Af Beri (). A Piyyut that the Sheli’ah Tzibbur inserts into his repetition of the Musaf Amidah, recited in Tefillat Geshem on Shemini Atzeret, according to Minhag Ashkenaz and Poland. Af Beri (a name for the ruler of rain), which appears in Avot (Magayn), is followed by another short paragraph, Yatri’ah lefalayg (“May He send [...]
Author: Guestspeaker
A joint effort of several authors who do find that nobody can keep standing at the side and that “Everyone" must care about what is going on in today’s world.
We are a bunch of people who do not mind that somebody has a totally different idea but is willing to share the ideas with others and to be Active and willing to let others understand how "today’s decisions will influence the future”. Therefore we would love to see many others to "Act today".
What Makes Space Sacred? What Makes Land Holy?
The rabbi of Tzedek Chicago wrote on Shalom Rav questioned if some places in the world are more inherently sacred than others. Or is the entire world itself a sacred place? These questions are at the heart of this week’s Torah portion, Parsahat Vayetze. As the portion opens, Jacob has fled his home to escape [...]
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Lecha Dodi (Come My Beloved)
Lecha Dodi is a hymn that is normally attributed to Solomon Halevi Alkabez, a Jew of Safed during the mid-sixteenth century. Alkabez was the brother-in-law of Moses Cordovero, judge of the rabbinical court of Safed and a student of Joseph Karo, author of the Shulchan Aruch, still the most authoritative code of Jewish law for [...]
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Together joining for annual event celebrating Simchat Torah despite their political differences
At Simchat Torah or the ‘Rejoicing of Torah’ on the last day of Sukkot or Feast of Tabernacles, we rejoice when the annual cycle of Torah reading is completed so that we can start the next cycle again. Torah scrolls are removed from the ark and carried through the synagogue seven times in a joyous [...]
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At a Sermon for Rosh Hashanah 5785 to think about Genocide not being a Jewish value
In previous messages I mentioned already that what the Israeli government is doing is a shame on our people. It is impossible to keep ignoring that Israel is doing an ethnic cleansing of Gaza. The Israeli government's plan is getting control of the northern Gaza Strip and drive out the 300,000 Palestinians still there. Major [...]
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A Message for Rosh HaShanah 5785 from Rabbi Rick Jacobs
Dear readers of Immanuel Verbondskind's website We welcome the new year of 5785 with heavy hearts, remembering the devastating events of October 7th and the pressing challenges we continue to face – including the continued captivity of the hostages, the escalating situation in Lebanon, yesterday’s barrage of ballistic missiles from Iran, and an alarming rise [...]
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Don’t Normalize the Political Violence in Gaza
Photo: Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images The unspeakable violence currently unfolding in Gaza is confronting the Jewish community with the most critical moral challenge of our lifetime. In August 2014, the Jewish festival of Tisha B’Av arrived as Israel was waging a military onslaught on Gaza that would eventually kill 2,251 Palestinians, 1,462 of whom [...]
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It happened once
In This Is My G‑d, Pulitzer Prize winning author Herman Wouk describes his own experience with Shabbat observance: The Shabbat has cut most sharply athwart my own life when one of my plays has been in rehearsal or in tryout. The crisis atmosphere of an attempt at Broadway is a legend of our time, [...]
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Shabbat a day of enough
Shabbat is not just a day to rest from the previous week’s work, nor simply a day to recharge in anticipation of a busy week ahead; it is a proactive pause for its own sake, meant to reconnect us to our souls and the Soul within all.
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Judaism is a culture of life, not death
Jehudiem are people who follow God's Word and respect His creation and as such would love to see a peaceful union between all living creatures.
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Killing on the sabbath but no mourning
The exponential human loss Israel has unleashed after the Hamas’ brutal attack on October 7, is truly beyond comprehension.
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Peace and Pride: Another Look at Pinchas
With the recent death of my mother I have been reviewing memories of her and lessons she taught us. In this context I have been thinking a lot about …Peace and Pride: Another Look at Pinchas
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The Land Flowing with Wine and Honey?
To remember
- land flowing with milk and honey = favourite poetic description of Eretz Yisrael in the Torah
- Chazal > not referring to all of the land => rather to specific parts of it.
- Yerushalmi Bikkurim > Eretz Zavat Chalav U-Devash = land that has within it a part that is zavat chalav u-devash
- devash, honey, = date honey >> Devash = all fruit honey = including both dates + figs
- animals producing milk= reflection of the agricultural greatness of a land
- Wine = most important of drinks
- Chalav =/= milk > white wine
- Torah = praising Israel = land of wine and figs, a very apt description & praise.
“The land flowing with milk and honey” is a favorite poetic description of Eretz Yisrael in the Torah. It is less known that Chazal in several places understand this phrase as not referring to all of the land, but rather to specific parts of it. Israel is called the land flowing with milk and honey because it is the land that contains areas with this property. Hence the following discussion of the Amoarim who had seen the areas with this property, culminating with the claim that only an area of 22 by 16 parsa can be referred to by this property.
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Jewish life requires action
° In Jewish life, actions transmit more than words. Lighting Hanukkah candles; blotting out Haman’s name; cleaning out the hametz; tashlikh; fasting; dancing with the Torah. Yes, all of those things come with a story. And there’s so much more background and history and ideas and textual sources that go along with the story. But [...]
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Animated overview of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and the events leading up to it
A brief animated overview of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and the events leading up to it.
Immanuel Verbondskind - עמנואל קאָווענאַנט קינד 