By Rabbi gustavo Kraselnik Kol Shearith Israel – Panama Barely nine verses (Bereshit 11:1-9) comprise the well-known story of the Tower of Babel. The first four relate the initiative the human beings had of building in the valley of Shinar a city with a tower that would reach the sky. The final five narrate the divine …
By Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik Kol Shearith Israel – Panamá Parashat Haazinu, the next to last portion of the Torah, contains the entire chapter 32 of the book Devarim (Deuteronomy), which deals mainly with the farewell chant Moses gives to the people. In it, he severely criticizes the disobedience of the children of Israel, by …
By Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik Kol Sheairh Israel – Panama As a result of those simple mechanisms we get from the Jewish calendar to harmonize times, circumstances and moods, the Reading of Parashat Vaethannan always coincides with Shabbat Nachamu. This Shabbat, the first one after Tisha B’Av, begins the journey of the “Shiva of Nechemata”, …
By Rabbi Daniel KripperBeth Israel Aruba The Book of Devarim or Deuteronomy contains the last of Moses’ speeches before departing from this world. Forty years had passed since the Children of Israel left Egypt. Shortly before they crossed the Jordan in their way to the Promised Land, Moses realized the end of his road was near. …
It may seem strange that the inspirational words, “How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel!” that begin our daily prayers were originally spoken by a foreigner who meant to curse the people of Israel in order to destroy them. Let’s look at the story. Balak, the king of Moab was worried. …
By Rabbi Guido Cohen Asociación Israelita Montefiore Bogotá, Colombia The Risks of Indifference This week’s parashah tells us about the uprising of a group of men from the people of Israel, against Moses’ leadership. Although the causes for the rebellion and its failure, Moses’ and God’s reaction, and other circumstances surrounding this story are more than …
Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik Congregation Kol Shearith Israel It is disappointing, but still a testimony of the current times: the word “xenophilia” –love of foreigners– is not even recognized as such by the dictionary, while its antonym, “xenophobia” –hatred of foreigners– is quite popular. The Jewish tradition holds a particular commitment regarding the protection …
Tazria- Metzorah The two sections of the Torah from the book of Vayikra (Leviticus) that we read this week, Tazria and Metzorah, are somewhat old-fashioned and dark for most modern readers. One of the main topics relates to the illnesses of the skin, and to the impurity of people’s clothes and houses, as well as …
Parashat Shemini – The Center of the Torah One of the most interesting times in our history as a people, the era of the Second Temple, had among its main actors the ‘Sofrim’, which in a way were the predecessors of our sages at a point in time when power shifted from priests to rabbis. …
Los Rabinos de la UJCL escriben sobre la parashá de la semana Rabino Gustavo Kraselnik Congregación Kol Shearith Israel, Panamá Que este año el primer Seder de Pesaj haya caído en Shabat representa una situación poco frecuente. Ocurrió 11 veces en el siglo XX, la última vez fue en el año 2005 y volverá a …
