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RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH RENEWAL: JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: RABAH, ZERA, ALCOHOLISM
Short Snap Shot of Rabbi Arthur Segal
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- I am available to perform Jewish weddings, and Jewish inter-marriages (Jewish intermarriage, Jewish inter-marriage, Jewish interfaith weddings) and other life cycle events, ONLY IF, it is a destination wedding and the local full time pulpit rabbi is unavailable, or if there is no local full time pulpit rabbi, or it is in my local area and all of the full time pulpit rabbis are unavailable.
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- My post-doc studies in Psych from Penn helps tremendously when I do Rabbinic counseling. My phone number and address will be made available once I am sure of one's sincerity in working with me.
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- Rabbi Segal is the author of three books and many articles on Torah, Talmud and TaNaK and Jewish history. His books are : The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew, A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud, and Spiritual Wisdom of our Talmudic Sages. The first two are published by Amazon through their publishing house, BookSurge.
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- For information on how to purchase these, please contact RabbiSegal@JewishSpiritualRenewal.net and visit WWW.JewishSpiritualRenewal.Net.
- Todah Rabah and Shalom v' Beracoth. Rabbi Arthur Segal ,( Dr. Arthur Segal )RabbiASegal@aol.com .
- For information on how to purchase these, please contact RabbiSegal@JewishSpiritualRenewal.net and visit WWW.JewishSpiritualRenewal.Net.
 Click Image for More Information | THE HANDBOOK TO JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew |
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 Click Image for More Information | A SPIRITUAL AND ETHICAL COMPENDIUM TO THE TORAH AND TALMUD |
RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL
JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL
JEWISH RENEWAL
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC
BLUFFTON, SC
SAVANNAH, GA
Jewish Spiritual Renewal: Shabbat 3/7/09: Ethical + Spiritual Torah, TaNaK, + Talmud
Shalom Talmidim v' Chaverim:
Hi. I hope your week was good and that your joy and happiness with Adar ,now here, has begun to increase.
The Shabbat of the weekend of March 7, 2009, is called Zachor. It is one of the 4 Special Shabbats leading up to Passover. It is called Zachor as the word Zachor means to Remember.
What are we to remember?
Some Torah from a few months in the future: Deut. 25:17-18: "Remember what Amalek did to you as you were leaving Egypt. He happened upon you, and struck the weakest people trailing behind, when you were exhausted. And he did not fear God. "
Some Torah, from a few weeks ago, Ex. 17: 14-15 "...erase the memory of Amalek...God maintains a war against Amalek from generation to generation."
Amalek was the tribe that for no apparent reason did a sneak-attack on the Israelites when they were in the desert, only a short time after receiving Torah. They didn't come at us from the front, attacking the men, our soldiers. They attacked our helpless children and their mothers and our elderly in the rear of our camp.
Some Midrash: The battle happened at a place called Rephidim. Our sages say that this word is a contraction of the Hebrew words for "they loosened their grip on Torah....Rafu yedeihem" When we Jews are united, putting aside labeling sectarian differences of minhag, stop pointing out differences in ways of worshipping, stop calling each other 'lesser Jews' or our rabbis 'non-rabbis,' we are less vulnerable to attack, both spiritually and physically.
Some more Midrash: When Esau was getting old, he called in his grandson Amalek and said: "I tried to kill Jacob but was unable. Now I am entrusting you and your descendents with the important mission of annihilating Jacob's descendents -- the Jewish people. Carry out this deed for me. Be relentless and do not show mercy."
Some TaNaK from this Shabbat's Haftarah: One Samuel 15:14-27: Summary: When God appointed Saul to become king over Israel, He commanded Saul to kill all of the Amaleks including their children, women, and livestock. Saul spared their king and the choice livestock. The king was Agag a direct descendent of Amalek. God was not happy and instructed his Judge-Prophet Samuel to fix matters. Samuel killed Agag, and Saul lost his crown eventually to King David.
So, why now? Why are we to zachor, remember, Amalek now? Because this Shabbat is the Sabbath before Purim.
Some TaNaK: Esther 3:1:''.....King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite...''
Yep, mean old Haman (boo boo!!) was an Amalek.
Amalek did not fear God (Deut 25:18). Neither did Haman. When basic morality is denied, when God is denied, when Torah and our Teachings are denied, man can justify anything as 'good and just.' He can justify gossip because ''I am trying to tell you something bad about someone you really need to know about.'' He can justify theft because "I need the money more than the IRS does." And eventually he can justify putting people in ovens and using their fat as soap because "they were defiling our pure race.''
A bit of Talmud: Bavli Tractate Megillah 6b: "Germamia are the descendents of Amalek.'' Some trivia.
As Jews we are to remember that we are one people. Amalek is not just outside of us. We can become Amalek when we forget Ahavath Israel, the love of our fellow Jews, and back stab each other, no differently in God's eyes, as when Amalek attacked us in the back.
From our Rabbis: ''At every moment, your Creator must decide, "Should I put up once again with this little creature's imperfections and blunders, or is it time to measure things by the scale?" Then He looks at the scale you use to measure others. And with that same measure, He measures you. ''
Some Talmud: Bavli Tractate Megillah 7a-b: '' A person should drink on Purim until the point where they can't tell the difference between "Blessed is Mordechai" and "Cursed is Haman.'' '' But the Talmud does not stop here. This first pusuk we always hear, the duty to get plastered on Purim. But it is tempered.
The passage continues : ''Rabah and Rabbi Zera joined together in a Purim feast. They became drunk from too much wine, and Rabah arose and cut Rabbi Zera's throat.
On the next day Rabah prayed on Rabbi Zera's behalf and revived him.. The next year, Rabah said, "Will your honor come and we will have the Purim feast together?"
"A miracle does not take place on every occasion," a suspicious Rabbi Zera replied and refused the invitation.''
If a drunk rabbi can slit your throat, imagine what the average Jew will do when drunk, the Talmud alludes.
Some Torah from last Shabbat: Ex. 25:8: "They shall make for Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell amidst them" The Torah doesn't tell us that God lives inside the Mishkan, or what would be eventually the Temple in Jerusalem. The pusuk says that God "will dwell within them" , within each and every one of us. God doesn't live ''out there.'' He lives in our hearts. And we have a moment by moment choice. We can access our Yetzer Tov and let Him dwell within us and listen to His wise counsel, or we can access our Yetzer ha Ra, our evil inclination, ignore God, and treat Jews that we do not like, or that don't belong to our clique, or that don't belong to our sect, the way Amalek treated all of us.
Remember lashon ha ra or embarrassing someone, is equivalent to murder, according to our Talmud, as I have taught you in lessons before.
From Schneur Zalman of Liadi : " This is what man is all about; this is the purpose of his creation and of the creation of all the worlds, supernal and lowly - to make for God a dwelling in the physical world ..''
Some Spiritual Thoughts: We all have character defects. Some of us try to work on them daily with God's aid. Others do not. For a long time I did not, and while I do now, I have a long way to go. When you observe someone's faults, even if they are glaring, even if if be someone (God forbid), you perceive to be a nemesis, do not say a word to them or anyone else about what you have found wrong. Rather, find something wonderful and marvelous in that person! Maybe it is something no one ever bothers to bring up. Talk about the good in the person. Talk about the spark of God in that person.
Some Spiritual Thoughts: We all have character defects. Some of us try to work on them daily with God's aid. Others do not. For a long time I did not, and while I do now, I have a long way to go. When you observe someone's faults, even if they are glaring, even if if be someone (God forbid), you perceive to be a nemesis, do not say a word to them or anyone else about what you have found wrong. Rather, find something wonderful and marvelous in that person! Maybe it is something no one ever bothers to bring up. Talk about the good in the person. Talk about the spark of God in that person.
In very little time, in your eye, you will have created a new image of that person, and the spark of God inside of you will grow with wonderment as you learn to live at peace with your fellows, and 'erase the Amalek' from your hearts and souls.
Shavuah Tov,
Shavuah Tov,
Rabbi Arthur Segal
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC; Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC; Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA
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