Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh's blog
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 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 Questions in the Bible on May 31st, 2011
There are three forms of the question “where?” in Biblical Hebrew. They first appear in the Torah in evolving order, both grammatically and numerically. The first form, ey (אי), comprises only two letters (perhaps the simplest syllable in the Hebrew language) and first appears in the question we contemplated above, “Where is Abel your brother” (אי [...]
Posted in Questions in the Bible on May 23rd, 2011
There are six things that one must clarify: Who am I? Where am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? Who put me here? Why?
Posted in Uncategorized on Mar 23rd, 2011
The sages are called “the eyes of the congregation.” They are visionaries, they are guides, and they open our eyes to see truth. In the World of Creation, the realm of pure intellect, the sages are visionaries. They gaze into the future and convey to us, almost like prophets, what’s in store for us – [...]
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
There are many worlds. In the highest spiritual World of Emanation there is no consciousness other than that of God. * The Bible speaks of two “rods,” a “pleasant rod” and a “harmful rod.” The rod – a symbol of discipline – can be either pleasant or harmful. * In our “forgiveness” prayers we say [...]
Posted in Tweets from the year 5771 on Feb 24th, 2011
After Shema, morning and evening, we continue: “May the Name of the glory of His kingdom be blessed for ever and ever.” The first verse, Shema, is a multiple of 13 (13 times 86) while the second, May…, is a multiple of 7 (7 times 194), a male-female pair. The fiery angels in the World [...]
Posted in Tweets from the year 5771 on Feb 24th, 2011
Many scientists today are asking “what happened before the big bang?” In Kabbalah we learn that before real time there was “order of times.” The impression of order remains after the creation of real time (the big bang). This solves the low entropy problem of modern cosmology. The “order of times” preceded the primordial darkness [...]
Posted in Tweets from the year 5771 on Feb 24th, 2011
The first two of the Ten Commandments, to believe in God and not to worship idols, we heard directly from the mouth of God, as it were. God reveals Himself to each and every one of us in our daily lives and tells us to worship only Him, for our eternal good. God speaks to [...]