Words From Rabbi White

Dear Chevra Shaas/Spanish

Mazal tov to Simcha Foxman as he celebrates his 70th birthday. We wish him and his family good health and success. Toay's kiddush is being co-sponsored by Shulamit in his honour.  (See, I haven't forgotten Canadian spelling.)

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I suppose the city of Westmount...Read more...

Dear Chevra Shaas/Spanish

I am writing this on Tuesday, the third day of Tammuz, a day that is well known by every Lubavitcher as “gimmel Tammuz,” the yahrzeit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. I am not a Lubavitcher, but like everyone, I stand in awe at all of his unparalleled accomplishments: his influence on thousands of people, from accomplished scholars, to ba`alei teshuva; his...Read more...

Back in the academic year 84-85, I had the privilege of spending a sabbatical in Jerusalem. Shortly after our arrival in August, we received a very sad phone call from New York: my mother-in-law had passed away, and the funeral would be held the following morning in Queens, New York. There would be no way for my wife to return to America in time for the funeral.

Now, under normal...Read more...

My dear friends,

As we said a couple of weeks ago, when we concluded VaYiqra’, there was a time when breaking the rules in school had consequences. Not any more! [I would probably have lost points from my English teacher for that last sentence, without a verb or subject!] I saw in the news this week that McGill is granting amnesty to the protesters, will discuss their demand for...Read more...

My dear friends,

We have to begin with sad news. Last Shabbos, our dear friend Malcolm Moscowitz passed away. The funeral was held Monday morning. Malcolm lived near the Shomrim LaBoker, and was a long-standing member there. However, whenever possible, he would come to our Chevra Shaas. 

A ba`al teshuvah, he was meticulous in his observance...Read more...

My dear friends,

YOM HA`ATSMA’UT AND THE SOLAR ECLIPSE

We all remember the eclipse of Monday, April 8. As I wrote on the Shabbat bulletin after the eclipse, I am aware that up in Montreal you merited to see the totality. Yet even here in NJ, where we had just 94%, I found it to be a spectacular sight as the sun went from being a golden banana...Read more...

Dear congregants,

I trust that you all had a meaningful Pesach (although I saw that the campus protests have reached McGill!)

“leshanah ha-ba’ah biyrushalayim.”

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AN ANCIENT MIDRASH WITH CONTEMPORARY MEANING

As we all know, there is...Read more...

thoughts on the eclipse:

You were better off than we were in Teaneck, as we had only about 90% totality, which did not give us the same feeling as you had in Montreal. I came out of doors four times to look. The first time, the sun looked like an orange banana. The second time, it had diminished to a smiley face, the third time it diminished to a dot, the 4th time it was gone!...Read more...

Dear congregants, 

As I sit down to write these lines, we have learned of the passing of former Senator Joe Lieberman. An Orthodox Jew, he was a model of integrity, and reached high office while remaining a shomer mitsvot. His memory will surely be for a blessing. “chaval `al de’avdin.”

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This week...Read more...

This Shabbat, Simcha and Shulamit Foxman are sponsoring the kiddush in memory of her father, Rabbi Mordecai Singer. May his memory be for a blessing.

SADNA' DE'AR`A HAD HU'

The above quotation, in Talmudic Aramaic, literally means that pieces of land (alternatively: tree trunks) are  the same throughout the world. The phrase is used to mean...Read more...

Dear mitpallelim,

Rabbi Yitschak Zilberman is one of the leading rabbinic authorities in Bnai Berak, and a prolific author of rabbinic isssues. To the best of my recollection, I saw the following in one of his “seforim.” A man made a kiddush one shabbat in shul, because the man had been spared from serious injury while crossing the street. This kiddush is called a “se’udat...Read more...

Mazal tov to Michael and Maggy Rubin on the marriage of Benjy to Maya Arussi, an Israeli/American who represented Israel internationally in Taekwondo.

A big yish’ar koach to Bob Kraft, for sponsoring the ad against antisemitism on the Super bowl. His father Harry a”h was the beloved leader of the “Children’s Congregation” which I attended in my pre-Bar mitsvah years on...Read more...

TUNES AND VERSES THAT WENT THROUGH MY HEAD The “mission” to Israel was so amazing, that I must write about it this week again. Why did I join it? I felt that I had to participate. The verse that Moshe said to the tribes of Gad and Reuven “your brothers are going out to war but you will stay here [on the eastern side of the Jordan]??” kept resonating in my mind. Now, it’s true that Gad and Reuven responded...Read more...

Dear Chevra Shaas, Shearith Israel, et al

* First of all. mazal tov to the Haimovici family on the engagement of Yehonatan to a young lady from Teaneck (!), Chaiy Bodek.

I have returned from a wonderful week in Israel: amazing people and eye-opening experiences, and yet, the constant threat of danger in the background.

Read more...

Dear mitpallelim,

Let’s begin with some good news from Jerusalem.  Some of you probably remember my grandson Shmuel who came to Montreal for several weeks to help with my recuperation after my knee surgery back in ‘16. A couple of years ago, he made aliya, and a few days ago became engaged to a lovely young lady, Sarah Kusnitz, originally from North Carolina, who had made...Read more...