Mendel Bluming | Blogger

Lately mass shootings have becoming painfully common. Everyone has an idea but meanwhile the carnage continues unabated in places of worship and places of work etc. Does the Torah give us guidance as to what we need to do to address this? In what must surely be one of the most enigmatic passages of the entire Torah, we read the section of egla arufa. An unidentified corpse is found abandoned in a remote location with no   clues available to help identity the murderer or the victim. The leading Rabbis and sages of the Jewish people gather at the site where the body was found to undergo a public cleansing ritual. As part of the ceremony, the Rabbis formally announce that they are personally innocent of the crime; our hands did not spill this blood, nor did our eyes see this crime (Shoftim 21:7). Almost all the Biblical commentators question the need for such a declaration by the sages. In the words of Rashi: would it enter one’s mind t...

The medrash in Leviticus Rabbah 32:5 teaches that the Jewish people were redeemed from Egyptian slavery in the merit of their not changing their names from Jewish names. It is alluring to sound more Egyptian or to sound more secular in order to fit in. Maintaining a Jewish identity inspires a family to maintain Jewish practice. Someone recently asked me my name and when I told him that it is Menachem Mendel Bluming they asked me but what is your real name? Menachem Mendel Bluming I said. They said no I mean the name that the doctor calls you in the office or that they called you in school? I acquiesced. Okay either Menachem Mendel Bluming, Menachem Bluming or Mendel Bluming. They became insistent. Don’t you know Jews who have names like Peter, Paul or Charles? I certainly do I answered, fine Jewish people. But my name is just Menachem Mendel Bluming, that’s it. Do you mind if people call you something different, he asked? I said sure how about Mendel Menachem B...

A teenage boy once asked the Lubavitcher Rebbe, "Do we believe in reincarnation?" The Rebbe's answer was short and cryptic: "Yes we do believe in reincarnation. But don't wait until then." A puzzling response. Wait until when? The boy asked a simple enough question, which could be answered with a yes or no. What did the Rebbe mean by "don't wait until then"? Here’s a thought: Reincarnation to many means a second chance at life. An opportunity to complete unfinished business. “Will we have that chance?” asked that young man. “Yes we do but that is not an excuse for procrastination. Start the next chapter, the next life, of your lifetime today!” Live this lifetime as if it's your last. You may have past lives, and you may have future lives, but don't wait until then. Do it now. Mendel (Menachem) Bluming of Potomac Maryland and Rabbi Moss

In many families, it is strictly forbidden for any unmarried person to sit at the corner of the table. Many were told from a young age that if you do sit at a corner, you will never get married. Have you ever heard of this? Is this a Jewish belief? This belief is widely held, and has been handed down for generations in a range of cultures. If your grandmother is Polish, Russian, Hungarian, Romanian or Ukrainian then there is a good chance she grew up with this superstition. The fact that many Jewish families originate from those countries may explain why so many share this belief. But it doesn't come from a Jewish source. Judaism forbids the adoption of beliefs and practices that are not sourced in our own tradition, unless they have a logical reason behind them. So if a black cat passes in front of you, we don't believe that means you will have bad luck. But walking under a ladder may bring bad luck, if someone falls on you. So avoiding ladders makes sense, avoid...

Menachem Bluming Muses Lately, some are cautioning against wearing a Kippah publicly due to mounting Anti Semitism. Should Kippahs be removed in public to protect safety? Here’s a thought: There are two ways to wear a kippah. You can wear it on your head, or you can wear it in your head. Wearing a kippah on your head means it is an article of clothing, an accessory, an external addition to your self. Wearing it in your head means it is part of you, it is a fixture, a piece of your very self. It is not just what you wear, it is who you are. If your kippah is on your head, you can take it off. If it's in your head, then you can never remove it. It is you. And you can't stop being you, even if others don't like it. We need to take every precaution to ensure our safety. Take a course in martial arts, go out in groups. But we can't stop being who we are. Once we retreat from our own identity, we are already a victim, even if no one tries to harm ...