“And you shall return to HaShem your G-d, and you shall listen to His voice, like all that I have commanded you today, you and your children, with all your hearts and with all your souls.” [Deut. 30:2]

It’s right there “in black and white” — G-d knows that we will stray, we will not behave the way He told us that we should, and He gives us the opportunity to start over. It’s never too late to turn a new leaf, to resolve to do better — but this *is* the best time of the year.

Let us read the words of the Torah, and, as it says, return to Him with love. May all our transgressions of last year be wiped away as we start anew.

Good Shabbos!
Rabbi Yaakov Menken
Director, Project Genesis – Torah.org

The above is the most recent in a series of brief daily messages I have published to Facebook and Twitter, in a modest effort to use the newest communications media to inspire. If the project works well through Yom Kippur, I might just keep it up throughout the year. Please don’t “join” either service for the sake of these messages, but for those that do, please ‘friend’ or ‘follow’ me as appropriate:

http://www.facebook.com/yaakov.menken
http://www.twitter.com/ymenken

Similarly, please ‘like’ the Facebook page for Torah.org:
http://www.facebook.com/torah.org

Rosh HaShanah is coming soon — please take a look at our Rosh Hashanah articles at Torah.org, and listen to our Rosh Hashanah audio at TorahMedia.com.

Good Shabbos!
Rabbi Yaakov Menken
Director, Project Genesis – Torah.org

The Torah warns us that “bribery blinds the eyes of the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous.” [Deut. 16:19] G-d is not talking about a corrupt person here, He is talking about the “wise” and the “righteous”!

The Talmud tells us that the ‘bribery’ discussed also goes well beyond passing money to the judge and back-room deals. In one case discussed in the Talmud, two litigants are sent to a noted sage for arbitration. One of them recognizes the judge and asks, “didn’t you stay in my hotel?”

The Rabbi answered, “yes I did, and now I can’t judge your case!”

Having previously conducted a commercial transaction, with no ulterior motive or quid pro quo, isn’t something we would understand as ‘bribery’ at all. But the scholarly Rabbi correctly understood that even this was enough to create a small connection, and perhaps was enough to intimidate the other party.

Like most other Orthodox Jews, I am troubled by the judge’s actions in the trial of Shalom Rubashkin. There are all sorts of things that can be said to justify her behavior, or chalk it up to a judge with a long history of apparent favoritism towards the prosecution. But having been so intensely involved with the planning of the immigration raid upon the Postville plant — which, in the end, had no direct relationship to the misreporting of which Rubashkin was guilty — certainly gives the appearance of a previous connection to the prosecution and bias against the defendant. The fact that she failed to disclose this, and it only came to light after suing the government to provide information about the raid, is entirely inexcusable and unseemly. Our Sages knew well that no matter what decision might be arrived at in a truly unbiased fashion, justice must not merely be done cleanly — it has to look and smell clean as well.

Rabbi Pinchas Winston, author of our weekly Perceptions on the Parsha, has written a booklet called Geulah B’Rachamim, Redemption with Mercy. It contains 60 short yet powerful daily lessons, helping Jewish readers to yearn for redemption. Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of an anonymous supporter, he is offering this work to all Torah.org subscribers and visitors for only the cost of shipping and handling.

Please go to the order page to get your free copy!

May we soon merit to see the final redemption, which Rabbi Winston’s work will help us to keep in our daily thoughts and sincere prayers.

Good Shabbos!
Rabbi Yaakov Menken
Director, Project Genesis – Torah.org

Democracy, he pointed out, is somewhat hypocritical. We select leaders because they think like us, to represent our way of thinking — and then we mock those same leaders when they follow the poll results. We know that they are not leaders, but rather followers.

The Mishnah says that at the end of times, “the face of the generation will be like the face of the dog.” Some explain that the “face” is a reference to our leaders, who will “lead” the same way that a dog runs ahead of his Master. It is not the dog, but the dog’s owner, who determines which way they will go — but to the uninformed observer, it looks like the dog is “leading.”

A true leader, by contrast, is able to be firm in the face of public opinion. Yehoshua, who had always been the quiet follower, listening to Moshe and following his every word, “had the spirit within him” to lead the nation, and not be its follower!

Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Yaakov Menken
Director, Project Genesis – Torah.org

The spies returned with evidence of the fantastic bounty provided in the Land that our Nation was destined to inherit. So what was their evil report? They informed the Nation that the inhabitants were giants. They ignored G-d’s promise that, like David versus Goliath, Israel would be successful. G-d even ensured that the Canaanites were so busy burying victims of a sudden plague that they left their homes deserted and paid no attention to the intruding spies.

As we learned so vividly in this week’s news, it is trivial to create an evil report if you only look at half the facts. This applies to many of the “evil reports” that we here in all aspects of our lives — we hear half the story and imagine that we know the entirety. This is why Lashon Hara (gossip) is indeed profoundly evil — it creates a distorted picture. People who tell us Lashon Hara are “friends” in the same way that mercenaries with knives are “peace activists,” and we must avoid them both!

Good Shabbos!
Rabbi Yaakov Menken
Director, Project Genesis – Torah.org

When battling the forces in conflict with our relationship with the Divine, we are promised success such that “5 will pursue 100 and 100 will pursue 10,000.” Let’s do the math — if 5 pursue 100, shouldn’t 100 be able to pursue 2,000 rather than 10,000?

The answer is that each one of us, by attaching ourselves to G-d, can cause an exponential addition of power to our collective reserve! It’s a powerful message of how much the individual can accomplish when united with his brethren in living a G-dly life.

Take a look at my favorite synagogue on earth. A place where everyone is welcome to come, AND DOES.

Good Shabbos!
Rabbi Mordechai Dixler
Program Director, Project Genesis – Torah.org

We hope that we will help make this a truly meaningful and memorable Passover for you and yours.

Good Shabbos!
Rabbi Yaakov Menken
Director, Project Genesis / Torah.org

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

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