As explained by Rav Kook, and by Rambam, contemplating the wonders of Creation engenders a yearning to know G-d.
I highly recommend the Planet Earth BBC documentaries.
Here’s a short clip of Bird’s of Paradise in New Guinea.
On the one hand, we recognize how miniscule and finite we are. This builds a sense of Awe or Fear of G-d. In light of this Awe, we then grow a sense of Love, Gratitude, and Yearning for G-d who “cares” about and “loves,” as it were, even finite Mankind!
As I recently wrote on GeulahPerspectives, anything that the Jewish people do properly according to Torah cannot be used against them by the enemies of Israel.
i.e. That which the Jewish nation fails to do properly can be used against them by the enemies of Israel.
I don’t know whether this dynamic applies to Bnei Noach. But it certainly can’t hurt to try in this case.
So how do we fight Hamas from our living rooms?
#1. First we look at how the enemies of Israel are choosing to cause destruction.
One of Hamas’ tactics is it’s use of tunnels in Gaza. One IDF officer described it as “an entire underground city” of tunnels, carved out for the purposes of warring with Israel.
#2. We correct what good we failed to do, or what bad we did, in that same area.
So perhaps for Jews in Israel, they need to appreciate the land that they abandoned in 2005, which is now being used to transport terrorists from house to house via underground tunnels.
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Below is a spectacular video from my favorite “Planet Earth” series by the BBC (which is on a 70% off sale, by the way). This episode is called “Caves,” and I hope that your appreciation of G-d’s majestic Creation will bring Light into the darkest caves of Gaza for my Jewish brothers in Israel.
As you watch the video, please have the intention to draw closer to G-d through witnessing the elegance of Creation, and in so doing, may the IDF soldiers be guarded and protected, and may we merit to see true peace reign in this world.
(note: there’s a part where a worm eats a fly that some may find gross).
Of course, going to the park to bird watch does not replace the great need to actually pray, give charity, and apologize/thank/speak to our loved ones, etc. Those things are our main “weapon.”
Here is the schedule so far for my forthcoming lecture tour in New York:
Wednesday December 3, 8.05pm at YU, Weissburg Commons:
“The Animal Kingdom in Jewish Thought”
Thursday December 4, 8:00pm at Young Israel of Woodmere:
“The Making of a Ban”
Shabbos December 5/6, at Congregation Ohav Tzedek, Manhattan:
Topics including cosmology, evolution, as well as the above topics.
Sunday December 7th (tentative):
Torah Tour of the Bronx Zoo. $30 adults, $25 children. By reservation only.
I am still free for Sunday afternoon/ evening, and probably for Thursday morning/afternoon; please contact me if you would like to arrange a presentation for your school/ community. “Contacting me” means writing to me at zoorabbi@zootorah.com
“What is the way of loving [G-d] and fearing Him? When a person ponders His great and wondrous works and creations he immediately loves, praises, and extols and is filled with a great desire to know the Supreme Being . . . And when he contemplates these things he immediately is drawn back with great reverence and he realizes that he is a small, insignificant, unenlightened creature standing with a frail intellect in the presence of a Being Who is Perfect in Knowledge”
(Maimonides, Laws of the Foundations of Torah 2:2)
What do you think the dolphins and other sea creaturs do during the flood?
I admit I should have posted this 2 weeks ago, at the beginning of this month. My apologies. Please forgive me.
Rosh Hashanah is coming up quickly.
- The day that Hashem is declared Master over the entirety of Creation, including each and every one of us!
- The anniversary of the day homosapiens were imbued with the soul (the 6th Day of Creation), separating them from the animal kingdom!
- The day that the Creator judges the entirety of Creation!
How can you ensure a wonderful Rosh Hashanah when you stand before the King?
Just like marathon runners prepare many days in advance of their big day, so too must we prepare ourselves in advance. In fact, we don’t even doteshuvah (repentance) on Rosh Hashanah itself - it’s all supposed to be done now, leading up to the day of judgment!
So here’s how you can get started.
1) Download and read the Rosh Hashanah Celebration guide by the Oklahoma B’nai Noach Society.
2) Don’t (just) make a “New Year’s Resolution” on Rosh Hashanah. Instead, make and do your resolution now.
3) Take time each day to talk with Hashem. Go over the past year. Review your life.1
This wonderful guide they have designed with Rabbinic support is not meant to establish a single obligatory standard for all Bnei Noach. Rather, it is a guide for those who feel that such a guide will enhance there connection to and service of Hashem. This is important to understand, lest people mistake this for a new religion.
See “About this Book” page 3.
Table of Contents
About this book………………………………………………………………………………….3
Rosh Hashanah (New Year)……………………………………………………………….5
Prayer……………………………………………………………………………………………8
Prayer Customs……………………………………………………………………………8
Pre-Prayer Meditation……………………………………………………………………9
Kindling Lights…………………………………………………………………………….10
Psalms 1……………………………………………………………………………………11
Prayer for Parents……………………………………………………………………….11
Prayer for Children………………………………………………………………………11
Prayer for Remembrance……………………………………………………………..11
Rosh Hashanah Celebration Meal ……………………………………………………..13
Kiddush………………………………………………………………………………………..14
Washing of the Hands……………………………………………………………………14
Symbolic Foods…………………………………………………………………………….15
Against Idolatry…………………………………………………………………………..15
Against Theft………………………………………………………………………………15
Establishing courts of Justice………………………………………………………..15
Against Blasphemy……………………………………………………………………..16
Against Homicide………………………………………………………………………..16
Against Elicit Behavior…………………………………………………………………16
Against Eating the Limb of a Living Animal …………………………………….16
Merits of Society…………………………………………………………………………16
Blessing for Bread…………………………………………………………………………16
Blessing for Apples………………………………………………………………………..17
Eat the Festive Meal…………………………………………………………………………17
Blessing After the Meal……………………………………………………………………..17
Blessing of the New Moon…………………………………………………………………18
Shema……………………………………………………………………………………………19
Song………………………………………………………………………………………………20
A helpful way to do this is to start with this month and mentally go back in time month by month, or season by season. You can use things like your birthdays and holidays as landmarks to remember what you were up to at that time. ↩
The positive attitude of Judaism toward sexuality stands in sharp contrast with a more negative picture that developed in early Christianity. Although Christians disagreed on the nature of Adam’s sin in the Bible, it was generally believed to be tied up with sexuality. Paul particularly emphasized this attitude. According to Elaine Pagels, a Christian scholar:
“He [Paul] often speaks of marriage in negative terms, as a sop for those too weak to do what is best: renounce sexual activity altogether. Paul admits that marriage is ‘not sin’ yet argues that it makes both partners slaves to each other’s sexual needs and desires, no longer free to devote their energies ‘to the Lord’ [1 Cor. 7:1‑35].
Admittedly, Paul was speaking to a community that believed the kingdom of God was imminent. Even after such hopes failed, however, this identification of sex with sin was further developed by the early fathers of the church, particularly Augustine, and has remained influential in Christianity to this day.”
The concept that the sin of Adam and Eve was related to sexuality is not a mainstream idea in Torah. On a number of levels, I’m not qualified to speak about the true perspective that G-d’s Torah gives us on sexuality. So I’ll leave it to one of the holiest rabbis in Jewish history:
“We the possessors of the Holy Torah believe that G-d, may He be praised, created all, as His wisdom decreed, and did not create anything ugly or shameful. For if sexual relations were repulsive, then the reproductive organs are also repulsive…If the reproductive organs are repulsive, how did the Creator fashion something blemished? If that were so, we should find that His deeds were not perfect.” (attributed to Nachmanides)
Like most other things the Torah instructs us to do or not to do, it all boils down like this: proper time, proper place, proper person.
One of the rabbi’s from my yeshiva (house of study) in Israel is Rabbi Slifkin.
His material may bee of special insect to Bnei Noach1 since he is the world expert on Zoology and Torah!
Meet Rabbi Natan Slifkin!
Intro Video
Rav Slifkin with a beautiful male cheetah.
Everything you want to know about animals, bugs, fish, monsters, and even mythical beasts as relates to Torah can be found in Rabbi Slifkin’s books. See his website for more info, and his blog to keep up with his current safari travel.
Also, if you haven’t seen this jaw-dropping safari video yet…Hashem’s Creation is astounding!
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