| Days of Remembrance
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| | There are two days of remembrance in April on the Jewish calendar.
One is most unfortunately so, Yom ha Shoah, which is Holocaust Remembrance Day (April 11, 2010).
The other is fortunately, Yom Haatzmaut, Israeli Independence Day (April 19, 2010).
|  | Elohei Hazikaron Vehatikva
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G!d bids us to carve hope out of remembrance. The intoning of the Kaddish, bringing us closer as a family sharing the lingering pain of the past, is a negation and an affirmation. It is a negation of the creators of the Kingdom of Night who conspired to uproot the commanding presence of El Melech Chai Verachum, our Living and Compassionate G!d and King, whose praise we dare proclaim even when enveloped by impregnable darkness hiding His own essence of goodness. It is a repudiation of messengers of evil who would rob the human experience of its sweet promise.
| | Prayers
| |
Yit'gadal v'yit'kadash sh'mei raba. Amein.
May His great Name grow exalted and sanctified. Amen.
b'al'ma di v'ra khir'utei, v'yam'likh mal'khutei b'chayeikhon uv'yomeikhon, uv'chayei d'khol beit yis'ra'eil, ba'agala uviz'man kariv v'im'ru:
Amein. Y'hei sh'mei raba m'varakh l'alam ul'al'mei al'maya.
In the world that He created as He willed, may He give reign to His kingship in your lifetimes and in your days, and in the lifetimes of the entire Family of Israel, swiftly and soon. Now say:
Amen. May His great Name be blessed forever and ever.
Yit'barakh v'yish'tabach v'yit'pa'ar v'yit'romam v'yit'nasei, v'yit'hadar v'yit'aleh v'yit'halal sh'mei d'kud'sha.
B'rikh hu l'eila min kol bir'khata v'shirata toosh'b'chatah v'nechematah, da'ameeran b'al'mah, v'eemru:
Amein.
Blessed, praised, glorified, exalted, extolled, mighty, upraised, and lauded be the Name of the Holy One.
Blessed is He beyond any blessing and song, praise and consolation that are uttered in the world. Now say:
Amen.
Y'hei sh'lama raba min sh'maya v'chayim aleinu v'al kol yis'ra'eil v'im'ru:
Amein.
May there be abundant peace from Heaven and life upon us and upon all Israel. Now say:
Amen.
Oseh shalom bim'romav hu ya'aseh shalom aleinu v'al kol Yis'ra'eil v'im'ru:
Amein.
He Who makes peace in His heights, may He make peace, upon us and upon all Israel. Now say:
Amen.
| | The Hope
| | The words to Israel's national anthem, Ha Tikvah, were written in 1886 by Naphtali Herz Imber, an English poet originally from Bohemia. The melody was written by Samuel Cohen, an immigrant from Moldavia. Cohen actually based the melody on a musical theme found in Bedrich Smetana's "Moldau." My wife Ellen and I were blessed to hear the Moldau played in Prague, in a church, right next to the Moldau River. When Smetana's symphony was over, the orchestra played, Ha Tikvah, and everyone, Czech and Jew, stood, most with tears streaming down their cheeks. Kol ode balevav P'nimah Nefesh Yehudi homiyah Ulfa'atey mizrach kadimah Ayin l'tzion tzofiyah Ode lo avdah tikvatenu Hatikvah bat shnot alpayim:
L'hiyot am chofshi b'artzenu Eretz Tzion v'Yerushalayim.
As long as the Jewish spirit is yearning deep in the heart, with eyes turned toward the East, looking toward Zion, then our hope - the two-thousand-year-old hope - will not be lost:
To be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.
| Click Here to Order Rabbi Arthur Segal's Books:
The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal:
A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew
A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the
Torah and Talmud
| | | | From Passover to Shavuot
A Between-the-Holidays Message From Rabbi Arthur Segal's Jewish Spiritual Renewal April 2010
| | Shalom Dear Chaverim, Talmidim and Rabbanim:
Since I began writing you on a monthly basis, our spiritual and ethical lessons have all been relevant to the current month's Jewish holiday.
We do not celebrate any Talmudic or Torah ordained holidays in April, but fear not dear readers!
As a rabbi, I make it my business to find spiritual lessons wherever they may lurk...even in conversations overheard at 4:00 AM in the local Huddle House (not that you'll find me at the local Huddle House in the wee hours of the morning anymore!).
| | | |  | | We are commanded to count the "Omer" from the first day of Passover until the holiday of Shavuot (Pentecost).
While Shavuot and Omer counting are concerned with harvests and tithing in the Torah, Talmudic rabbis created a spiritual and ethical process out of the holiday and the counting.
So this month we will discuss that process, and get into the spiritual and ethical lessons of Shavuot, which begins at sundown on May 18, next month.
In springtime, schoolchildren love to count down the days to the school year's end. Spring is also a time for Jews to count the days, but we don't count down, we count up the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot.
While Passover is the Jewish people's corporal liberation, Shavuot - a celebration of God revealing the Bible to Moses and to the world - represents our spiritual liberation.
So we spend the seven weeks of the Omer preparing ourselves spiritually to receive the revelation of Torah from Mount Sinai.
Of course, we should study spiritual and ethical texts, and work to improve our character every day, but the Omer is a time to give that practice extra special attention, and remind ourselves to keep it up throughout the year.
Thus, we are each commanded to count the days of Omer for ourselves. | | | | | Loose Lips Sink Ships
The Torah portion that we study for the Shabbat that fell on April 17 this year is about the destructive habit of gossiping. Part of this portion comes from Leviticus 12:01 to 13:59.
At first glance it appears to discuss leprosy and how to get rid of it, but anyone who knows of Hansen's disease knows that the Bible is not speaking of leprosy.
Rather it is dealing with a "spiritual dermatitis" that came upon Hebrews who spoke Lashon ha Ra - the evil tongue.
"Who is the person who desires life (Chofetz Chaim)? He who guards his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit."
- Psalm 34:13-14
Judaism teaches that gossip is not a victimless crime because it blemishes both the speaker and the person spoken about. It also harms those who hear it!
We define gossip as relating bad things about a person, even if it is the truth. Not only are we commanded to not do it; we are commanded to not listen. The Midrash teaches that God gave us ear lobes to fold over our ears when someone speaks Lashon ha Ra.
The Torah defines Lashon ha Ra as defamatory - but true - speech about another person.
Motzi Shem Ra (making a bad name) is defamation with lies.
Rechilus (tale bearing) is the third level. It comes from the word regal (foot), as in one who does this is a peddler of gossip. For example, we cannot say to person A that person B said something bad about person A. (Lessons about Lashon ha Ra continue below...)
| | | | | | You're Asking Me to Avoid All Gossip?
Impossible in today's culture!
 No. It's not impossible.
My book, The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew, teaches you how to transform your life into one that is happier, more peaceful, and more spiritual, regardless of what is going on in the world around you.
Jewish Spiritual Renewal will help you achieve a state of mind where you will find that nasty little things like gossip are not the least bit tempting or interesting to you.
In this book, I distill the teachings of our sages and rabbis that have been passed along for thousands of years, along with lessons from the Torah and the Talmud.
But unlike other Jewish spiritual texts that you may have read, or sermons you may have heard, this book presents these lessons in a concise, easy-to-read, easy-to-follow life transformation process that you can follow step-by-step at your own pace.
You will learn:
- That "normative" Judaism as you have known it throughout your life is not really Judaism at all, why it may leave you uninspired, and how spiritual renewal will help you recapture that inspiration (Chapter 1).
- That your ego is your own worst enemy, and how to win the battle against it (Chapter 2).
- How to stop struggling for control over things you cannot control, and be happier because of it (Chapter 3).
- How spiritual renewal conquers the fears and character flaws that are holding you back in life (Chapters 4 and 5).
- To actually get rid of your character flaws forever (Chapter 6).
- How to turn negative relationships in your life positive
(Chapter 7). - How simple it is to make prayer a regular part of your days...without going back to Hebrew school (Chapter 8).
- How to find peace of mind through meditation (Chapter 9).
- How to simplify life's toughest decisions (Chapter 10).
- How spiritual renewal transforms you into the best individual you can be, and how to stay on track (Chapter 11).
- How to celebrate the Sabbath and the Jewish Holidays with meaning (Chapters 12 and 13).
- How to live with happiness, joy, and freedom every day of your life (Chapter 14).
The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew is only $19.99 (plus S&H) when you purchase your copy from Rabbi Arthur Segal's online bookstore. That's $5.00 off the Amazon price.
Click the link below to order.
| | | | | Rules of the Gossip Game
Derogatory speech can destroy marriages, friendships, businesses, congregations, and even lives.
The Talmud says that the Hebrews' Second Temple was destroyed, and the Jews are in exile, because of it (Talmud Bavli Tractates Yoma 9B and Gittin 57B).
There are fourteen positive mitzvoth (commandments) and seventeen negative mitzvoth that one violates when speaking or listening to gossip.
If that sounds like too much to try to keep straight, here are six basic rules to follow:
- We cannot say bad things about someone even if it is true and even if the news is in the media.
- We cannot make any comment that can cause someone anguish, pain, financial loss, etc., even if it is not derogatory.
- Any method we use to do 1 and 2 above, in addition to the spoken word, is forbidden, such as writing, e-mailing, hand gestures, facial gestures, etc.
- We cannot say mean things, even in jest.
- We cannot even badmouth ourselves.
- The one exception is that we are obligated to warn a potential bride or groom, or someone going into a business deal, if we know information firsthand that will save them from harm or cheating.
| | | | | This is Serious Business
The rabbis took Lashon ha Ra very seriously.
Midrash Devarim Rabbah 5:10 says, "Whoever speaks Lashon ha Ra causes the Shechinah (God's presence) to depart from this world."
In Talmud Arachin 15b, it is written that G!d says He and the gossip cannot dwell together in the same world.
The next time you see someone engage in gossip, watch as they look around to make sure that no one is looking at them. They are very concerned that the subject of their defamation cannot hear them.
In the Talmud, Rabbi Yochanan said that to speak Lashon ha Ra is to deny the existence of G!d! He quotes Psalm 12:05: "With our tongues we shall prevail, our lips are with us, who is master over us?"
A gossip has no concern that G!d is watching, as by gossiping, he denies G!d.
Furthermore, the Talmud teaches that Loshan ha Ra is akin to a triple murder; the speaker, the listener, and the subject are all victims.
Ben Sira wrote in the Apocrypha Ecclesiasticus 19:10: "Have you heard something? Let it die with you. Be strong. It will not burst you!"
Let us choose our companions wisely and avoid bitter, mean-spirited speech, so that we can pursue life, chofetz chaim, and not diminish our spirit.
Let us do the best we all can to "shmirat ha lashon," to guard our tongues, and think kinder thoughts about each other.
We are all G!d's children and therefore all brothers and sisters on His earth.
| | | | | May G!d bless all of us with a Jewish Spiritually Renewed count up to Shavuot.
Many Blessings,
Rabbi Arthur Segal
| | | | | | The Torah and Talmud
In Plain English
In my years of Rabbinic Counseling I've noticed that many modern Jews are not as familiar with the Torah and the Talmud as they might be.
They find it difficult to understand and interpret in a way that makes sense and has relevance to their lives in the modern world.
The spiritual disconnection that this causes inspired me to write a second book, A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud.
This book instills Jewish values and an understanding of the Torah and Talmud's teachings in plain English and from a modern point of view.
The Talmud teaches that the Torah is about loving our fellow man and that we are to ''go and study.'' The rest is commentary.
A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud clarifies the commentary and allows one to study the Torah and the Talmud to learn the Judaic ideals of love, forgiveness, kindness, mercy and peace.
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