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Articles from Rabbi Simcha Weinberg | Selfgrowth.com
- Responsibility - by Submitted on Jan 14, 2011 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergI am reposting this blog on the first anniversary of the Haitian earthquake: It is far easier to work for the BNN, the Biblical News Network, and report on thousands of years and cities of Jewish history, than it is to work for CNN and report on everything that is happening all over the world ...
Views: 544 - Signposts: From The Diary of a Former Slave II - by Submitted on Jan 05, 2011 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergThe blood has been gone for a few days. The city is humming again, except for all the work projects that have stopped. The Egyptians stay away from us. Everyone is wondering whether the blood plague was the end of it. I already overhear some of my former masters whispering, “We’ll get them back ...
Views: 555 - Spiritual Matters - by Submitted on Dec 23, 2010 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergPharaoh had a problem. It doesn’t seem too serious, but it has the potential to explode. Moses arrived with Aaron to demand; “Let My people Go!” The people in question are not there. Oh! They set out with Moses and his brother to confront Pharaoh, but they dropped off, one by one, and by the ...
Views: 709(1 vote) - Hearing Voices - by Submitted on Dec 20, 2010 from Rabbi Simcha Weinberg(Kings II Chapter 25) “It happened in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia, he and his entire army, came to wage war against Jerusalem and encamped near it, and built a siege tower around it.” Jeremiah had ...
Views: 720 - The Burden of a Decision Part Two - by Submitted on Nov 30, 2010 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergOne man has turned your safe world upside down. (See “The Burden of a Decision”) You were comfortable adjusting to Greek rule, and allowing those modern Hellenists to do what they wanted as long as you could live in peace. Matityahu has forced the issue to the fore, and you now have to ...
Views: 714 - Searching For Silence - by Submitted on Aug 26, 2010 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergI received the following article and do not know who wrote it, but it’s worthwhile. I’m using it to prepare to listen to the sound of the Shofar: It’s high summer and we’re all out there seeing each other. We’re not hidden away in our homes and offices as we are in winter’s cold. We’re ...
Views: 684 - A Walk In The Garden - by Submitted on May 28, 2010 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergI wish that I could have walked behind Elijah and Elisha as they headed to where Elijah would rise up to heaven in a storm. I can’t even imagine what the two giants, Rebbi and student, were discussing as they walked. I wish I could have walked alongside Moses as he led the Children of Israel ...
Views: 1181(1 vote) - The Judgment Of The Birds - by Submitted on May 06, 2010 from Rabbi Simcha Weinberg“…and for the person being purified there shall be taken two live, clean birds…and the one bird shall be slaughtered…as for the live bird…set free upon the open field.” (Leviticus 14:4-7) Every time I study this portion, which describes the purification process of the Metzorah, who has been ...
Views: 5028 - The Strength of Arguing - by Submitted on Apr 13, 2010 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergThe Anshei Knesset HaGedolah conclude the first Mishna in Avot by teaching, “Strengthen your Torah through constant discussion.” (Chassid Ya’avetz, who does not believe that the Mishna teaches us to “Make a fence around the Torah!”) Who were these people? The Talmud teaches: “Why were they ...
Views: 670 - Where’s Moshe? - by Submitted on Feb 22, 2010 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergIn December 1974 the Austrian economist Friedrich August von Hayek received one of the first Nobel Prizes in economics. Hayek titled his speech “The Pretence of Knowledge.” Concluding his speech, he warned, “If man is not to do more harm than good in his efforts to improve the social order, he ...
Views: 613(2 votes) - The Study Partner - by Submitted on Feb 17, 2010 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergI recently took out a sefer – holy book – that I studied in the summer of 1980 in order to certify as a Shochet – a ritual slaughterer. I was surprised to find that it was a far more enjoyable study and challenge than the first time. The book is highly technical and my chavrusa, or study ...
Views: 573(1 vote) - Hail To The King! From The Diary of A Former Slave VII - by Submitted on Jan 27, 2010 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergI once watched a drunken man running down the street in the rain, weaving from one side to the other. When I asked him what he was doing, he responded, “I’m running through the raindrops!” I’m not drunk. I’m not even running. I can walk, even stand between the hailstones. They just won’t fall ...
Views: 619 - Job Descriptions - by Submitted on Jan 18, 2010 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergThe Sages teach us that the Egyptians gave everyone jobs at which they were not skilled in order to increase their frustration and prevent them from having any sense of accomplishment. How did the Sages know? The Foundation Stone™ did some serious research on this issue and found an ...
Views: 626(2 votes) - Fifty Gates - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2009 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergI turned 50 years old last night, the fourth night of Chanukah. Debbie had presented me with a list of extravagant gluten-free desserts and offered to make the one of my choice. Having difficulty with decisions regarding Debbie’s treats, I told her that for such an important birthday, it ...
Views: 825(2 votes) - Temptations - by Submitted on Dec 14, 2009 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergWhich temptation was more challenging? Was it Potiphar’s wife or, perhaps it was the temptation to ask Pharaoh’s wine steward to help him get out of jail? All I know is that I would not want to be challenged by either, although I suspect that we constantly face them in different ...
Views: 731(1 vote) - Living On The Edge - by Submitted on Dec 02, 2009 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergStanding on the corner of 95th and Broadway, I had a perfect opportunity to observe peoples’ faces. I love the fact that New York provides a glimpse of people from all over the world. I tried counting how many different countries were represented by the people climbing up from the subway, when I ...
Views: 770(1 vote) - Thing or Person - by Submitted on Nov 17, 2009 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergI was called to perform an emergency Taharah – the ritual cleansing and preparation of a body for burial. I was the rabbi of a large congregation, and although I had participated in Taharot in this funeral home, I had never been summoned for an “emergency Taharah.” The manager of the funeral ...
Views: 784(3 votes) - Apples and Oranges: The Comparison Game - by Submitted on Oct 21, 2009 from Rabbi Simcha Weinberg“Why can’t you be like other kids who behave perfectly?” is a refrain I often hear parents complaining to their children. Yes, there were and are certainly moments when I wish my children were as “perfect” as other kids, but those moments are rare. I am more than happy for my kids to be ...
Views: 859(3 votes) - Neighborhoods in the Sky: Succot - by Submitted on Oct 12, 2009 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergMy wife and I turned onto 26th street, between 6th and 7th, the New York City area known as ‘The Plant District’, and strange things began to happen. Storeowners ran outside and began to pull their security gates down, closing their stores. Others were rushing to cover all the plants on the ...
Views: 506 - The Security of The Succah - by Submitted on Oct 07, 2009 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergThe twelve-hour drive from Toronto for our annual Succot visit with my grandparents left me bruised, battered, and drained by all the fights my sister began with me. (I, of course, never started a fight.) We arrived in 1968, post riots Baltimore. Although I did not see burned out cars on my ...
Views: 721(1 vote) - Timeless: Precious Moments - by Submitted on Sep 28, 2009 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergThe Chafetz Chaim had an interesting approach to the Talmudic statement that “Whoever forgets the Torah he has studied has forfeit part of his eternal life.” (Chapters of Our Fathers 3:8) It is commonly understood to refer to someone who does not constantly review what he has learned. The ...
Views: 657 - Something To Explain - by Submitted on Sep 23, 2009 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergI was putting the final touches on my first Yom Kippur sermon in my new synagogue. I wanted to begin with an acknowledgment that I hurt people even though I had only been there for a month or two, and I wanted people to learn to ask for forgiveness. I was writing, “Request for Mechilah – ...
Views: 679 - Rosh Hashana: Shades of Light - by Submitted on Sep 07, 2009 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergIt was pitch black when I arrived in the park this morning for my daily walk. Each park bench was occupied by a homeless person. Skunks were rifling through the garbage cans. None of the usual walkers were crazy enough to be there in those conditions. It was also freezing and I considered ...
Views: 755 - Timeless: The Timeless Soul - by Submitted on Sep 01, 2009 from Rabbi Simcha Weinberg“When my soul fainted within me, I remembered (zacharti) God. My prayer came to You in Your Holy Sanctuary.” (Jonah 2:8) The Midrash (Shocher Tov 62) on the verse “Every breath shall praise the Lord,” (Psalm 150:6) teaches that with every breath the soul attempts to escape the confines of the ...
Views: 780(2 votes) - Does God Love You? - by Submitted on Jul 08, 2009 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergI love asking people if they feel that God loves them. Most respond,"Yes!"; I then ask the more challenging question: "How do you know?"; That's when it becomes interesting. I invite you to join me in raising a toast to God, Who made it very clear to me, once again, that He must really love ...
Views: 846(3 votes) - Korach and Bullies: A Question - by Submitted on Jun 21, 2009 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergHaving been the poster child of the 99lb weakling for all those Charles Atlas ads in the back of my childhood comic books, I feel that I must inform my friends, and for that matter, my enemies as well, of my brute strength. My pinky can counteract the gravity of an entire planet that weighs over ...
Views: 685 - Loving God 8 - by Submitted on Jun 10, 2009 from Rabbi Simcha WeinbergThe verse tells us that we are challenged by false prophets; "for God, your Lord, is testing you to know whether you love God, your Lord with all your heart and all your soul." Nachmanides explains that God wills to measure our love for Him, in order that we can realize the intensity of our ...
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