Rabbi Binny Freedman
452 results total, viewing 341 - 350
It is nearly 20 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I lost about eight seconds of my life and almost died. I had been kept late with a group of students I was teaching, some of whom were struggling with some deep issues, and by the time I got in my car to head home it was nearly 4 am. I was an idiot; I should have stayed over in the dormitory with my students, but I guess I thought I was invincible. I had a cup of coffee with me and assumed that would be enough to get me home; I was wrong. more
There is a puzzling story in this week’s portion, Shemot, which occurs just as Moshe is ready to return to Egypt to set his people free. When Moshe stops at a small inn before the last leg of the journey home, G-d actually attempts to put him to death! After 39 verses (Exodus 3; 1-4: 19) where G-d convinces Moshe to leave Midyan and accept the mission of bringing the Jewish people out of Egypt, Moshe accepts and, taking his wife and children with him, sets forth on the journey south, back to Egypt. more
Of all the unexpected visitors I ever received, none even come close to the surprise I got in the summer of 1994. I was teaching a course on Jewish values deep in the mountains of Pennsylvania, near Indian Orchard, at Camp Moshava. We were in the middle of an intense discussion on Jewish ethics, when I noticed three men standing at the entrance to the lodge. Their features were Far Eastern and they were standing patiently at the door, taking it all in. more
During the second Intifada, after a wave of violence broke out in Israel, our unit was called up for nearly forty days as part of an emergency draft order. It is difficult to describe how challenging it is to be completely uprooted from your life, literally overnight, with no idea of how long you will be needed, or when you will be able to get back to the routine of job and family. It was more than a challenge; it was often overwhelming. more
The current flurry of diplomatic endeavors on both the Palestinian (what or who is a “Palestinian”?) and Iranian fronts leave one wondering: how do hundreds of millions of Muslims continue to deny what is so obviously historical fact — that an ancient Jewish State exists in what is today the State of Israel? This question is not limited to any one particular ethnicity, religion or theology. How do hundreds of thousands of people still believe the Holocaust never happened? And how are there still people in the world who believe that Stalin was a savior to the poor people of the world? more
One of the painful postscripts of the Holocaust was the saga of the many Jewish children hidden during the war, especially in churches and monasteries across Europe, but whose parents did not survive to find them when the war was over. Some of these children were six or seven years old, and though Jewish by birth, had for all intents and purposes grown up as Christian children with little recollection of their parents or their Jewish roots. more
One of the most challenging experiences I had in the Israeli army had nothing to do with combat or being in the field, but transpired during a moment of relative calm, when things were looking pretty good. We were at the tail-end of a harrowing month of reserve duty in the Gaza strip in the midst of the intifada. It was my first stint as an officer in the reserves. more
When I was in Officer’s course, we had a Battalion Commander named Eyal, who made an indelible impression on me. A kibbutznik from the Golan, he was rather short, of slight build, not exactly the image of the mighty war hero. But he was one of those men who had been there; he was a veteran of the Yom Kippur war, and during the first week of the course he told us a story that came with a challenge. more
This week’s portion, Toldot, leaves us wondering about the wisdom of Yitzchak’s behavior in one of the more challenging series of events in his life. There is, again, a famine in Canaan (Israel), and Yitzchak journeys to the coastal region of Gerar (probably today’s Gaza strip), to the king Avimelech. Yitzchak, despite the famine, was very successful, with crops yielding 100 fold the normal yield, and he becomes a very wealthy man (26:13-14) which, of course, makes the local Philistines very jealous. more
Sometimes, you can’t change the world, and to make sure the world doesn’t change you, difficult and often painful decisions are necessary. In the Israeli army, there are certain rules and codes you learn quickly, that most soldiers instinctively understand. No normal soldier steals weapons and you don’t ever take personal belongings from anyone, especially from the guys in your own unit. more
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