That’s Going Too Far

Sparks of Torah

   The upheaval that Korach caused went far beyond his actual claims against Moshe. His dispute centered upon the seat of power in the nation. He contested Moshe’s authority, Ahron’s appointment as the Kohen Gadol and of course that his cousin was selected to be the head of his particular branch of the Levites. Many prominent members of the people mistakenly supported his mutiny and their punishment was not deferre  and it was swift and exacting. However, there were also secondary damages that occurred due to his insurgency.

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Spanish Golden Age

Blast from the Past

Spanish Golden Age1 Adar Ibn Ezra: While England was working to isolate and diminish the Jewish Community (see last week’s Blast from the Past), around the same time the Jews of Spain were living in a Golden Age. Rav Avraham (ben Meir) Ibn Ezra was born in Tudela in 1089. It was so good for the Jews,…

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Birobidzhan: Jewish Utopia?

Blast from the Past

8 Adar  So besides being my son, Zusha’s, birthday this Shabbat, what else has happened on this day in Jewish history? Can you believe that the Soviets tried to set up a Jewish Utopia in eastern Asia? It’s hard to believe, since we know the Soviets worked so hard to wipe out the Jewish people, infamously…

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Stalin Was: A Return of the Haman

Blast from the Past

14 Adar  Most of you heard about Purim in the days of Esther and Mordechai, which was about 2,376 years ago in Persia. A most fascinating thing happened about 2,308 years later… It came to pass in the days of Joseph Stalin, the evil one who ruled from East Berlin to the “Jewish Utopia” of Birobidzhan over…

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The Brothers “Rebbe Reb”

Blast from the Past

21 Adar So earlier this year I get a chance to write about Rebbe Reb Zusha and now I get to write about his brother Rebbe Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk (1717-1786) whose yahrzeit  is today. Interestingly in a Jewish leap year, the yahrzeit happens twice! The two brothers are famous for their adventures together, but why are they both…

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The Story of the Dubno Maggid

Blast from the Past

17 Tevet  Dubno Maggid: Today is the yahrzeit of Rabbi Jacob ben Wolf Kranz (1741-1804). He was known as the storyteller from Dubno a.k.a. “The Dubno Maggid.” This teacher is most famous for using stories to share very complex ideas in a simple way. He was a true scholar with a deep knowledge of the…

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