Parshat Ekev 5776 Rabbi Meir Sendor We met this week with the Chief Rabbi of Tzfat, Rav Shmuel Eliyahu, shlit”a. Since we have moved to Tzfat to teach in his jurisdiction, it was the thing to do, to introduce ourselves…
Finding the Right Note
Parshat Va-etchanan 5776 Rabbi Meir Sendor This week Tzfat really rocked. It was the week of the annual Klezmer Festival, three days and nights of music all over town. Five main stages at main kikarim or town squares feature headline…
Precious Stones
Parshat Matot 5776 Life of souls is the air of your Land, of pure myrrh is your powdered dust, and honey from the comb – your rivers (R. Yehudah Halevi, ‘Zion’). One of the favorite Tzfat stories concerns the great…
Dark Gravity
Parshat Pinchas 5776 שיר השירים פרק ו יא) אל גנת אגוז ירדתי לראות באבי הנחל לראות הפרחה הגפן הנצו הרמנים יב) לא ידעתי נפשי שמתני מרכבות עמי נדיב: “To the nut garden I went down, to see the buds…
Magical Realism
We were travelling in the lower Galil this week and came upon Mount Tavor, a commanding presence among the surrounding hills and farmland. It prompted us to sing the verse from the venerable zimrah “Ha-Mavdil” for Motza’ei Shabbat, already found…
Morid Ha-Tal
Parshat Hukkat 5776 Meir Sendor In Erez Yisrael in the long dry summer season the phrase “morid ha-Tal” is added to the Amidah, in nusach Ashkenaz as well as Sefarad. We praise HaShem Who “brings down the dew” in the…
Aliyah ve-Klitah – Ascent and Absorption
In the Gemara Megillah 17b the Rabbis ask what prompted the men of the Great Assembly, who arranged the blessings of the Shmonah Esreh in a specific order, to place the blessing for ingathering of the exiles after the blessing…
