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Parsha: The most important festival

Gustavo Surazski — Thu, 23 May 2013 08:48:08 +0000

After three months of dealing with technical and ritual aspects Halacha, the Torah returns in this week’s portion to the more legendary style of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus. The portion of “Behaalotcha” includes the stories of the manna, Eldad and Medad, and the famous story of the Cushite woman that Moses had married. [...]

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Parashat HaShavua Naso

Gustavo Surazski — Thu, 16 May 2013 09:12:54 +0000

To Be an Adjective By Rabbi Gustavo Surazski According to our Sages, Nachshon Ben Aminadav was the first to leap into the water at the time of the parting of the Red Sea, and according to that same Midrash, we refer to all those who jump first into a dangerous and important mission by the [...]

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Parashat HaShavua – Parashat BeMidvar

Gustavo Surazski — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:34:58 +0000

Parashat HaShavua – Parashat BeMidvar Not just Statistics Rabbi Gustavo Surazski Kehillat Netzach Israel, Ashkelon Maybe you know the joke about the teacher who wanted to catch out a pupil in front of the class. She asked him to stand up and asked him a very difficult question in Mathematics. The boy knew the answer. [...]

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Theology and meteorology: Parashat Behar-Bechukotai

Gustavo Surazski — Thu, 02 May 2013 07:40:46 +0000

Parashat Bechukotai, one of the portions that we read this week, contains the curses and punishments which will be inflicted upon those who do not obey G-d’s commandments. If in My statutes ye walk, and if my commandments ye keep, and do them: Then will I give you rains in their due season, and the [...]

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Shavuot

Gustavo Surazski — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 08:40:00 +0000

No Ownership By Rabbi Gustavo Surazski Every year we read the Torah portion Bemidbar (“In the desert”) during the week of Shavuoth, the festival of the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. The association is immediate: the Torah was given in the desert. We may ask why G-d chose the desolate desert as the [...]

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The iPad Tablets that Moses didn’t bring

Gustavo Surazski — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:06:56 +0000

Every year, my eldest daughter asks me which of all the Jewish festivals is my favourite. My immediate response is always: Pesach. I know….when Seder night arrives, we are left with almost no energy. We cleaned. We arranged closets. We worked around the clock preparing holiday meals. Yet my response remains firm. My favorite holiday [...]

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The fearful asymmetry of Israeli restraint

Gustavo Surazski — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 09:33:28 +0000

My daughter, who is 9 years old, with all the innocence that only a child can have, asked me a few days ago why Israel was created in this part of the world. I thought of an old story about the angels complaining to G-d. G-d was giving away land to the different nations of the [...]

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