Chanukah — More than Candles, Gifts and Latkes #702
11/26/2021 05:14:00 PM
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
| Author | |
| Date Added | |
| Automatically create summary | |
| Summary |
The great writer, Mark Twain, described his battle to quit smoking this way: “Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times.”
How true it is for many of us, as we commit to change in our lives, but end up dropping the ball before reaching our goal.
We begin a work project with full head of steam — only to slow down...Read more...
What “Israel” Truly Means #701
11/19/2021 05:18:00 PM
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
| Author | |
| Date Added | |
| Automatically create summary | |
| Summary |
Parashah Vayishlach
“For seeing your face is like seeing the face of God.” (Genesis 33:10)
Was there a moment in your life when you decided it was time to grow up?
The illness or death of a loved one? Was it that first moment — as one writer describes it — of “failure, betrayal, break-up, empty wallet, empty stomach, loneliness or criticism?”
In this...Read more...
Where Does God Live? #701
11/12/2021 05:35:00 PM
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
| Author | |
| Date Added | |
| Automatically create summary | |
| Summary |
Parashah Vayetzei
“Surely, the Lord is present in this place, and I did not know it.” (Genesis 28:16)
I want to tell you about the first time I saw God.
It was a summer day — I must have been about six years old — and as I lifted my lips from my melting fudgesicle and looked through the clouds at the partially blue sky, I was sure I saw God’s face.
Was it the vision...Read more...
Are We Becoming Our Parents? #700
11/05/2021 05:56:00 PM
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
| Author | |
| Date Added | |
| Automatically create summary | |
| Summary |
Parashah Toldot
“Isaac dug anew the wells which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham.” (Genesis 26:18)
A current television ad for Progressive Insurance mocks middle aged adults, who — God forbid — are in danger of “becoming their parents.”
The commercial features a fictitious Dr. Rick, who scolds baby boomers for packing homemade snacks before...Read more...
Hospitality – and the Fort McMurray Miracle#699
10/29/2021 05:22:00 PM
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
| Author | |
| Date Added | |
| Automatically create summary | |
| Summary |
Parashah Chayei Sarah
“Let her be the one whom you have decreed for your servant Isaac.”
(Genesis 24:14)
Archives at the local library confirm, that on Thursday, October 11, 1990, in the northern Canadian community of Fort McMurray, 10 adult males convened for the first ever official Jewish service.
How could that be possible — a full Jewish service, held 600...Read more...
Who is "Truly" Religious? #698
10/22/2021 05:38:00 PM
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
| Author | |
| Date Added | |
| Automatically create summary | |
| Summary |
Parashah Vayera
Share your food with everyone who is hungry; share your home with the poor and homeless. Give clothes to those in need.” (Isaiah 58:7)
“Rabbi, I need to tell you, I’m really not that religious.”
This is a declaration I hear regularly when I am introduced to someone.
Many find it important to affirm that while they are Jewish in their hearts, the idea of...Read more...
Leaving Stale Things Behind #697
10/16/2021 05:51:00 PM
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
| Author | |
| Date Added | |
| Automatically create summary | |
| Summary |
Parashah Lech Lecha
“Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1)
A plucky young boy brings home his seventh-grade report card and hands it to his parents.
As his father scans the list of Ds and Fs, his face begins to redden.
“What’s going on here?” demands the enraged father.
“Yes, I’m...Read more...
My American Citizenship Exam #696
10/08/2021 11:04:00 AM
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
| Author | |
| Date Added | |
| Automatically create summary | |
| Summary |
Parashah Noah
“Everyone on earth had the same language and the same words.” (Genesis 11:1)
At about 8:20 am last Tuesday, my wife and I approached the parking lot of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services building in Holtsville.
As we sat for a few minutes, Patte quizzed me on some of the tougher questions among the 100, which immigration officials could potentially ask me as...Read more...
Protecting the Environment – and Israel #695
10/01/2021 06:09:00 PM
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
| Author | |
| Date Added | |
| Automatically create summary | |
| Summary |
Parashah Bereshit
“The Lord God took the man and took him into the Garden of Eden, to work it and take care of it.” (Genesis 2:15)
On a clear evening in August 2008, I found myself standing on a friend’s deck in the ancient and mystical city of Sefat, Israel.
He is a Kabbalistic scholar, and, together, we watched the glorious glow of the sun as it set behind the...Read more...
Who Wrote the Torah? #694
09/24/2021 05:33:00 PM
Rabbi Irwin Huberman
| Author | |
| Date Added | |
| Automatically create summary | |
| Summary |
Parashah V'Zot HaBrachah
“Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses—whom the LORD singled out, face to face.” Deuteronomy 34:10
One of the most confusing, fascinating, divisive lines in the Torah will be chanted this Wednesday morning as we complete the reading of the Five Books of Moses, and we return “to the beginning.”
Spoiler alert: I’m about...Read more...
Mon, November 29 2021
25 Kislev 5782
