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…
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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…
No Person is Lost
בס”ד Parashat Pinchas 5781 Meir Sendor We have been following with heavy hearts the reports of the horrific collapse of the apartment building in Miami. At this point hope of finding survivors is fading. Communities in the States, in Israel,…
Mirror, Mirror
בס”ד Parashat Balak 5781 Meir Sendor The Gemara Sanhedrin (67b) brings an incident between Rabbi Hanina and a sorceress who tried to harm him: ההיא איתתא דהות קא מהדרא למשקל עפרא מתותי כרעיה דרבי חנינא. אמר לה: אי מסתייעת –…
Water from the Rock
בס”ד Parashat Hukkat 5781 by Meir Sendor This blog post celebrates the significant birthday of our dear cousin Linda, dynamic family leader, who, among her many talents and skills, models one of the most important lessons of Torah, a lesson…