Judaism is the living expression of the Jewish people's encounter with Torah and how we responded to that encounter over the generations. Some of that interchange can be found in history books. More often, the history of that interaction is recorded in our legal tradition. The selling of hametz is one such example.
Have a picky eater? The laws of kashrut are sort of like a picky eating meal plan. As we learn in Shmini, this too is Torah.
D'var from Friday, March 25th - Rabbi David Kosak. D'var from Saturday, March 26th - Rabbi David Kosak. Recorded and edited by Ed Kraus.
In Rabbi Isaak’s speech at Congregation Neveh Shalom’s annual meeting last June, he joked that perhaps his title will remain “New Rabbi” and incoming senior rabbi, Rabbi Kosak, will become “Newer Rabbi.” The inside joke is that to some of our life-long members who were around when Rabbi Isaak was installed as senior rabbi, he remained the “new rabbi,” even after 22 years of service to our community.
Another news item caught my attention in recent days. A computer recently beat the world Go champion. Go is the Asian equivalent of chess, and far more complicated than chess, where the machines already outpaced us twenty years ago. That's when IBM's Deep Blue defeated the reigning world champion, Garry Kasparov.
I suppose you could call the ner tamid a “nightlight” for the Israelites. Funny how such a small light is such a huge reminder that we’re not alone. This too is Torah.
D'var from Saturday, March 19th - Laura Kosak. Recorded and edited by Ed Kraus.
