Avraham ben Yaakov | Torah thoughts from the celestial city of Tz'fat
These letters are sent to you with love, offering Torah insights and paths of empowerment so that we may together make something better out of today’s troubled world.
Let us seek the Unity that underlies our diversity, and learn to respect one another and follow the ways of peace.
“For then will I turn to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of God to serve Him with one accord.” (Tzephaniah 3:9)
“Then they that fear God will speak to one another, and God will listen and hear, and a book of remembrance will be written before Him for those who fear God and think upon His Name.” (Malachi 3:16)
This Friday night and Shabbat July 23-24 is the Fifteenth of Av (Tu B’Av), one of the holiest, albeit concealed festivals of the Torah calendar, marking the day when death ceased for the generation of the wilderness and also the reconciliation of the Tribes of Israel with the tribe of Benjamin (Judges 21:19; Ta’anit 30b). Today is particularly propitious for prayers for one’s...
“Mashiah will conquer the entire world without firing a single bullet.” Rabbi Nachman of Breslov “Hillel used to say: Be of the students of Aaron; love peace and pursue peace, love the creations and draw them close to the Torah.” — Avot 1:12 I don’t mind if Hebrews call him Mashiah or Moshiach, or if the English call him Messiah or Anointed. And if the Greeks choose to call him Christos...
21 Shevat 5772 / February 14, 2012 The Talmud relates that the wise men of Athens asked Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananya: “Where is the center of the universe?” He raised his finger, and said, “Here!” They asked: “Who could prove it?” He replied: “Bring ropes and measure it” (Bechorot 8b). Rabbi Yehoshua did not have the arrogance of the many who instinctively consider themselves as the center-point of...
15 Shevat 5772 / February 8, 2012 Did King Solomon not know maths? King Solomon is said to have been the wisest man that ever lived. Yet critics of the Bible gleefully point to a seemingly glaring error which apparently indicates that he did not know the true value of π (Pi), which as every schoolchild knows is 3.14.. Pi stands for the Periphery (or perimeter, circumference) of a circle, which is...
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