RABBI WEIN ON MEMORIAL DAYS

The last days of April and the beginning days of May are days of memory and remembrance here in Israel. The last Monday in May is Memorial Day in the United States. Official days of remembrance are the feeble attempts of nations and governments to somehow strengthen and revitalize national memory. They recall for us difficult times, great human sacrifice and always attempt to teach a lesson from previous generations to the next.

Aneinu Tefillos Needed

Please continue to daven for Chicagoan, Aharon HaLevi ben Gittel who is still in the hospital and needs a refuah shlema.

OU TORAH In Search of Jewish Identity Britain's Former Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

The other day I was having a conversation with a Jewish intellectual and the question came up, as it often does, as to the nature of Jewish identity. What are we? What makes us Jewish? This has been one of the persisting debates about Jewish life ever since the nineteenth century. Until then, people by and large knew who and what Jews were. They were the heirs of an ancient nation who, in the Sinai desert long ago, made a covenant with God and, with greater or lesser success, tried to live by it ever since. They were God’s people.

CHABAD.ORG Love and Hate By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

At the center of the Mosaic books is Vayikra. At the center of Vayikra is the “Holiness Code” (chapter 19) with its momentous call: “You shall be holy because I, the L‑rd your G‑d, am holy.” And at the center of chapter 19 is a brief paragraph which, by its positioning, is the apex, the high point, of the Torah: Do not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely admonish your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against the children of your people. Love your neighbor as yourself. I am G‑d.1 I want, in this study, to examine the second of these provisions: “You must surely admonish your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.”

RAV KOOK ON Kedoshim Part 3: The Printer's Dilemma

“Do not take revenge nor bear a grudge against the children of your people” (Lev. 19:18) From the first Shabbat he spent after arriving in Jaffa, writer Shmuel Yosef Agnon felt himself drawn to the esteemed rabbi of Jaffa — Rav Kook. Many years later, the Nobel Prize laureate for Hebrew literature related a number of stories about Rav Kook in a collection of essays entitled “Between Me and Myself” (1976). Included is the following incident, which illustrates the scholar’s rare traits of selflessness and magnanimity.

RAV KOOK ON Kedoshim Part 2: Love Your Neighbor

“Do not take revenge nor bear a grudge against the children of your people. You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.” (Lev. 19:18) Is this mitzvah of Ahavat Yisrael realistic? Is it possible to truly love another person as much as we love ourselves?

RAV KOOK ON Kedoshim Part 1:Sha'atnez - A Glimpse into the Future

While first introduced here in Lev. 19:19, the prohibition of sha’atnez is more clearly defined later on in the Torah: “Do not wear sha’atnez — wool and linen together” (Deut. 22:11). Why does the Torah prohibit using wool and linen in the same article of clothing? Also, the special garments of High Priest contained both wool and linen. Why was he allowed to wear sha’atnez?