Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh's blog
Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 19th, 2012
Patience, alacrity, Torah and mitzvah In a previous article, we discussed the swiftness with which Pinchas acted and in contrast we saw that Joshua did not complete the task of conquering the landof Israelbecause of his excessive patience. From the fact that Pinchas was appointed to lead the war against Midian, the sages learn that, [...]
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 10th, 2011
In Hebrew, the idiom “to see someone’s face” can mean either to appease him or to fight him. After winning the wrestling bout with Esau’s archangel, Jacob says, “for I have seen the angel of God face to face and my soul has been saved.” Several of the traditional commentaries explain that seeing face to [...]
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 May 29th, 2011
After his sin God asked Adam, “Where are you?” Do you know to what depth you have fallen? Adam ate the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He pursued knowledge (God wants us to be knowledgeable, doesn’t He?). And he got it – the knowledge of the depth to which [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Mar 16th, 2011
The sages say: A wise man learns from a hint. A fool learns only from a fist (i.e., a punch in his face). Indeed, there are some ‘accomplished’ fools who don’t learn even from repeated “fists.” Many of them are politicians. In Aramaic (Hebrew’s sister-tongue and the language in which the saying was expressed), “hint” [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Mar 14th, 2011
The Torah has body and soul, law and mystery. Both derive from a common source: the Hebrew language. The first text of Kabbalah is the first text of Hebrew grammar, the Book of Formation. All the myriad laws of the Oral Torah are the product of intense and detailed analysis of the syntax of the [...]
Posted in Tweets from the year 5771 on Feb 28th, 2011
Rectifying the State of Israel in 10 steps: Step 1: Faith in the Torah (the Bible as interpreted by the Sages) as the Word of God. Step 2: Commitment to live our private and communal lives in accordance with the precepts of the Torah. Step 3: Proclaim the Torah as the foundation of international law. [...]
Posted in Tweets from the year 5771 on Feb 24th, 2011
Meditative prayer lifts us up and out of our mundane reality. The early chasidim would meditate an hour, pray an hour, then meditate an additional hour. What is meditation? Breaking through hard shells, peeling away soft shells, and eating the fruit. * The 10 blessings of Isaac to Jacob are the connective intermediate between the [...]
Posted in Tweets from the year 5771 on Feb 24th, 2011
The 3 basic nutrients are carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Spiritually, they correspond to acts of kindness, prayer, and Torah study. The Torah describes the most basic act of kindness as providing the poor with bread – carbohydrates. The service of prayer, compared to that of animal sacrifice, requires great strength – proteins. Generally speaking, saturated [...]