By Rabbi Marc D. Angel

Aaron the High Priest was commanded to light the menorah. The Torah describes his action with the word "beha'aloteha," when you raise the lights. Rashi comments that Aaron was supposed to kindle the lights so they would rise on their own. Symbolically, this image applies to the role of parents and teachers: they are supposed to educate and inspire the young so that the children/students are able to rise on their own. The goal is to fashion responsible human beings who can act properly on their own.

Thoughts for Parashat Bemidbar

The Kotzker Rebbe (1787-1859) was an insightful Hasidic master whose wisdom continues to impact on thinking Jews of our times. He made an important observation based on the fact that the Torah was originally given and taught in Midbar Sinai, the wilderness of Sinai.

By Rabbi Marc D. Angel

This is the period of the anniversary of the passing of Mr. Edgar J. Nathan 3rd, who died in May 2013. Edgar was a distinguished attorney and communal leader and served as Parnas (president) of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York from 1968 to 1991. A descendant of early members and leaders of the Congregation going back to Colonial American days, he was the personification of a wise and thoughtful gentleman, a man of gravitas and steady good judgment.

I recently received a communication from an individual who had been very active in his synagogue, but who has grown increasingly disillusioned. He feels that his congregation is controlled by a small clique of wealthy individuals who have little regard for the feelings of members of the congregation. He finds that the rabbi of his synagogue is not easily accessible and is not a particularly spiritual person (e.g.

In the opening pages of his book “The Upright Thinkers,” Dr. Leonard Mlodinow reports an incident in his father’s life as an inmate in a Nazi concentration camp. The elder Mlodinow was then a young Polish Jew, who had not received formal education past seventh grade. In the camp, he met an older inmate, a mathematician, and they struck up a friendship.

Rabbi Harold Kushner told a story of a man who stopped attending his usual synagogue and was now frequenting another minyan. One day he happened to meet the rabbi of his previous synagogue, and the rabbi asked him where he was praying these days. The man answered: “I am praying at a small minyan led by Rabbi Cohen.”

The rabbi was stunned. “Why would you want to pray there with that rabbi. I am a much better orator, I am more famous, I have a much larger following.”
The man replied: “Yes, but in my new synagogue the rabbi has taught me to read minds.”

The rabbi was surprised. “Alright, then, read my mind.”

The man said: “You are thinking of the verse in Psalms, ‘I have set the Lord before me at all times.’”

"I am not worthy of all the mercies and all the truth which You have shown unto Your servant." (Bereishith 32:11)

Jacob had a remarkable curriculum vitae. He was the patriarch of a large family. He possessed an impressive amount of livestock and was quite wealthy. By external standards of success, Jacob had achieved a lot during his years with Lavan.

The election season is filled with slogans, sound bites, campaign posturing. Candidates employ experts who can best market them. The candidates are instructed on what to say and what not to say; the tone of voice they should use; the type of clothes and makeup they should wear. The goal is to create an electable image. News items are subject to p.r. spins; polls are used as signs of gained or lost momentum and are interpreted by candidates in a way that most favors themselves.

With the passing of Yitzhak Navon on November 7, 2015, we’ve come to an end of an era. Born in Jerusalem on April 9, 1921, he was a proud and vocal scion of Sephardic culture and tradition. His family had lived in Jerusalem since the 17th century, descendants of the Jews exiled from Spain in 1492. He was part of the old Sephardic yishuv that had been dwelling in the land of Israel for centuries. Few of these Sephardic veterans are still alive, and none has had a larger impact than Yitzhak Navon.

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology of Yeshiva University conducted extensive studies on longevity. In one of these studies, they focused on 243 Ashkenazic Jews (average age 97.6 years, 75% women) to determine whether there is a genetic basis to living long lives. Their findings were reported in an article published online May 21, 2012, in the journal “Aging.”