Angel for Shabbat

This week's Torah reading includes the Shema--the classic statement of Jewish faith: Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One. We are commanded to recite this passage each morning and each evening as a confirmation of our "accepting the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven".

A Spirituality Crisis
by Rabbi Marc D. Angel
(from jewishideas.org)

There is a feeling among many Jews, including many Orthodox Jews, that worship in the synagogue lacks adequate inspiration and spirituality. Among the complaints: the synagogue ritual is chanted by rote; the prayers are recited too quickly; the prayers are recited too slowly; the service is not understood by congregants; people talk too much in synagogue; the services do not involve everyone in a meaningful way.

Here are two views on fairness; with which one do you agree more?

A. It is only fair that those who are wealthier should share with those who have less. The essential health of a society is based on compassion and caring, a spirit of responsibility for all members of society.

B. It is only fair that people should be allowed to keep what they earn through their own hard work. The essential health of a society is based on respect for individual rights and individual choices.

Angel for Shabbat, Parashat Shelah Lekha
by Rabbi Marc D. Angel

By Rabbi Marc D. Angel

Aaron the High Priest was commanded to light the menorah. The Torah describes his action with the word "beha'aloteha," when you raise the lights. Rashi comments that Aaron was supposed to kindle the lights so they would rise on their own. Symbolically, this image applies to the role of parents and teachers: they are supposed to educate and inspire the young so that the children/students are able to rise on their own. The goal is to fashion responsible human beings who can act properly on their own.

Thoughts for Parashat Bemidbar

The Kotzker Rebbe (1787-1859) was an insightful Hasidic master whose wisdom continues to impact on thinking Jews of our times. He made an important observation based on the fact that the Torah was originally given and taught in Midbar Sinai, the wilderness of Sinai.

By Rabbi Marc D. Angel

This is the period of the anniversary of the passing of Mr. Edgar J. Nathan 3rd, who died in May 2013. Edgar was a distinguished attorney and communal leader and served as Parnas (president) of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York from 1968 to 1991. A descendant of early members and leaders of the Congregation going back to Colonial American days, he was the personification of a wise and thoughtful gentleman, a man of gravitas and steady good judgment.

I recently received a communication from an individual who had been very active in his synagogue, but who has grown increasingly disillusioned. He feels that his congregation is controlled by a small clique of wealthy individuals who have little regard for the feelings of members of the congregation. He finds that the rabbi of his synagogue is not easily accessible and is not a particularly spiritual person (e.g.

In the opening pages of his book “The Upright Thinkers,” Dr. Leonard Mlodinow reports an incident in his father’s life as an inmate in a Nazi concentration camp. The elder Mlodinow was then a young Polish Jew, who had not received formal education past seventh grade. In the camp, he met an older inmate, a mathematician, and they struck up a friendship.

This week’s Parasha includes one of the most perplexing episodes in the Torah. The Israelites complain bitterly that they have no water to drink, that they will die of thirst, that they should have remained in Egypt rather than suffer such a terrible fate. God tells Moses and Aaron to gather the people, to speak to a rock, and that water would come forth from the rock to quench the people’s thirst.