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22 July 2020

Two Short Rabbi Sprecher Articles: "Life's Journeys" and "Nourishing G-d?" + Video

Originally posted

Posted: 16 Jul 2020 09:38 AM PDT

24 Tammuz 5780

Posted again 1 Av 5780 because the first one didn't work!


Life’s Journeys

“These are the journeys of the Jewish People that left Egypt ….” (Bamidbar 33) The Baal Shem Tov taught that these 42 journeys that the People made from the time they left Egypt until they arrived at the Promised Land correspond to the 42 Spiritual Journeys that we make throughout our lives. We begin from birth, just as the Exodus from Egypt is the Jewish Peoples national birth. The final journey is to the spiritual Promised Land and to the life that awaits us in the World to Come.

Although some of the intervening journeys during the trek through the desert were accompanied by setbacks, also all the stops on our spiritual journey through life has it’s ups and downs.

If we choose good over evil, we will live through these stages of life as G‑d intends. Just like the Jewish People in the desert, if we make some wrong choices, we will experience them as temporary setbacks.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that in every step of the journey of life, we strive to make the right choices. But we should also recognize that even spiritual setbacks can be transformed into positive growth experiences. As the Kabbalah teaches, Yeridah v’Tzorech Aliyah, Sometimes in life You have to go down spiritually in order to ascend higher and higher. On the long and winding road through life, sometimes we descend and sometimes we ascend, just like the Angels going down and up the ladder in Jacob’s dream.

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Nourishing God?

“G‑d tells the Jewish People “You must guard My offering, My FOOD for My fire offering.” (Bamidbar 28) G‑d calls the offering His daily “food”, for just as food sustains the body, so did the offering draw sustaining Divine life force into the world.

 

The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that the constancy of the daily offerings express the eternal bond between G‑d and the Jewish People. Today we have no offerings. Thus the daily prayers were instituted to parallel the daily sacrifices and substitute for them in the absence of the Beit HaMikdash.

 

Thus, explains the Rebbe, our daily prayers also “sustain” G‑d. If we ever doubt how important our prayers can be, we should recall that G‑d considers them vital to the world’s existence and maintenance.

 

Therefore, prayers are as important to G‑d as our daily food is to us. Prayer is the original soul food and is essential for our well being as well as G‑d’s!

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Note: Rabbi Sprecher's students and friends are raising money for him because he lost his paying job at the OU Center and because his health is worse than we had thought. The link will be coming soon, and I will post it under the "Pray for the Sick" section of the sidebar on the right and on my R' Ephraim Sprecher Videos page. In the meantime, please continue to pray for Rav Ephraim Avraham ben Rivka.

Thank you!

12 July 2020

Interviews with Real Puerto Rican Jews: Arroz con Devorah Video Show

the light of 21 Tammuz 5780


Some of my readers might remember Juan Epstein, the "Puerto Rican Jew" character from an American situation comedy ("sitcom") television show from the 1970s called "Welcome Back, Kotter."

I apologize for this corny introduction; the sitcom was the first time I had ever heard of Puerto Rican Jews, and they were presented as a running joke. (I even have relatives I've referred to as "my Juan Epstein cousins" in the Bronx, because of this show.)

Most people who watched probably don't realize that there really are Puerto Rican Jews — real sons and daughters of Israel, from the island of Puerto Rico — and that they have been around for over 500 years. No joke.

In real life, they are anusim who arrived in PR from Spain (Wikipedia), keeping quiet so as not to attract attention from the Inquisition — which, although it was officially called off in 1968, is said to have an office in Rome to this day.

It seems they hid very well, since even Wikipedia doesn't know about the families to be represented in the Arroz con Devorah show with Devorah Esther as our host.

Geula shlemah (complete redemption) is coming soon, and it is hoped that many from this group will be joining us here in Israel. I personally asked the question about how they view Israel's land reclamation process, and how relevant it is to them, and I hope they will be discussing the issue in future shows.

The main topic of discussion is how Devorah Esther's guests discover their families' Jewish past, and what happens after they complete their conversion (back) to Judaism.

Here's the introduction to the series, and for the rest you can go here (the most recent series is on top, and the cover photo looks like the one below.).


Devorah Esther's new book, The Last Anusah, is also available on Amazon.

Tizku l'mitzvoth ! תזקו למצוות


P.S. Despite the Spanish title of her show, Devorah Esther interviews in English, with Spanish, Hebrew, and other languages lightly sprinkled in.