Dear Family and Friends,

Tomorrow, we'll read about the Tabernacle, the temporary Sanctuary of the Desert.

This raises the question about the possibility of confining Divine Providence into human dimensions, or maybe it challenges us to perceive and establish spirituality within ourselves and in our relationship with others, not in Heaven. Can we translate "Sanctity" into "Transcendence" and would that mean that the ideal of building a "Sanctuary" means to transcend beyond our egocentric concrete needs?

Shabbat Shalom to all,

ברכה לטו בשבט

Dear Family and Friends,

Tomorrow, among other chapters, we'll read "Shirat HaYam"- the 'Song the Sea'; maybe 'crossing the sea' symbolizes every apparently insurmountable obstacle between where we are and where we want to be, or where we have to be in order to be really free.

Very often, the reading of this Passage coincides with "Tu biShvat", the "New Year of the Trees", when we celebrate the fruits of the Promised Land and when the almond trees start blossoming.

Maybe this 'coincidence" can teach us that in order to be able to appreciate the blossoming of trees and believe that there will be fruit on the trees, you have to believe in 'crossing the sea', in overcoming apparently insurmountable obstacle.

Shabbat Shalom and let us all be able to enjoy the trees and the fruit of the land.

Pinchas, Tzippie and Children

http://pinchaspeace.blogspot.com

לבני משפחתנו, לחברותינו ולחברינו היקרים,

מחר, בפרשת בשלח, נקרא את 'שירת הים'. 'קריעת ים סוף' מסמלת אולי כל מכשול הנראה לכאורה בלתי עביר בין המקום בו אנחנו נמצאים לבין המקום בו עלינו להיות, כדי להיות לגמרי בני חורין.

לעתים קרובות, פרשה זו נקראת בט"ו בשבט, ראש השנה לאילנות, כאשר 'השקדיה פורחת' ונוהגים לאכול מפרי ארצנו.

אולי "צירוף מקרים" זה עשויה ללמדנו שכדי שנוכל להעריך את 'פריחת השקדיות' ולהאמין שגם הפירות יגיעו, דרושה אמונה ביכולתנו לעבור את הים, ולא לטבוע בו.

שבת שלום ותהיה שנה טובה לאילנות ולכולנו

ציפי, פנחס וילדיהם

http://pinchaspeace.blogspot.com

Light and Darkness

Just before lighting Shabbat Candles today, we are lighting 8 candles of Hanukkah. We follow the opinion of Beth Hillel, and we are adding every night one candle. Nevertheless, according to Beth Shammai, we should light today only 1 candle and so, every day there would have been less light and more darkness.

Maybe this approach teaches us that even when it gets darker and darker and sometimes we have that experience, we should never stop believing that there will be light again.

פרסום הנס ושלום

This evening we are lighting the Candles of Hanukah before lighting Shabbat candles; it's interesting to notice that Hanukah candles are lit outside or at a window; their purpose is to publicize the miracle of our cultural and spiritual survival. If somebody doesn’t have enough money for both (Shabbat and Hanukah candles), Shabbat candles have priority, since they reflect inner harmony and peace; Maimonides even generalizes this idea by claiming that the entire Torah is aimed towards achieving Peace in the world. Maybe it’s important to remember this, when too often religion has become one of the main factors of conflict and hatred.
Shabbat Shalom and Hanukah Sameach to all


,
הערב, לפני שנדליק נרות שבת, נדליק נרות חנוכה. מעניין לציין שאנו מדליקים נרות חנוכה בחוץ או ליד החלון הפונה החוצה, כדי לפרסם את הנס של קיומנו התרבותי והרוחני במשך הדורות. ההלכה קובעת שאם אין האדם צריך לבחור בין נרות שבת לנרות חנוכה, עליו להדליק נרות שבת, "משום שלום ביתו". הרמב"ם הופך הלכה זו לעיקרון מכונן וכותב "שכל התורה ניתנה לעשות שלום בעולם".
אולי חשוב לזכור זאת, דווקא כאשר לעתים קרובות מדי דתות הפכו להיות אחד הגורמים העיקריים בהעצמת סכסוכים ובהגברת השנאה בין בני אדם.
שבת שלום והרבה אור

Transforming flight into a meaningful journey

Listening to his mother's advice, Yaacov runs away, being afraid that his brother Esav, out of resentment and jealousy, will kill him. A straight reading of the Torah tells us that he left Beer Sheva and on his way to Haran, he had a very meaningful dream. Our Sages have a different narrative; before his journey toward Haran, his mother's homeland, he spent 14 years learning. Maybe this "internal" journey was needed in order to have him give a different meaning than "escaping" to his exile.

Maybe this teaches us that we have the choice of redefining the meaning of events and decisions, if the original reason doesn't fit our values.

.

Shabbat Shalom to all,

Reconciliation

Last week we read about Avraham sending Hagar and Yishmael away, upon Sarah's request.

After the Akedah, Yitzhak disappeared and didn’t live with his parents.

Rashi, quoting a Midrash reads in the words "Beer LaHay Roei" an allusion to the place where we last met Hagar and Yishmael and says that after his mother Sarah died, he brought Hagar back to his father, which is identified with Keturah; we'll also read that Yitzhak and Yishmael are burying their common father together.

Does that teach us that after each episode of hatred and rivalry, people are (or should be) able to overcome fear, to reestablish harmony and peaceful coexistence after repairing injustice?

looking backwards and forwards

Dear Family and Friends,

Lot's wife (no name is mentioned) looked backwards after the destruction of Sedom, the Evil City, and petrified ; her daughters, surviving that trauma with Lot, their father, looked towards the future, but, believing they were the only survivors in the world (they never left Sedom and probably didn’t know something else existed…) made him drink, and alike Noach, he became drunk (maybe this was – and sometimes still – a way people react to traumata) ; they had intercourse with him while he was drunk and asleep and gave birth to Amon and Moav. Our Tradition tells us a lot about Amon and Moav, namely that David, and the Messiah are descendants of Ruth, the Moabite.

Maybe this teaches us that sometimes looking towards the future involves very unusual decisions and behavior (are they other options in such circumstances?), but also that in order to be part of the process of redemption some personal transformation is required.

.Shabbat Shalom to all,