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Behaalotcha: Infinite Light-givers

Ben-Tzion Spitz — Fri, 24 May 2013 00:39:53 +0000

“We must view young people not as empty bottles to be filled, but as candles to be lit.” -Robert H. Shaffer It is perhaps one of the least noted but most dramatic scenes in the life of Moses. The people of Israel protest and rebel yet again. Their foray into the desert is filled with [...]

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Naso: Suffering’s Reward

Ben-Tzion Spitz — Thu, 16 May 2013 23:31:00 +0000

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” – Helen Keller The Torah makes a straightforward connection between doing good and receiving God’s reward and blessing, and doing bad and receiving divine punishment and suffering. Only a few thousand years later do we see rabbinic literature deal [...]

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Bamidbar: Lions of Israel

Ben-Tzion Spitz — Thu, 09 May 2013 19:00:57 +0000

“True courage is a result of reasoning. A brave mind is always impregnable.” -Jeremy Collier There are multiple accounts of the miracles of the Six Day War, when in the summer of 1967, against all odds, Israel not only survived, but prevailed over the Arab countries that had vowed to eradicate our homeland. My father, [...]

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Emor: Repetitive Repetitions

Ben-Tzion Spitz — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:49:08 +0000

“The mantram becomes one’s staff of life and carries one through every ordeal. Each repetition has a new meaning, carrying you nearer and nearer to God.” -Mahatma Gandhi Since the invention of literary critics, (which came about on the very heels of the invention of authors), there has been much ink spilled complaining about repetition [...]

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Kedoshim: With great power…

Ben-Tzion Spitz — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:29:45 +0000

“He who is false to present duty breaks a thread in the loom, and will find the flaw when he may have forgotten its cause.” -Henry Ward Beecher In the fabricated mythology of our modern era, perhaps one character stands alone as the epitome of responsibility. I am talking, of course, of Marvel Comics’ angst-ridden, [...]

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Tazria: Holy Thumbs

Ben-Tzion Spitz — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:04:37 +0000

According to a decades-old study, 92% of infants suck their thumb. Besides all of the normal physiological reasons, I think I’ve stumbled upon another reason for a baby’s fascination and attachment to that particular finger. In the Sanctuary (and later in the Temple) there is a ritual performed to purify a recovered “leper”, metzora in [...]

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Shmini: “Don’t Lecture Me…”

Ben-Tzion Spitz — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:34:37 +0000

“What you dislike in another take care to correct in yourself.” -Thomas Sprat In Jewish tradition, the High Priest is granted a spectrum of ritual powers and responsibilities. One of the many curious ones is the ability, through animal sacrifice, to beseech for divine atonement for the nation of Israel. However, before the High Priest [...]

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Tzav: A Life for a Life

Ben-Tzion Spitz — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:52:36 +0000

“Behold, I do not give lectures or a little charity. When I give I give myself.” -Walt Whitman How does a person show thanks? How does one repay an enormous debt of gratitude? How can “thank you” be meaningful? Why, by bringing a sacrifice, of course. At least that’s what they did in the old [...]

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Carnivorous God

Ben-Tzion Spitz — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 18:05:02 +0000

“The key to faith is what we are willing to sacrifice to obtain it.” -Elder Cloward A significant portion of the Torah concerns itself with sacrifices, specifically animal sacrifices. There are chapters and chapters that go on about what type of animal should be offered on the altar, for what circumstances and with what accompanying [...]

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Temple Fast-Pass

Ben-Tzion Spitz — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 20:18:40 +0000

“People don’t go there anymore. It’s too crowded.” -Yogi Berra Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Florida is the world’s most visited attraction with 17 million annual visitors to that park alone. Disney has four theme parks, two water parks, twenty-four themed resorts, five golf courses and more, manned by 66,000 employees, all in the Orlando [...]

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Ki Tisah: Win Friends and Influence People

Ben-Tzion Spitz — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:04:03 +0000

“Remember that a man’s name is to him the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” -Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People Dale Carnegie, in his bestselling book quoted above, posits the importance of calling a person by their name. Ibn Ezra (on Exodus 31:2), many hundreds of years earlier, makes [...]

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Tetzaveh: Rabbinic Stone Healing

Ben-Tzion Spitz — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 17:46:01 +0000

“The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.” -Voltaire Western medicine is typically disparaging of any treatments that cannot be confirmed by a peer-reviewed double-blind study with a well defined control group, often heavily financed by pharmaceutical companies. Eastern medicine on the other hand, forays frequently into the realm [...]

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Trumah: Concentrated Divine Presence

Ben-Tzion Spitz — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:53:04 +0000

“The only thing that makes one place more attractive to me then another is the quantity of heart I find in it.” -Jane Welsh Carlyle Man is often likened to a universe onto himself. Ibn Ezra relates to this theme often and states that by understanding ones inner workings, a person can often gain insight [...]

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Mishpatim: Divine Moisturizer

Ben-Tzion Spitz — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 21:44:19 +0000

“You can free yourself from aging by reinterpreting your body and by grasping the link between belief and biology.”-Deepak Chopra The clock of our doom starts ticking from the moment of our birth. Our genetic program will determine our height, health and longevity. There seems to be little one may do to extend ones natural [...]

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Yitro: Hold Thy God

Ben-Tzion Spitz — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 08:18:12 +0000

“It chills my blood to hear the blest Supreme rudely appealed to on each trifling theme.” -William Cowper The Third Commandment of the famous Ten seems oddly underwhelming. One and Two are the fundamentals of faith (Belief in God and Not Believing in Other gods). Four and Five are Keeping the Sabbath and Honoring ones [...]

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