Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh's blog
Posted in Parashah on Jul 12th, 2012
This week’s Torah portion is named after Pinchas whose zealous act retracted God’s anger and atoned for the Jewish people’s sins of promiscuity. The final passages of parashat Pinchas relate to the different types of animal sacrifices that we are commanded to bring to the Temple. It is well known that the name given to [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Aug 9th, 2011
The Seer of Lublin passed away, at the age of 70, on the 9th of Av 5575 (1815), a day of national mourning, but also, according to the sages, the birthday of the Mashiach. Long before his passing he hinted to his followers that he would pass away on the 9th of Av. The Seer [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Aug 8th, 2011
The two elements of fire and water unite in the Temple. The two elements of air and earth unite in the Land of Israel. In the Temple we offer sacrifices to God. The sacrifices ascend in flame on the altar. The Torah calls the sacrifices “fires.” When offering a sacrifice we experience ourselves burning up [...]
Posted in Rectifying the Sense of Sight on Jul 29th, 2011
An important Talmudic rule says, “‘We didn’t see it’ is no proof [that it doesn't exist or that it didn't happen]“. In Hebrew, “sight” (רְאִיָה) and “proof” (רְאָיָה) – both from the root “to see” (ראה) – are spelled the same but vocalized differently. When two qualified (kosher) witnesses see an event and testify to [...]
Posted in Rectifying the Sense of Sight on Jul 25th, 2011
Both the mind and the heart possess an “inner eye.” On Shabbat the inner eye of the mind opens to see Godliness in contemplative meditation. In the Temple the inner eye of the heart opens to see Godliness in heartfelt prayer. The verse says, “And they shall make for Me a sanctuary and I shall [...]
Posted in Rectifying the Sense of Sight on Jul 23rd, 2011
“Keep My days of Shabbat and stand in awe of My Temple.” What do Shabbat and the Temple have in common? Both relate to the sense of sight. The verse “Keep My days of Shabbat and stand in awe of My Temple, I am God” (‘את שבתתי תשמרו ומקדשי תיראו אני הוי) appears identically twice [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jun 9th, 2011
First put on your right shoe, then your left shoe, then bind your left shoe, and finally bind your right shoe. That’s the way Jews do it. The Torah was given to sanctify the mundane. Shoes allow us to walk the face of the earth, to contact physicality and move around as we wish freely. [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jun 9th, 2011
Bat Sheva prayed that her son, Solomon, be wise and fitting for prophecy. David’s other wives prayed that their sons be fitting to rule. King Solomon begins the last chapter of Proverbs with his mother’s exhortation to him as a young man. She begins by saying to him, “What, my son? And what, the son [...]
Posted in Questions in the Bible on Jun 2nd, 2011
In English one may ask “where are you headed?” instead of “where are you going?” The parallel Hebrew idiom is, “where is your face set?” (לאן פניך מועדות) “Where are you headed?” suggests consciousness (vector-like consciousness; the “head” in the idiom is like the head of an arrow), that you have in mind the objective of [...]
Posted in Questions in the Bible on Jun 2nd, 2011
Our origin is in the Divine nothing. Our goal is to understand everything, as it says, “Those that seek God shall understand everything.” We come from wisdom, the father principle, and we go to understanding, the mother principle. Father, “the depth of the beginning,” is “nothing” (“wisdom appears from nothing”; the “nothing,” the source of [...]