Mendel Bluming | Blogger

Are you shocked by the resurgence of anti-Semitism in the world? When Jew-hatred comes from backward extremists and street mobs, it isn't so surprising. But when university educated, well-read westerners, who know history and have access to the facts, are able to demonize Israel and the Jewish people, something is wrong. Has the world gone mad? In truth however, history has shown that being educated has nothing to do with being moral. Some of the most cultured people have also been the most evil. The Holocaust was committed by men who appreciated classical music and read the works of great philosophers. From the very cradle of modern culture and enlightenment came the most barbarous attack against humanity the world has ever seen. The notion that evil stems from the ignorant masses, and the enlightened class are paragons of goodness is simply a myth. Ideas have consequences. An education that teaches moral relativism, that there is no right and wrong, that there is no absolut...

A lot of people call themselves "culturally Jewish." They feel connected to the Jewish people, are active in the community, advocate for Israel, and may attend shul on major festivals. But they don't keep Jewish law.   For example, when it comes to Shabbat, they will argue that the laws are not important, it is all about family time. If you come to Shabbos dinner, whether you walk or drive doesn't make a difference. As long as you eat chicken soup, it doesn't matter if it was cooked before Shabbos came in or after. These people believe it's all about the feeling, not the little details. Let's call them Chicken Soup Jews. On the other side of the spectrum, there are some Jews who are scrupulous in their observance of Shabbos, keep every law down to the last dot, but do it without joy. They keep Shabbos neurotically, obsessing over what you can't do and making the day of rest into a day of stress. Let's call them Chicken Coup Jews. Both are mis...

The Jewish people can best be described as a spiritual family. We are connected by our souls, and every Jew is a part of this invisible web by virtue of our Jewishness. You can either be born into the family or join by choice. But once you are in, you are family, no matter what. If Jews are a family, the Torah is the family rules. It recounts the family history, defines the family identity, and lays out the expectations of how members of the family should behave and the good they can contribute to the world. Some of the Torah is universal, but much of it is about our particular family and its relationships - with our brothers and sisters, our ancestors, our homeland and the Head of the family - G-d. If you break the rules, you are still a member, because family is family. But those who keep the rules keep the family together. Those who reject the rules usually find their children or grandchildren will drift away from the family entirely, not even knowing what they are leaving beh...

The Kabbalah teaches that people come under two personality types: chessed or gevurah.   A chessed type is someone who is giving and outward, generous and expressive. They are easy-going, spontaneous and free-spirited. But sometimes a bit all over the place. A gevurah type is more inward and disciplined, controlled and contained. They are focused, predictable and dependable. And can tend to be a little square. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. A gevurah person can organize a party. A chessed person will be the life of it. A gevurah person is good at writing budgets. A chessed person spends the money. You'd rather get a gift from a chessed person. You'd rather get a lift with a gevurah person. When they work together, a chessed person and a gevurah person make a great team. Their opposite talents complement each other, and the one's strengths compensate for the other's weaknesses. But when it comes to time management, they will clash. A gevurah type...

Once the mRNA Covid vaccine is injected into your body it teaches your cells to make thousands of copies of the spike protein so that if your body is exposed to the virus later it will recognize it and be prepared to defend.   A tiny, tiny bit of this mRNA multiplies and teaches the body how to respond for a long time to come. Education through subtle messaging produces this multiplying result. A little bit of matzah at a Passover Seder each year reinforces in a child that message of faith and trust that they are being looked after. The shofar on Rosh Hashanah, fasting on Yom Kippur, eating outside in a temporary hut on Sukkot, dancing with the Torah on Simchat Torah etc. etc. these are critical Jewish mRNA. Throughout life when we face a challenge Jews have known how to respond because injected into our cells are these carefully prepared messages that have passed the test of time. Rabbi Mendel Bluming, Maryland

Rabbi Yisroel Taub of Modzhitz (1849–1920) once said that there are actually two versions of the Haggadah. One is the familiar story we tell every Pesach, of G-d’s miracles for the Jewish people when we left Egypt. But there is another Haggadah, G-d’s Haggadah. Just as we read our Haggadah on Seder night, so G-d reads His Haggadah. And it is completely different to ours. G-d’s Haggadah doesn’t speak of the miracles He made for the Jews. G-d’s Haggadah tells of the miracles the Jewish people make themselves. Just as our Haggadah describes the mighty power of G-d, His Haggadah recounts the indomitable power of the Jewish people. Here we are, more than three thousand years after we first left Egypt. In those three millennia we have seen exiles and expulsions, gulags and gas chambers, bombings and boycotts. And yet we continue to sit at the Seder. Our families have been forced to wander from continent to continent, but wherever we went, we brought our Matzah with us. The fact tha...

Disney World in Florida is finally open to guests. But due to the coronavirus pandemic, people in line must stand six feet apart. The result is very long lines. So long, in fact, that guests are being advised to double check which line they're standing in, lest they think they're on line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and end up at Stroller Rental.   It's pretty funny, and it's pretty relevant. After all, isn’t that life’s critical question? Are you on this line only because everyone else is lining up too? Is it really the line leading to where you want to end up? Be careful about the lines you join, lest you mistakenly join the wrong line. Make sure you know exactly what awaits you at the end of line. Who wants to look back on a life lived, and regret all the things they thought they needed because society insisted that they did? Who wants to look back with bitter regret at all the time they wasted standing in line, literally and figuratively, not even knowing...

Imagine that you are chosen for a role in a brand-new movie that you are very excited to play. You'll be required to show great motion and involvement personifying that role as perfectly as you can.   But then when you read the script you find out that later on in the movie the character is going to die! You protest. “I can't play that role, I don't want to die!” The producer laughs, “You won't die. The character will and you will go on to win an Oscar!” In life we are assigned roles that we play really well. We cry with the sadness that our bodies experience and we rejoice in its successes but we don't die with it because we are only acting that role, our true self remains independent. It is not that you have a soul, it is that you ARE a soul and you have a body. Your body is your role in life and you must act it really well just don't get too caught up in the character you play... Mendel (Menachem) Bluming and Rabbi Aaron

What a US President says in his inaugural speech very often sets the tone for his presidency. The only way to know for sure if his inaugural address will inspire; to know if he will keep his promises and commitments is to look in retrospect once a little time has passed. This week marks the 70th anniversary of the inaugural address of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. But this was a most unusual candidate, in that he had no desire at all to be elected to the office of Rebbe. While candidates usually run for the position, this candidate had been running from the position. But this night, after a full year of refusing the title, the Rebbe relented. And the words the Rebbe spoke that night was clearly a historical inauguration address. There were no dazzling campaign promises, no melodramatic oaths of office. There was no soaring rhetoric and no thundering theatrics. 70 years later we look back and realize, with an overwhelming sense of gratitude, that the R...

Note received:  “I have to admit, I am angry. I was brought up Jewish, attended a Jewish school, and have only known Judaism as my religion. Now I am told I have to convert, because my mother never formally became Jewish. Isn't it a little unfair that all my life I was more Jewish than my friends, was subjected to anti-Semitism, and then I am told I need to convert?!”   Here's a thought... I completely understand your frustration. It can't be easy to hear that you need to convert to your own religion. But please don't take it personally. This is not a reflection on you. The entire Jewish nation went through exactly what you are going through now. After leaving Egypt, where they suffered as slaves and were tormented for being Jewish, the Israelites reached Mount Sinai. There they were told they had to formally accept the Torah, and convert to Judaism by immersing in a mikvah. They could've had the same complaint as yours. We've always been Jewish, we have...

Many people from all different walks of life have reported feeling an affinity to Jews and Judaism. Some leave it at that. Others take it further. For them, it is more than just a curiosity with Jewish things or a taste for Jewish cooking. It is in their soul. The first Jewish couple, Abraham and Sarah, were married for decades before they were blessed with a child. But the Kabbalists in Shelah HaKadosh, Sha’ar HaOsios, Kedushas Hazivug 402 say that although no physical children had been born to them, they had given birth to many spiritual children. Every time husband and wife are together, a soul is born. Sometimes that soul comes down into a body, and is born as their child. Other times, the soul remains in the heavens. Abraham and Sarah for all those years were in fact giving birth to souls without bodies. Those souls were then distributed among the nations of the world and spread over history.   These are the souls of converts to Judaism throughout the ages. When a non-...