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Showing posts from October, 2019

Menachem Bluming Muses: Why Fast on Yom Kippur

In honor of Yom Kippur a Jewish newspaper interviewed me. Not that many read that paper :) so I figured that I would post the interview. Here goes: “So Rabbi Bluming when it comes to Yom Kippur most Jews think about how hungry they will be! If G-d wants us to be focused on prayer and returning to him why wouldn’t He allow us to eat so that we can better focus?” “Yes,” replied Menachem Mendel Bluming, “it is not easy to fast.” “Not easy?”, we asked. “It seems that when I fast I am so preoccupied by food and how hungry I am that I can hardly focus on anything else!” “You got it! That is exactly the point.” Mendel Bluming asserted. “Really? I am not sure what you mean by that.” We asked Bluming. “Yom Kippur is the day for me to put myself aside to focus on G-d and my spiritual destiny. By fasting I can reflect on what a pitiful existence my body is. Just withhold sushi and quinoa and bagels and lox for one day and I can hardly focus or think straight! I see mysel

Breaking News: Jews Wake Up!

In honor of Rosh Hashanah a Jewish newspaper interviewed me. Not that many read that paper :) so I figured that I would post the interview. Here goes: “So Rabbi Bluming is it true about your congregation as well, that Jews seem to come out of the woodwork for the high holidays?” “Yes,” replied Menachem Mendel Bluming, “it is truly incredible and heartwarming.” “Heartwarming?”, we asked. “It seems that it is just Jewish guilt. After all, where are they all year?!” “Jews used to feel a lot of guilt. That is so last century.” Mendel Bluming asserted. “Really? We thought that guilt is as Jewish as bagels and lox!” We asked Bluming. “In my experience Jews see themselves as good people, not sinful people. They are right. After all after communism and the Holocaust and the previous generation that to a large extent gave them little or no Jewish education the mitzvot that they do are so incredible! How can they be called sinful?” Menachem Bluming shared. “So to wh