Rabbi's Blog

The Haggadah starts with Kadesh - Sanctify. Practically it is the kidush we recite at outset of the seder. On a deeper level to sanctify means to dedicate or direct a certain thing to its proper place. In this case we ask to focus our thoughts and actions to idea of the exodus.

Shalom Members and Friends,

Some of us will be spending Purim almost entirely alone this year. Perhaps just venturing out to hear a socially distanced megillah reading. We may live, after nearly a year of isolation, with still many...Read more...

A heated debate took place this week in one of my daily classes about whether people that give charity should get recognition? And if so, how much? It was a pure Halakhik (Jewish law) question. You what they say 3 Jews, five opinions. While some were saying that one must boast himself too much lest he become too proud. Modesty is the way of the Torah and the path one must walk on. Others, contended that, we must commend those that...Read more...

La tradition enseigne que la vraie joie ne dépends pas des biens qu'on amasse, mais plutôt dans l'opportunité qui nous ai donner de connecter avec le divin par l'accomplissement de sa volonté.

• Durant Taanit Esther - le «jeûne d'Esther», avant la prière de Mincha, nous donnons le Machatzit HaShekel à la charité. Un Machatzit HaShekel est la moitié de la monnaie standard de ce pays particulier. La coutume est de donner la valeur de l’argent équivalent du marché.  

• Il est d'usage de donner trois pièces, puisque le mot Terumah (lit. une offrande) est mentionné trois fois au...Read more...

It shall be that the place where the Lord your God will choose to place his name. There you shall bring all that I command you...

At both levels of the mitzvah, we are confronted with a question already posed by King Solomon at the inauguration of the Beit ha-Mikdash.

Would God truly dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you, and surely not this Temple that I have built.

How can infinity be encompassed in a "world of finitude"? The Midrash comments that Moshe was also confounded by the question of how an abode could be built to accommodate the infinite God. But God told Moshe, "Your thinking is not my thinking. God has the capacity
to circumscribe the Shechinah by using tzimtzum, the kabbalistic idea of self-contraction. This process is incomprehensible to a mortal human being...

Dans la Megillah nous trouvons plusieurs fois (20 fois!) Le mots Michté. Ceci est intéressant puisque dans la Torah entière le mot ce trouve 26 fois. Pourquoi cette répétition ? Que cela vient nous apprendre

Célébrations de Rosh Chodesh
Ce Shabbat est le deuxième des deux jours de Rosh Chodesh pour le mois d'Adar (lorsqu'un mois a 30 jours, le dernier jour du mois et le premier jour du mois suivant servent de Rosh Chodesh du mois suivant).

Des...Read more...

The Jewish community lost a big man this week, Shlomo Hillel z”l. Shlomo Hillel was an Iraqi-born Israeli diplomat and politician who served as Speaker of the Knesset, Minister of Police, Minister of Internal Affairs, and ambassador to several...Read more...

OK so you all heard the recent developments concerning places of worship, right? If your answer was No, let me give you a short recap.

So, basically we went from 0 to 10 worshipers in a single week. Initially the Quebec government imposed closure of houses of worship and then retracted, allowing only ten worshipers per building. Is your head spinning? Ours, at the Synagogue was. And Wait, it is not finished. In an...Read more...

In the past few weeks following the recent government shutdown that were imposed on the general population and the houses of worship, many communities expressed their discontent and revolted against the sanctions. After much pressure on the Quebec government from different  communities, jews and non-jews alike, the authorities lifted some of the restrictions and permitted 10 people to attend houses of worship. Soon after, about...Read more...

This past Sunday 185 participants from Israel, Europe, the USA, and Canada joined the Babylonian Iraqi Jews of Montreal to commemorate and honor the memory of 10 innocent Jews slaughtered in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, on January 27, 1969. Speakers from different countries and from our community shared historical and personal stories of what transpired at that time and Iraq, and the state of panic and fear that invaded that heart of the Jewish community in Baghdad and Basra. In memory of those who sacrificed their lives during those terrible times, I  would like to share with you here my address during the commemoration on Sunday. 

Friends today, in memory of dear brothers, I would like to share with you two tragic anecdotes of our people that can shed some light on today’s commemoration. The Babylonian Talmud relates one of the most moving narratives to emerge from our history of martyrdom account of the Ten Martyrs—the heart-rending narrative describing in graphic detail the deaths of 10 Mishnaic-era Torah luminaries who were slaughtered on the altar of senseless hatred.

The first account is about, Rabbi Shimon Ben Gamliel Hanasi and Rabbi Ishmael Kohen Gadol: When each sage begged to be killed first, so as not to witness the execution of his distinguished colleague, their executioners sadistically cast lots, and Rabbi Shimon was murdered first. As Rabbi Ishmael was bemoaning the loss of his close friend, the executioner's daughter implored her father to keep him alive. When he refused, his daughter asked instead that Rabbi Ishmael's facial skin be removed so that she could always gaze at its beauty. This unspeakably barbaric request was fulfilled, and Rabbi Ishmael's face was skinned while he was still alive. As a further insult, the skin was kept in storage, to be worn by legions as for good luck during battle.

The second account is about another Talmudic sage by the name of Rabbi Hananiah ben Tradyon . Rabbi Hananiah was caught teaching Torah in public, which was a sin punishable by death during his time. The Romans decided to make an example of him. Accordingly, Rabbi Hananiah was wrapped in a Torah scroll, which was then set afire. As if this torture were not sufficient, strips of water-soaked wool were placed on his body to prolong his agony. While his distraught students looked on helplessly, Rabbi Hananiah inspired them with his famous utterance, "The parchment is burning but the letters are flying off," meaning that enemies can crush the Jewish body but not the spirit.

Friends, why does the Talmud find it so important to tell us such gruesome stories? The answer is quite obvious. The Talmud relates, in graphic detail, these stories lest we forget those that were prosecuted for the simple reason that they were Jewish. And to remember, that although through generations of prosecution and trepidation, the Jewish spirit not only survived but thrived. Pessimism was never a Jewish trait.  We as individuals and as a nation choose to hope in the face of prosecution. 

Today too, we are remembering ten martyrs, and the same is to be said about them. Murdered for the simple reason of their Jewish identity. Taken from us at the prime of their lives.  And so, just like the Talmud we must retell their story, write books about them, tell their story to our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, inshallah. Here too we have the equal duty and responsibility to commemorate this tragic episode of our history, and to pass it on to future generations, lest we forget. And I say to them, we have not forgotten you our dear brothers; Ezra Naji Zilkha, 60, of Basra, Charles Raphael Horesh, 45, of Baghdad, Fouad Gabbay, 35, of Basra, Yeheskel Gourji Namerdi, 32, of Basra, Sabah Haim Dayan, 25, of Basra, Daaud Ghali, 21, of Basra, Naim Khedouri Helali, 21, of Basra, Heskel Saleh Heskel, 17, of Basra, Daoud Heskel Barukh Dellal, 20, of Basra, Jamal Hakim, 17, of Basra.

May it be the will of Hashem that your memory be a blessing to all of us, and may your soul be bound in the eternal bond of life, and let us say amen.

Dear friends,

I am here for you. Whether you want to ask a question, consult, learn together, or just chat, please call me on my mobile: 514.506.3164
I'm available at this number 24/7. Shabbat, emergencies only. I look forward to hearing from...Read more...

Following the attack on our sister Synagogue Shaar Hashamayim, I received the following message from the Communist League of Montreal, "We urge all working people, their unions, and all the defenders of democratic rights to join us in speaking out against the attack on the synagogue of the  Congregation Shaar Hashomayim in Westmount, one of the biggest in Montreal. A man has been arrested painting swastikas on the doors. He had a...Read more...

In a recent article in the global news, Saba Aziz reported that almost a year into the coronavirus outbreak and following months of scientific research and clinical trials by Pfizer and BioNTech, a newly approved COVID-19 vaccine began to roll out in Canada and the United States on Monday.

Understandably, there is renewed hope of much-needed protection against the coronavirus, but people are also concerned about the possible side...Read more...