“Rejoice on Purim till you can no longer distinguish between ‘Cursed is Haman’ and ‘Blessed is Mordechai’.” – Talmud Megillah 7b.

The popular contemporary work, Nesivos Shalom, by the late Rebbe (Grand Rabbi) of the Slonim Hasidic sect, Rav Shalom Barzovsky ob”m, gives a novel and poignant interpretation of this classic Talmudic directive:

“We must rejoice on Purim till we no longer feel the difference between the Mordechai periods of our lives, when we merit insight and enlightenment, and the Haman periods, in which we find His presence concealed.” (quote from Rabbi Yitzchak Adlerstein’s archives on Nesivos Shalom)

The Almighty only does good, but many times it’s seemingly impossible to see how the abundance of evil and negativity in the world are ultimately good. On Purim though, one can achieve, and should make every effort to achieve, a level of joy where we not only see the silver linings, but the precious clouds themselves – “when you’re smilin’, the whole world smiles with you.”

To learn more about Purim please take a look at our Purim articles at Torah.org, and listen to our Purim audio at TorahMedia.com.

Good Shabbos …and Happy Purim!
Rabbi Mordechai Dixler
Program Director, Project Genesis – Torah.org

I am very reluctant to get involved with an obviously parochial political matter. But I feel it is important to encourage everyone to participate in a plea for clemency for a mentally-impaired individual due to be killed by lethal injection early next week.

25 years ago, a 19-year-old man, Martin Grossman, was caught in a park discharging a firearm. This was a violation of his parole on a burglary charge. High on drugs, he shot the park police officer trying to report him.

If we decide that an IQ of 77 reduces a 19-year-old to the maturity of the average 17-year-old, then he wouldn’t be a candidate for the Death Penalty. Indeed, for 25 years he has been a model prisoner and has expressed profound remorse for his thoughtless cruelty. He understands that he will live out his life in jail, one way or the other.

By and large, as I said, I stay away from these cases. But I urge everyone to read the words of Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, and for more details, an amicus curiae brief filed in pleading for clemency in this case. I think and hope you will agree that even strong supporters of the death penalty see room for profound discomfort in this case.

Please write or call Florida’s governor, Charlie Crist, if you share my feelings. His e-mail address is Charlie.Crist@eog.myflorida.com, his phone number is (850) 488-7146 and he can be faxed at 850-487-0801.

Good Shabbos!

Rabbi Yaakov Menken
Director, Project Genesis – Torah.org

This week, the Torah reading talks about the gathering at Mount Sinai, and receiving the Torah. And the Torah says that the people “saw” the voices, when Mount Sinai was covered with a cloud of smoke.

Many commentaries speak about what this means, whether literally or figuratively. The Shearis Menachem, though, has a unique approach to understanding the idea of “seeing” voices. He explains that what the Jewish People heard on Mount Sinai was visible afterwards. You could see it in their way of life, in how they spent their days. What they heard could be seen.

In other places and situations, what people heard was merely heard, and not seen. People saw and learned, but what they had learned was not visible in how they lived their lives afterwards.

In just the past month, we have seen how fragile life really is. Can people see what we have learned?

Good Shabbos!

Rabbi Yaakov Menken
Director, Project Genesis – Torah.org