Words From Rabbi White

DEAR CHEVRA SHAAS/SPANISH

I hope that by now, the city old Montreal has begun to remove the snow, and life has returned to normal (Perhaps if Trump can get rid of the snow, Canada might agree to become the 51st state.)

This Shabbat is Rosh Hodesh Adar, day #1 of the happiest month of the year: Adar, the month that is the counterweight to the...Read more...

Dear mitpallelim,

TOO BAD JOHN HINCKLEY JR HADN'T STUDIED IBN EZRA

This week we read the 10 commandments. They are very logical: believe in God; do not worship other divinities; don't take the name of HaShem in vain; remember Shabbat; honour parents; don't murder, commit adultery, or rob. But the conclusion of the 10 Commandments is a bit...Read more...

Dear congregants,

TWO PLUS ONE = THREE

HaShem tells Moshe to go to Pharoah, but He uses the word “bo’”, which means “come,” rather than “lekh,” which would mean “go.” Baal HaTurim points out that the numerical value of the word “bo” is 3, [the letter ‘aleph =1, the letter “b”=2. ] This makes it easy to remember that...Read more...

MOSHE GROWS UP

We all know the story. Moshe, who had been raised in the palace, and now has grown up, sees two Hebrew men fighting. He tells the “rasha’,” the bad guy, “why would you strike your fellow?”

How did Moshe know which one was the bad guy? The commentator Rashi, quoting Midrash Rabba and gemara Sanhedrin, notes that “even...Read more...

Dear Chevra Shaas/Shearith Israel

REFLECTIONS FROM HANUKKAH

On all eight days of Hanukkah, we recited Hallel, which is comprised of Psalms 113-118. 

In the last chapter of Hallel, there are several verses that kept resonating with me: they seemed so relevant: “All nations encompass me, in the name of...Read more...

WHY DID YAAKOV SHOW FAVOURITISM TO HIS CHILDREN?

A question that perplexes many is why did Yaakov show favouritism to Yoseph? True, Yoseph was a “ben zequnim,” the youngest except for the “baby” Binyamin, but still: was that enough to warrant receiving special favours, such as the “ketonet passim,” [which Rashi explains was a sign of royalty, and according to Seforno a...Read more...

Dear Chevra Shaas/Shearith Israel

THE COMPUTER AND THE SIDDUR

This past Wednesday night, we began saying “ten tal u-matar” in the weekday amidah. Both the Koren and the Art Scroll siddurim give instructions that this should be said in winter, as opposed to “ten beracha” that we say in summer. Therefore, this is a sign that the winter has...Read more...

IS IT STILL A WONDERFUL WORLD, MR. LOUIS ARMSTRONG?

Dear friends,

Well, it is a wonderful world, but people are making it crazy. In the Tachanun prayer that we say on Mondays and Thursdays, we say that we have become “a mockery among the nations, we have been considered like sheep meant for slaughter.” Before October 7, I thought those words...Read more...

I am writing on Election Day in USA. By the time you read this, we shall probably know the outcome. As you may know, Election Day is always, by law, on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. Why on Tuesday? This law goes back to the first half of the 18th century. People couldn’t vote on Sunday, as many were in church. People who lived in rural areas might need Monday to travel to the polls. And...Read more...

HAIL COLUMBIA!

For the first part of the holiday, we traveled to Passaic (a 20-to-40-minute drive, depending on traffic) to be with my son Yehoshua and his family. As usual, we had a wonderful time.  It happens that an old friend of mine, Rabbi Charles Sheer, whom I hadn’t seen in over 50 years, was also visiting his son in Passaic, and was davening in the same shul as I...Read more...

Dear mitpallelim,

The following was sent to me on Sept. 23 by our former student at Herzliah, Prof. Shawn Aster, who lives with his family in Beer Sheva, has served in miluim in Gaza, teaches Tanach studies at Bar Ilan, and would often daven with us when visiting his family in Montreal.  I am reproducing it with permission:

For the last...Read more...

Dear Chevra Shaas/Shearith Israel

This Sunday, September 15, at 4:00 PM, is the unveiling for our friend Malcolm Moscovitch a”h.

It is at De la Savane, section Shomrim LaBoker (towards the rear of the cemetery.)

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On Sunday, 12 Elul, Mr. Leonard Mintz observes yahrzeit...Read more...

We were all saddened to hear of the sudden passing of Dr. James (Jim) Archibald, a former President of the Spanish. He taught at McGill for over 50 years and was indeed “a gentleman and a scholar,” besides being the father of two of my students at Herz. “yehi “zikhro baruch.”

******

This Tuesday, 30 av, Leonard Mintz observes yahrzeit...Read more...

THOUGHTS FROM EICHA

This past Tuesday night, in shuls around the world, people gathered to hear the Book of Eicha, “Lamentations.” According to tradition, it was composed by the Prophet Jeremiah, describing the destruction in the Land of Israel, at the time of the churban of the first Temple in the 6th century BCE. 

I have always been...Read more...

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?

We are now in the midst of the “three weeks,” leading up to the saddest day in the year, 9th of Av. In these three weeks, we read special haftarot, not directly connected to the weekly parasha.

An incident that happened many years ago comes to mind. As some of you may know, my first permanent position was...Read more...