Mendel Bluming | Blogger

The choice of words the Torah employs to describe the role of the spouse — "a helper against him" — seems contradictory. If a wife is supposed to serve as a helper to her husband, she is obviously not poised "against him?" Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi explains that the woman becomes a "helper" for her husband by sometimes being against him. For a husband to become the maximum he can be, he must profess the courage to welcome the ideas and feelings of his spouse which may be "against" his own. Some men cannot tolerate their wives disagreeing with them, and conversely, some women cannot handle another opinion. They grow angry and frustrated, exploding or imploding. What often transpires, as a result, is that the woman, or the man, in order to maintain a peaceful atmosphere in the home, remain silent. Or, to avoid confrontation, they just drift away from each other emotionally. Conversely, the arguments and fighting never cease. The Torah is ...

In the days of the Holy Temple the entire nation would gather to hear the Jewish king read from the Torah on Sukkot after the Sabbatical shmitah year. It was exactly at this time. Each mitzvah has continuous application even those that we no longer keep in their original form. By gathering together this year in your home or in your sukkah, in your office or wherever it might be and sharing the values of the Torah together you continue this important tradition and link yourself with the entire Jewish people keeping the Hakhel tradition this year. Covid lockdowns and isolations have taken a toll and the antidote is Hakhel, joining together to rejoice and celebrate, to study and connect. Happy Hakhel’ing! Mendel (Menachem) Bluming

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...

Do you know the song that is sung over and over again over Rosh Hashanah: "Zachreinu Lichaim Melech Chafetz Bachayim..." Remember us G-d for life, we pray over the High Holidays.   The basic meaning of it is a prayer to G-d for life in this coming year, undoubtedly a critical prayer, especially during a lingering pandemic. There is a deeper meaning too. Zachreinu can mean remember us and REMIND us. Zachreinu Lichaimn can thus mean "G-d please remind us to live this year!" Please G-d don't allow this to just be a year during which I wait for Covid to end and the S&P to improve. A year during which on Monday I look forward to Friday... Protest the time that is robbed from you, that slips through your fingers. Time is so precious... Our lives are so fleeting.... If you are reading this note you are the oldest that you have ever been in your life... and the youngest that you will ever be! In every stage of life we look forward to the next stage becau...

Old age is not so easy to define. For a professional football player, forty is already over the hill. On the other hand, there are budding authors in their eighties publishing their first book. So who is old?   We do need a clear answer. There is a mitzvah to “rise before the aged, and give deference to the old.” (Vayikra 19:32) This means more than just offering old people a seat on the bus. It means listening to what they have to say and taking their words seriously.  The mere fact that a person has been around for a while gives a level of credibility and weight to their opinion. Of course there are some very foolish octogenarians, and there are some very wise millennials. But nothing beats life experience. Elders deserve respect just because they have seen a lot. But how old is an elder?  The most authoritative opinion in Jewish law (Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 244:1) states that you are an elder and must be accorded honor from the age of 70. But a most delight...

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...

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...