Rabbi's Blog - The Shul of Bellaire

Friday, February 11, 2022 - 9:35 AM

A couple months ago, Mendel and my nephew Levik were sharing Mitzvah opportunities in front of the Bagel Shop in Bellaire, here is one:

unnamed - 2022-02-14T093648.777.jpg

Sometimes, it seems like the bells and whistles of the public square are exclusively reserved for flashy billboards and the display of worldly vanity. Judaism, Mitzvot and Torah study (in contrast) is typically reserved for the Synagogue and the home. In other words: Holy things ought to remain ‘behind closed doors’.

We get an important perspective on this from the garments of the High Priest: At the bottom of the High Priest’s outfit, were bells, so that when he would enter the Temple, the bells would sound. Basically, part of the High Priest’s Temple service was to generate Holy Noise.

With the amount of disturbing noise in our world today, there is a desperate need for us to crank up the volume on anything that is positive and good. We should look for opportunities to wear our Judaism with pride and in public.

You never know, a Mitzvah 53 years in the making could be waiting for you!

What's your Profile Picture?

Friday, February 4, 2022 - 9:32 AM

In today’s ever increasingly visual and virtual world, it is very easy to go down the rabbit hole of jumping to conclusions, based on the surface level story we are being fed on social media.

But yet, we all know that there is always more to the story, behind the scenes, filtered out for a specific narrative or clickbait agenda.

And still, the ‘judging a book by its cover’ struggle is real!

Interestingly, the altars in the Holy Temple were made of acacia wood and earth but both were plated with a layer of copper or gold respectively. Yet, as far as ritual laws were concerned the shiny coverings were completely inconsequential, and the altars were judged for their primary inner quality only.

This is indeed a timeless lesson!

In Temple times, we were not to judge an altar based on its covering. In 2022 this can mean: Don’t judge a person based on their Instagram profile, or lack thereof, or anybody for anything, for that matter!

Every individual was created, i.e. handpicked, by G-d Almighty. Questioning the value of another, or judging them based on external trappings or behaviors is casting doubt on G-d’s taste, so to speak.

So bottom line: If we can look at another and see their spark, their core infinite value, we can then encourage and support them in revealing this to their ‘outsides’ as well.

Make Some Noise

What's your Profile Picture?