This is intended as a humorous post....
Last Shabbat was Shabbat Re'eh and there are so many great Aliyahs in that Parasha. I spent Shabbat with my favorite minyan last Shabbat and the people are genuine Jewish Neshamot. But let me first express the reason I started this thread...
When we started the Torah service I was hoping to get the third aliyah {even though I would have been happy with the second aliyah I am not a Levi and therefore the odds are slim (but once I was called for the Levi portion when our Levi was not present)}... But I ended up with the seventh aliyah which mainly deals with the festivals of Pesach/Passover, Shavuot/Weeks, and Succot/Booths.
But what made me grin as I looked over Rabbi Tennenbaums layning of the portion was the following line:
כא. וְכִי יִהְיֶה בוֹ מוּם פִּסֵּחַ אוֹ עִוֵּר כֹּל מוּם רָע לֹא תִזְבָּחֶנּוּ לַי־הֹוָ־ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ:
The word 'mum'/Mem-Vav-Mem (מוּם) means 'blemish' as the translation of this line is:
21. And if there be any blemish in it, whether it be lame, or blind, or any ill blemish, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord, your God.
I find these kinds of 'coincidences' very interesting. I believe that a Jew should examine everything which happens around him in order to determine what the Chochma/Wisdom is.
I had an excellent afternoon with my friends last Shabbat. I even started a conversation over the Shabbat Lunch table where I brought up current events concerning what is happening in Israel. As I have said many times here I do believe I have influenced the people around me. When I started going to Shabbat there most of the people were 'center-left' in their politics. Last Shabbat everyone agreed with me concerning what should be done about our enemies. Only one of the students who attended the Shabbaton spoke about 'palestinians' and the 'west bank' and then my Rabbis brother-in-law told him what I wanted to say, 'there is no such thing as palestinians'. What is interesting is my Rabbis brother-in-law is not a 'kahanist' per-se but he is a Chabad shliach.
I have a spark of hope that we are making a difference. Those Jews who go to shul must make sure to keep the people talking about Jerusalem and Eretz Yisroel. If you have a Jewish neshama then the people around you should feel it, and you should establish a good relation with them no matter where they currently hold on politics. If they are on the fence you just may be able to sway their opinion.
Topic: MUM is a word! (Read 1836 times)