Who shall live...

We are fast approaching the Holy Day of Rosh Hashannah. Although the observance of Rosh Hashannah extends for two full days (in Israel as well as the Diaspora), we refer to the Jewish New Year as one "long day".

What happens exactly on Rosh Hashannah?

Every human being, as well as every nation, receives a judgement for the year.

In one of the most moving stanzas from our Rosh Hashannah prayers, we recite:

"On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed, and on Yom Kippur will be sealed, how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created; who will live and who will die; who will die at his predestined time and who before his time; who by water and who by fire, who by sword, who by beast, who by famine, who by thirst, who by upheaval, who by plague, who by strangling, and who by stoning. Who will rest and who will wander, who will live in harmony and who will be harried, who will enjoy tranquility and who will suffer, who will be impoverished and who will be enriched, who will be degraded and who will be exalted."

Today, a lifetime terrorist leader, the mastermind of countless Jewish murders, and now the dictator of the Palestinian Authority, Machmoud Abbas, will address the United Nations.

He intends to ask the nations of the world to bolster his attempt to destroy the Jewish homeland.

The jihad against the Jews has little to do with Judea or Samaria. It is a purely ideological fight. It is an insult to the jihadists honor that any non-Muslim enjoys sovereignty in the Middle East.

Ideally, these terrorists seek worldwide allegiance to fundamentalist Islam. However, they are practical enough to accept this goal in stages. Stage one is full domination of the Middle East.

This fight continues here in Akko. A demographic war is being waged against our city. This city, nowhere here the so-called "disputed territories", is in danger of falling to a growing number of non-friendly Arab Muslims.

Ultimately, we must realize that G-d will decide our future. It is no accident that this UN provocation comes right now, as we are about to be judged for the year.

Will the nation of Israel live or die? Will the city of Akko enjoy tranquility, or suffer?

More importantly, what can we do to improve our annual judgement?

In the very next line of the same Rosh Hashannah reading, we recite together:

"...but Repentance, Prayer, and CHARITY, cancel the severe decree!"

Will you stand with us, at this auspicious time?

Will you help to insure for us, and yourself, a sweet judgement?


Will you contribute to strengthening the Jewish people?

Response to Shaun Wolfe

Check out the comment thread on the previous blog post. Shaun Wolfe posted a few comments, the latest of which deserved (by my estimation) its own blog post for my response. Shaun wrote:

" If you can take whatever action is deemed appropriate based on your beliefs regardless of secular constraints, then why can't others -- as long as they are genuine in their belief?"

In short - 'cause we're right and they're wrong. :o)

Again, the source of Western morality is Torah. We, in the Western world, take for granted concepts like "life is sacred above all else"

In Islam, as well as many Asian traditions, honor is more sacred than life.

Kamikaze pilots in World War II, suicide bombers in Israel, Muslim fathers killing their disobedient daughters in the U.S., these people aren't crazy. They just have a different value system.

If we take the secular view, then we truly can't say that any value system is inherently superior to any other.

I don't subscribe to that view. I say that we (of Judeo-Christian civilization) are right and everyone else (to the extent that their values contradict ours) is wrong.

I don't have the exact quote in front of me, but I heard Mr. Jillette say something in an interview, something about how he respects those with religious conviction much more than those in liberal churches (synagogues). He can say to them "you're dead wrong" and they can say to him "you're dead wrong", but at least they can have a dialogue and present arguments for each side.

Without an anchor, without an objective value system by which to live, we have no justification to tell anyone else that any given action is "right" or "wrong".

So, that's why it's wrong for people to hijack airplanes and fly them into buildings, even if they think they are serving some higher power by doing it.

Response to Penn Jilette and his new book "G-d, no!"

For those of you who may not know, Penn Jillette is one of the greatest magicians alive today. Along with Teller (yes, that IS his full legal name), Penn performs in Las Vegas several times a week, usually to a packed house.

Penn is famous for his personal views as well as his professional acumen. He advocates for Libertarian politics, including free-market capitalism and a repeal of laws against "victimless crimes".

Penn is also an atheist. This is the topic of his most recent book "G-d, no!"

[He doesn't use the hyphen in his book title. It is our policy not to write the Creator's name, in any language, in this forum, because of a prohibition to casually use Hebrew names for G-d]

I have great respect for Mr. Jillette. He does not attack religious people, and in fact encourages them to continue dialogue with the rest of the world. He has said things like (not an exact quote), "Please, pray for me, if you think it will help!"

It is only because Mr. Jillette seems to be sincere in his quest for knowledge, (including religious knowledge), that I care to respond to the opening of his book. He starts out by asking:

"If G-d... ...told you to kill your child, would you do it? If your answer is no, in my booklet you're an atheist"

First I will answer Penn's question. Then I will challenge his assertion, according to a basic tenet of Judaism.

If G-d told me to kill someone, first I would check existing Jewish law and see what it says.

Jewish law says that I must kill someone if he/she is an immediate threat to my own life or the life of another. It also has provisions for war. The Bible mentions capital punishment for certain deeds, but capital cases can only be judged by a specific type of Jewish court that does not currently exist.

So if G-d told me to kill someone, but Jewish law says I can't, I wouldn't do it.

This certainly does NOT make me an atheist. Here's why.

G-d revealed His Law to our people, the Israelites, on Mount Sinai. We received the Written Law (The Scriptures, what Christians call the Old Testament), and the Oral Law, (later codified as the Mishnah, expounded upon in the Talmud, and clarified in volumes upon volumes of rabbinic discourse)

Before the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, if a person received some kind of Heavenly communication, the proper response was to listen. If that dream or vision included a command from On High, then one was supposed to follow that command.

Once the Law was given, it takes precedence over all other sources of information. In fact, G-d even warned us about this, after we received the Law.

"If a prophet arises in your midst, or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, and then he speaks to you, saying: 'Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them' - you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your G-d is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul.

(Deuteronomy 13:2-4)


It is easy to love G-d and follow the Law when you're standing at Mount Sinai, witnessing the greatest event in human history.

When the excitement fades, and you're back to normal, everyday living, and then someone comes along with an amazing "sign" or "wonder"; then what are you going to do? Will you stick to the Law that you know came from G-d, or will you be lead astray?

This is THE ultimate test of life. Every moral dilemma that we face comes down to this: Follow G-d, or follow something else.

So you see, Mr. Jillette, I strive everyday to develop a deep, close, personal relationship with my Creator. Understanding G-d's Infinity means realizing that, unlike us mortals, G-d has no need for the backspace button. The all-powerful, all-knowing King of the Universe never makes a mistake, and certainly doesn't need to appear to me in a dream, or a vision, and tell me to violate the Law.


Please comment below - I would love to get a conversation going here.

G-d made _____ happen BECAUSE...

There is a tendency for human beings in distress to ask the Eternal question, "Why?"

The "whys" that have been proposed to us in the rabbinical world range from "Why can't I make more money" to "Why did G-d allow/cause the Holocaust".

In nearly all of these cases, any question that starts with "Why did G-d..." does not have a worldly answer.

We must remember that most of the people who ask these types of questions are in great pain. Our obligation is not to answer their unanswerable question, but to attend to their pain and help them find a way out of their distress.

A bigger problem occurs when some individuals attempt to answer these questions.

There have always been self-appointed "diviners" who will offer up some connection between tragedy and transgression.

I loathe to link to any of their content, lest these charlatans receive more publicity. If you're interested, search on Youtube for the name of any tragic event, and you will inevitably find a video that will forcefully assert, "G-d made _______ happen BECAUSE..."

The Torah has already warned us against this.

"You shall not eat the blood [of an animal] ; neither shall you practice divination nor soothsaying." (Lev. 19:26)

Divination is the act of explaining G-d's actions on Earth. Soothsaying is casting spells, chanting mantras; anything that (we think) will somehow bypass G-d's control of the universe, and grant us some material benefit.

What is the connection between eating an animal's blood, and divination or soothsaying?

Perhaps we can say that, just as the concept of eating blood is so repulsive to us physically, we should feel spiritually disgusted by these spiritual transgressions.

How can we engender such a strong feeling against these practices? By understanding the true nature of G-d.

When we continuously learn, teach, and live a true understanding of the Holy One, severe mistakes in spiritual thinking become all the more apparent to us.

G-d is Infinite; beyond time, beyond space, beyond physicality, beyond the limits of human logic. It is the ultimate folly to try and limit the rationale for G-d's actions to whatever our limited minds can conceive.


The bottom line is, anyone who finishes the sentence "G-d made this happen BECAUSE" is transgressing an explicit Torah law.

When we are able to accept that we can't explain the Heavenly cause of apparently bad (or apparently good) events, we come one step closer to a sincere connection with our Creator.

9th of Av - from destruction to rebuilding

Please watch (and recommend) this video to anyone who cares about the future of the Jewish people.

A friend in time of need

When Itzik (Yitzchak) comes home from school, there is no one to greet him. His mother works ten hours a day as a cleaner in a local office building.

His father, tragically, was murdered by Hizbullah terrorists during the Second Lebanon War.

With no money for after-school activities, no one to help him with his homework, and little available in the city, what can we expect from little Itzik?

At best, he will sit in front of the TV all afternoon. Unfortunately, there are more dangerous temptations that may lure him out onto the streets.

For far too long, this has been the norm in periphery towns in Israel. Even children who are blessed with two parents often do not have any positive adult interaction throughout most of their childhood. There are simply too many bills to pay, and not enough hours in the day for many working-class Israeli parents. Since they must work long hours to survive, their children are left without any guidance.

Two young boys in Akko, and their 'Big Brothers' - students from our yeshiva

Our 'Big Brothers' style program provides these latch-key kids with positive role models.  Whether they help with homework, run an activity in our brand new Educational Center, or simply organize a game of soccer, our students make a big impact in the lives of Akko's youth.

We hope, as this program continues, that some of the boys who have benefited from this program will eventually be inspired to attend our yeshiva.  As they prepare to give back to their community, they will also receive an excellent Jewish education, and in turn, strengthen the Jewish population of Akko.

We need your help to continue this program.  Please give generously today!

Why many Israeli children do not have a Bar Mitzvah ceremony

This may sound strange to many of you, Jew and Gentile alike, who live near Jewish communities in other parts of the world.  Every Jewish kid you knew had a Bar (boy) or Bat (girl) mitzvah ceremony, right?  Everyone knows, it's the Jewish coming-of-age ritual.

Sometimes, the Torah reading and/or synagogue speech is overshadowed by a very lavish party.  With free flowing alcohol (for the adults only, of course), mountains of gourmet food, and a live band to play while the attendees dance the night away, some Jews have started to complain that the whole event is more "bar" than mitzvah.

Despite all of that, the Bar Mitzvah is still a treasured rite of passage in most Jewish families around the world. Why, then, do many Israeli children never have a Bar Mitzvah ceremony at all?

Simply stated, many parents don't have the time or requisite knowledge to teach their children to read from the Torah; they also lack the money needed to hire a tutor for them.

Here in Akko, a large part of the Jewish population are refugees (or children of refugees) from North African and Middle Eastern Muslim countries, as well as Jews who fled the Soviet Union (while it still existed).

In many cases, both parents must work full time jobs to provide a basic standard of living.  Once they've paid for rent, food, utilities, clothing, bus pass etc - there's just no money left for "luxuries" like a Jewish education.

Our Bar Mitzvah program has positively changed many lives already, here in Akko.  We offer free Bar Mitzvah tutoring to children in the community.  When they're ready to read from the Torah, we host the whole ceremony in our Beit Midrash (main study hall).

Some of our supporters have asked me, "Why do they need lessons?  Don't they already know how to read Hebrew - it's their first language!"

While it is easier for these kids to prepare for a Bar Mitzvah than non-Hebrew speaking children, it's important to realize that Modern Hebrew and Ancient Hebrew are not exactly the same language.

Once they become familiar with Ancient Hebrew, they must also learn the Torah portion, and how to chant it according to their family custom (both sefardim and ashkenazim have multiple sets of "notes" on the words, and we strive to provide each child with their family's custom of chanting).  They also need to understand the concept of the Torah in general, their Torah portion specifically, and how the ideas discussed in their portion are relevant to modern life.

Teacher (one of our students) and Akko youth seeking to understand the ancient text of the Torah

Our Bar Mitzvah program produces happier, more confident children, ready to enter their teenage years with a greater appreciation for and understanding of our unique heritage.

A young boy learns how to put on tefillin - a practice which also starts at the time of Bar Mitzvah

 The cost of providing one child in Akko with a series of Bar Mitzvah lessons, plus holding the ceremony on our campus, is $500.  (Ask any Jewish parent - that's a HUGE bargain!)

Would you consider sponsoring a Bar Mitzvah?