Mendel Bluming | Blogger

American law establishes that a person who cannot vote in person does not forfeit his or her right to vote. Rather, they can vote early by mail or other means. In Israel, the citizen must appear in person at the polling place on Election Day. In Israel, if you are absent on Election Day, you forfeit your right to vote. What does Judaism say? If I can’t make a seder on Passover is there a make-up date?   Amazingly there is! The Torah records (Numbers chapter 9) that in the desert, Jews who were impure or too distant complained to Moses that they did not have the chance to bring the Passover offering and G-d gave those people a make up date one month later. There is a caveat, however. If someone just couldn’t bother to bring the Passover offering on time, there was no make up date offered. Only if the mitzvah was important to you but for reasons beyond your control you could not make it was there a make up date for you. Voting is an important calling for each of us. Whether...

Adam is created by G-d himself and placed in the Garden of Eden, Paradise. G-d then declared that it is not good for Adam to be alone, he must get married and so G-d created Chavah/ Eve. What exactly was not good about Adam's life? He lacked for nothing. There was no pollution, no elections and plenty of everything. Why does G-d say that it is not good for him to be alone? Rashi, the classic Biblical commentator, responds strikingly by saying that it was not good for him to be alone because he may start thinking of himself as a god! In marriage your spouse reminds you that you are not G-d, hopefully kindly :) One learns to consider another, to be questioned by another and to grow toward a mission and purpose bigger than oneself. Even Paradise, and a perfect world, does not compare with being deeply challenged and transcending oneself. Mendel (Menachem) Bluming  

The Torah is our guidebook for life studied by scholars for the past 3,300 years. The breadth and depth of Jewish scholarship has spawned thousands of brilliant published works deciphering and applying every word and nuance of Jewish law and teaching. Jews are not meant to just memorize and repeat words robotically but rather to plumb the depths and intellectually grasp their wisdom.   Yet on the day on which we celebrate the completion of the annual cycle of the Torah, Simchat Torah, we celebrate by dancing and rejoicing rather than by studying. Doesn't that seem incongruous with the purpose and focus of the Torah? Here are some thoughts for you to consider: If you had two employees to hire and one of them had great enthusiasm and joy for your company and its mission would you see that as an advantage? In what way does our celebrating demonstrate our acceptance and commitment more than study? Beyond an intellectual pursuit, the Torah is a marriage. We stick together throug...

The four species that we bless on Sukkot correspond to the four letters of G-d's Hebrew name. Waving them in all six directions signifies our faith that G-d is everywhere. Specifically, we are saying that on every level, at every stage of life, in all that happens to us, G-d is there. Right and left represent Chesed and Gevurah, the power of love and the power of discipline. G-d, like a parent, can be loving and can also be strict. Sometimes G-d's light shines on us and we feel close to Him, other times He seems distant, we feel left in the dark and have to find our own way through. Whether we receive G-d's closeness and love, or whether He gives us space to grow on our own, it is all coming from G-d. He knows exactly what we need, and that's what we get. Up and down symbolize the highs and lows of life. When we feel we are on top of the world, we need to remember that G-d enabled us to get there. When we feel down in the dumps, we need to have faith that G-d is w...

Before the holiest prayer of each day the silent prayer known as the shemonah esrei we say: Hashem sefasay tiftoch.   Now literally that means G-d open my lips but sefasay also means my banks, like river banks. G-d broaden my horizons let me see YOU in a new light. Let me open my eyes to see you not just as an aloof power or a judge who scrutinizes and condemns but as a parent who embraces and uplifts. Who imbued me with a G-dly expression enabling and empowering me to lift myself above fear and worry and judgement to a place of connection, peace and wholesomeness. Expand my horizons allow me to think bigger and broader because I am so much more capable than I allow myself to believe. Rabbi Mendel (Menachem) Bluming

Note received:   I guess you could say I am angry at G-d right now. We have been trying to become pregnant for several years since our oldest was born. Our prayers were finally answered. Well sort of. I am pregnant, but the doctors say my baby has a rare condition with very little chance to survive to term, and even less chance of surviving after birth for more than a few days. I just don't get it. Why would G-d do that to me? Here's what I wrote in response: I have no answers for you. Your pain is real, and your anger understandable. I can't give you an explanation. All I can offer is friendship and support. And I'll tell you a story. There was a soul in heaven waiting to come down to this earth. Unlike other souls, who need to battle through life in a body for decades, this soul's mission would be brief. She would only be on earth for a short time. Then she'd be free to fly back to her heavenly home. The appointed day was approaching for this preciou...

It’s a game changer. With Covid-19 the reports are indicating that you can be totally asymptomatic and still be a carrier of the virus and unknowingly spread it further, G-d forbid. It means that even though you feel fine, and you are the nicest person in the world, there is no guarantee that you are not going to spread anything negative to anyone else. Because it is possible that you are unknowingly carrying the errant microbe. This is the reason for the widespread insistence on masks, and distancing and the other mandated precautions. Because even if you think you feel fine, maybe G-d forbid there is something you are carrying that you simply don’t know about. So here is a positive angle! You have so much goodness inside of you! Even more than your symptoms might show and even more than you know. Shine that goodness to all around you through a smile, a word of wisdom, guidance and Torah or a kind deed. If a virus can spread even if one shows no symptoms how much more so g...