| Bo 5760 - January 14, 2000 |
The Nineteen-Year Marriage
She's volatile and impulsive, her see-sawing emotions punctuated by bursts of inspired creativity. Occasionally, her luminous personality shines like the full moon; equally frequent, however, are periods of dysfunctional darkness. The rest of the time she vacillates between these extremes, so that one usually finds her in genteel decline or in the throes of painstaking recovery.
| FROM THE CHASSIDIC MASTERS |
The Lunar Files
Arguing with G-d is an old Jewish tradition. Abraham did it, Moses did it, most Jewish grandmothers do it frequently. But, according to our sages, the first to argue with G-d was the moon.
The 3:00 am Audience
The young woman grew increasingly bitter over the fact that all those dear to her had closed ranks against her. She felt that her entire world had conspired to deprive her of her happiness. The situation continued to worsen, as both daughter and parents became more and more enraged over their perceived betrayal by the other. Finally, they struck a deal: the case would be brought to the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Why Do We Fall in Love?
Modern man is not prepared to think of him or herself merely as production machines to bear children, so in order to entice two people into a union, evolution and biology have conspired to imbue relationships between the sexes with a mystique that compels us along the romantic journey.
This, in essence, is the commonly accepted scientific theory of sexuality. Let us contrast that with the Torah approach - specifically, the Kabalistic-Chassidic perspective...
Family
"What kind of a G-d wouldn't want a son to be with his mother on Rosh HaShanah?" my mother asked, exasperated when I said we couldn't drive on a Jewish holiday.
"For thirty-six years you don't care whether or not it's Rosh HaShanah. Now you care, but you can't bring your children to be with their grandmother?" I knew I was in trouble.
| POSTCARD FROM ANCHORAGE |
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In some Alaskan towns there are times when daylight lasts just an hour and then the night is almost 23 hours long. Such "one hour Shabbatot" can make trying to pray, read the Parshah and eat the third meal a rigorous challenge indeed....
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Bo
Exodus 10:1-13:16
Week of January 9 - 15, 2000
The Parshah In A Nutshell
Full Parshah Summary With Commentary
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