Mendel Bluming | Blogger

The Torah uses numerology, a method of connecting concepts via numbers. Every Hebrew letter has a numerical value. The first letter, Aleph, has the value of one. The second letter, Beit, is two, and so on.  When the letters of two words have the same value, it indicates an inner connection between them.   So if “nut” and “sin” add up to the same number, there is something in that. Which is one reason why the Code of Jewish Law (Rema, Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 583:2) discourages eating nuts on Rosh Hashanah. The problem is, they don’t add up. The Hebrew word for nut is Egoz  אגוז , whose letters add up to seventeen. The Hebrew word for sin is Chet  חטא , which adds up to eighteen. Oops. Well, there is a possible explanation. The last letter of the word Chet is a silent Aleph. It isn’t pronounced as part of the word. So it isn’t counted. Aleph is worth one, so if you take the Aleph out of Chet, you get seventeen, not eighteen. But that itself seems a st...

If a business focuses only on cash flow, it can easily fail. The cash flow may be fine and yet the business falling off a cliff, G-d forbid. We are in the final Jewish month of the year. This month is called the month of accounting.   In Judaism cash flow is your daily actions. Being honest, saying a blessing, Tefillin, mezuzah, kosher food, honoring parents, tzedakah etc. That is making sure that your Jewish cash flow is okay and that is important. Once a year we step back and revisit the mission of the Business, the purpose of our lives. Am I advancing in the type of person I should be? Am I guiding my children toward their G-d-given destiny? Am I serving others as I should? Am I a worthwhile investment for the Almighty? On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur we are judged, during this month we review our business and make sure that it is heading in a great direction. May G-d bless you with a sweet and prosperous new year materially and spiritually! Mendel (Menachem) Bluming b...

Here's a thought: have you ever felt very inspired and uplifted by a great spiritual experience only to have real life wipe out any memory of it rather quickly? A newborn baby, moments after birth, is taken by a midwife and wrapped up in a swaddling cloth. This serves to keep the newborn protected and warm. Having just emerged from the security and nurture of the womb, the baby is particularly vulnerable and sensitive. A good swaddling cloth gives him a sense of protection from the cold and harsh world out here. But swaddling doesn't last long. You rarely see teenagers wrapped up in a cloth with their arms behind their ears. (Though perhaps some should be.) Swaddling is a brief bridging stage between the safety of the womb and the hazards of real life. A well wrapped baby will eventually grow to face life unwrapped. The swaddle cloth just helps him get there. Your soul needs that bridge too. You have emerged from the womb of Yom Kippur a pure and renewed soul. The negativ...

What is the essence and theme of the day of Yom Kippur? If it is a day to say I'm sorry and repent just say you're sorry and let's move on!   What is Yom Kippur? It is a day to focus on the needs and voice of the soul. Our bodies are vocal and demanding. The desires of the body we feel strongly. The soul is more subtle. So today we put aside the body’s demands of work, leather shoes, food etc and we focus on the voice of our souls. That still soft inner voice yearning for connection and meaning that is so often overlooked by the daily din. If you listen closely to the voice of your soul what does that tell you? Your body needs nutrients and so does your soul. Yom Kippur is the day to focus on that. Mendel (Menachem) Bluming