rabino-gustavo

Sheminí 5776 – English

Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik Congregacion Kol Shearith Israel Chapter 11 of Vayikra (Leviticus) that concludes Parashat Shemini contains a series of laws related to which animals can be eaten and which cannot.  This passage, along with a similar one from Devarim (Deuteronomy Chapter 14), constitutes the basis of the Kashrut laws that define Jewish diet.   …

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Vaiakhel 5776 – English

Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik Congregacion Kol Shearith Israel “Vayakhel Moshe”, (Moses then convoked, Ex. 35:1).  With these words begins the Parashah, the next-to-last in the Book of Shmot.  The first immediate question is who did he convoke.  And the Torah gives us the answer: “the whole Israelite community.”  And for what?  To tell them, “These are …

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Mishpatim 5776 – English

Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik Congregacion Kol Shearith Israel According to the Sefer Hachinuch (Rabbi Aharon Halevi from Barcelona, XIII Century), Parashat Mishpatim contains 53 of the 613 Mitzvot.  23 of them are positive (meaning they are accomplished through an action) and 30 are negative (they are accomplished by not doing something). Tradition defines the Mishpatim as …

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Shmot 5776 – English

Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik Congregacion Kol Shearith Israel The change in dynasty in Egypt brought as a foreseeable consequence the rearrangement of political alliances.  The Israelites, privileged by the overthrown regime became a threat to the future of the nation.  Hence Pharaoh’s decision to submit them to forced labor first, and then to attempt to decimate …

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