Words From Rabbi White

I am writing from Boca Raton, Florida, where I am spending part of the holiday with my son and his family.

I remember my first Sukkot in Montreal, when the sukka was covered with snow. Here it is the opposite: 88 degrees with high humidity! (Brings to mind the gemara at the beginning of tractate AZ, about the people who kicked the sukkah because it was too hot!)

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GREETINGS FROM TEANECK. Teaneck is one of the first New Jersey communities you would come to, after crossing the GW Bridge in Manhattan.

In my daughter's section of the city, there is hardly any vehicular traffic on Shabbat and Yom tov, so it is common for people to walk in middle of the streets. Her house is situated between 2 large shuls. I sometimes wonder if Montreal could have...Read more...

In memory of her majesty, Queen Elisheva ob"m

In memory of whom? Of course, Don't you know? In chapter 6 of Shemot, we are told that Moshe's older brother Aharon married a woman called Elisheva. And according to the ancient Greek translation, known as the Septuagint, her name was Elisabeth!!

So, our late Queen's Hebrew name was Elisheva!!

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Two relevant observations, one from this past week, parashat re'eh, one from this week, parashat shofetim.

1) In last week's haftarah, the 3rd haftarah of consolation following the 9th of Av, from Isaiah, we read "no weapon used against you will succeed, and if anyone stands up against you in judgement, you will show that he is the wicked one." There are 2 ways to attack...Read more...

I wrote about this incident 2 years ago.

As it is a personal story that is very meaningful to me, I am taking the liberty of repeating it this year:

Many years ago, I had the privilege of taking my family on a year’s sabbatical in Jerusalem.

We left Montreal on a Wednesday evening, via El Al, when it was still...Read more...

Congratulazioni agli italiani per aver vinto la Coppa del Mondo.

Well, I’m not really a soccer fan. But I was intrigued: how many of these players for Italy have Jewish blood?

You see, I was reminded that when I was in high school, I was given the book The Jews of Ancient Rome, by Prof. Harry Leon.   He described how there had been,...Read more...

In the period of the 3 weeks, which began last Sunday, we read special haftarot. This week, the first of the 3 special haftarot, is from the beginning of the Book of Jeremiah. HaShem appoints Jeremiah to be a prophet, telling him that he is predestined for this task.

Yet, Jeremiah hesitates. He feels he is not worthy of the task. According to a midrash, in the back of Jeremiah’s mind, he recalled the problems previous prophets had...Read more...

This week’s haftarah, taken from the Book of Shoftim (Judges) is one of the most perplexing chapters in the Bible. Let me explain:

The people of Ammon were a tough, mean bunch.  They resided on the eastern side of the Jordan River, their name reflected in the modern city of Amman, Jordan. In the time of the prophet Samuel, they demanded that, to avoid being conquered, the...Read more...

Wow! From what I said in shul last week, I think I have a better understanding of a couple of Rashi’s comments in this week’s parasha.

Dictionary definition of “groupthink:” a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome.

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Shavuot is the holiday associated with Torah. I hope that we all have given thought to increasing our study of Torah: whether through books; through following such sites as YUTorah, the OU sites, and/or various Chabad sites; or through the various programs provided by our synagogue.

The Ashkenazim recite every year, before the reading of the Torah on the first day of Shavuot, the...Read more...

This Sunday, 29 May (American Memorial Day) is the 28th of iyyar.  The number 28 in Hebrew stands for “strength.” This day has become known as Yom Yerushalayim, commemorating that miraculous time, back in ‘67, when the strength of the Israeli army, with the help of HaShem, defeated the three neighbouring armies that had been determined to wipe out the country, God forbid. Many synagogues say Hallel on...Read more...

If you follow my weekly column, today's essay might seem familiar, as it is based on a midrash that I brought down last year. Besides the fact that it is one of my favourite midrashim, it seems most contemporary, in light of the carnage being orchestrated in Ukraine by the ruler of Russia.

By way of introduction: last week's parasha was replete with inspiring practical mitzvot....Read more...

First of all, in the name of Chevra Shaas, we send our condolences to Ron Mashaal on the loss of his father; and to Rev. Hazzan Benlolo, on the loss of his sister.  May their memories be for a blessing. min ha-shamayim tenuhamu!

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This past Thursday, 27 Nisan according to the Jewish calendar, was Yom Ha-Shoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day....Read more...

Several years ago, I had a knee operation shortly after Pesach. To keep me occupied during my recuperation period, my friend (and gabbai!) Michael Rubin gave me a book about the Seder, entitled The Night that Unites. I said about it ‘ilu natan lanu sha`ar, velo natan dappim, dayyenu, i.e., if that book had only a title page, and didn’t have any content, dayyenu. How much more so that it had both title page and content!

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This week we read from 3 Torah scrolls: the regular parasha Tazria, the portion for the new Month of Nisan, and “parashat ha-hodesh” from Shemot, chapter 12.

The reading from the 2nd and 3rd Torahs is a wakeup call to all of us: Pesach is fast approaching. In the selection we read from the 3rd sefer (Shemot/Exodus chapter 12), Moshe is telling the people to prepare themselves...Read more...