Yes, we did say that we wouldn’t be posting things weekly, but this was too important. בס”ד Yom Kippur 5782 Rabbi Meir Sendor Some of us have been wrestling with serious issues of conscience that come to the fore…
Lift the Gates
בס”ד Parashat Nitzavim 5781 – Rosh HaShanah 5782 The process of Teshuvah is the Torah version of depth psychology, encouraging us to probe the conscious, semi-conscious and unconscious dimensions of our minds to understand the motives for our behavior, and…
Twin Peaks
בס”ד Parashat Ki Tavo 5781 Rabbi Meir Sendor The rapid re-collapse of Afghanistan into the hands of the barbaric Taliban is a rude awakening for Western liberal societies. The pundits are trying to figure out what went wrong with twenty…
Smoke and Mirrors
בס”ד Parashat Ki Teze 5781 This week a massive fire devastated the forests of the mountains just west of Jerusalem. As of this moment, Wednesday evening, it has been brought under control, though it’s not yet fully extinguished. The fire…
My Brothers’ and Sisters’ Guardian
בס”ד Parashat Shoftim 5781 Meir Sendor With new strains of the pandemic surging here, and all around the world, the government, trying to avoid a full lockdown, is calling for a sense of responsibility from all citizens: to get vaccinated;…
Timing is Everything
בס”ד Parashat Re’eh 5781 Israeli civil bureaucracy is a bit notorious for its complexity and rigidity. It’s saddled with lingering influences from Ottoman and British occupation and the Russian and Eastern European backgrounds of some of the early Jewish groups…
Land of the Living
בסײד Parashat Ekev 5781 Meir Sendor Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk made Aliyah with three hundred Hasidim in 1777, first to Tzfat and finally settling in Tiveria. He was considered the foremost student of the Maggid of Mezritch, with extraordinary…
Matchmaker, Matchmaker
בס”ד Parashat Va’etchanan, Shabbat Nachamu 5781 by Meir Sendor This Shabbat is also Tu B’Av, the fifteenth of the month Menachem Av. Following the mournful period that just concluded with Tisha B’Av, in contrast, Tu B’Av is one of the…
Out of Place
The Experience of Contemplative Prayer Prayer is one of our most important spiritual instruments. Tefillah is just talking to God – but how do we know when we are really communicating with God, Who is one, infinite, eternal but hidden? We…
Higher Criticism
בס”ד Parashat Matot – Mas’ei 5781 Rabbi Meir Sendor (יב) תהלים פרק צד אַשְׁרֵ֤י׀ הַגֶּ֣בֶר אֲשֶׁר־תְּיַסְּרֶ֣נּוּ יָּ֑-הּ וּֽמִתּוֹרָתְךָ֥ תְלַמְּדֶֽנּוּ: Assured is the person You chastise, God, and from Your Torah You teach him (Ps. 94:12) Many years back we…
