR THOUGHT

2011-10-07T05:31:04.986+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman When the Torah calls the holiest day of the year Yom HaKippurim, on a deeper level it saying that the day is actually Yom K'Purim, meaning "a day like Purim." And if Yom Kippur is likened to Purim, then on some level one could actually say that Purim is even deeper, in that it is the root holiday after which Yom Kippur is modelled. Yes, Purim is

SHABBAT SHUVAH: ANSWER YOUR SOUL

2011-10-07T05:30:51.305+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman  The maftir reading which we read on Yom Kippur, taken from Parshat Pinchas, Numbers 29:7, says "u'be'asur lachodesh hash'viee hazeh mikra kodesh yih'yeh lachem VI'INITEM et nafshoteychem kawl melacha lo ta'asu."  To wit: "the tenth day of this seventh month shall be a sacred holy day to you and: TYPICAL TRANSLATION: you shall afflict your souls

ROSH HASHANA: CHANGE YOUR HEAD

2011-10-03T18:05:02.046+02:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman 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. Shana also means "change" or "transformation." In Hebrew, "leshanot" is the infinitive form of the word meaning "to change." So when

NETZAVIM/VAYELECH: STANDING AT THE PORTAL

2011-09-23T08:43:17.459+03:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin HaKohen Melman Nitzavim is always read prior to Rosh Hashana. It is a plaintive plea, nay warning, by Moses to the Jewish People, that they have before them a choice in life, between life and death, before good and evil, and that they should choose life. The later Moses, Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, aka Moses Maimonides, aka the Rambam, teaches that we should see ourselves,

KI TAVO: CATALYST NATION

2011-09-16T05:35:51.874+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 kingdom of

KI TEITZEI: LOVING AND HATING TONIGHT

2011-09-09T09:35:12.298+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

2011-09-02T09:51:44.829+03:00

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman Jewish 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, whereby we preserve our culture, religion and heritage and get to be alone with our G*d. Ultimately, through fulfilling both yearnings we then come to

LETTER FROM JONATHAN POLLARD

2011-08-31T02:52:33.421+03:00

to Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman Friends, I am reprinting this letter I received from Jonathan Pollard. At the time he had been imprisoned for five years. He has now served over twenty five years in prison for a crime (spying on behalf of an ally) for which the usual sentence is but two years. I thought it had gotten lost in the course of my many moves, but I recently rediscovered it in

ELUL ZEMAN: the 40 Day Secret to Better Divine Connection

2011-08-29T21:18:27.874+03:00

By Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman Our Muslim brothers have Ramadan for 40 days. Our Christian brothers have Lent for 40 days. So what do WE have? Did you know that we also have a special 40 day period which we use to draw closer to Hashem and become better Jews, just as the Muslims use Ramadan to become better Muslims and Christians use Lent to become better Christians? And did you know

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