Rise Up as a Lion

Israel is at war. Again. The truth is that this is not a new war but rather a new chapter in a decades-long campaign by the Islamic Republic of Iran to wipe Israel off the map. This new phase takes place amid the ongoing multi-front campaign that Israel is waging with Iran’s proxies all over the Middle East. It is rare for one country to fight a three-front war. Israel is fighting a seven-front war. Another unusual aspect of the nature of this conflict is that Israel is battling an enemy that desires its annihilation. If anyone had any doubts about that, October 7 clarified our understanding of the threats Israel constantly faces. While initial news reports indicate that Israel has struck a punishing blow against the Iranian regime, it’s important not to be lulled into a false sense of security. Iran possesses a great capacity to retaliate and inflict much pain and suffering. The threat to our ancestral homeland is real, and millions of our brothers and sisters are in great peril. The heroic members of the IDF are extraordinary in their dedication and mission to defend and protect the homeland. May the Guardian of Israel continue to watch over them in this most tenuous moment. I am not a military or intelligence analyst and won’t attempt to be an armchair general. I do have thoughts from a spiritual perspective. It’s interesting to note that the current military operation has been called עם כלביא or Operation Rising Lion. This phrase originates from the Torah, in which Bilam refers to the Jewish People as a Rising Lion. Rashi has the following commentary on this verse. “When they rise from their sleep in the morning, they show themselves strong as a lioness and as a lion to “snatch at” the Divine precepts (to perform them immediately) — to clothe themselves with the Tallit, to read the Shema and to lay Tefillin.” This underscores the tenacity of the Jew who has been fiercely dedicated to G-d and diligent in connecting with His word. He jumps on the opportunity to be a Lion as an engaged and connected Jew. Lions are necessary on the battlefield and physical homefront. Lions are also needed on the spiritual homefront. In the “Never Again is Now era,” it is incumbent on all of us to rise up like a Lion, one way or another. Have a Peaceful Shabbos, Rabbi Yaakov Fisch

Privilege or Burden?

Shver tsu zayn a Yid — It's hard to be a Jew, said the old Yiddish proverb. Many of us have verbalized this phrase for a long time in one iteration or another, from the Kosher consumer in the grocery store who realizes that record inflation does not even take the skyrocketing prices of kosher groceries into account. It also may be uttered by any one of tens of thousands of Jewish parents who are committed to providing a K-12 Jewish education to their children and realizing that their tuition bill is north of fifty thousand dollars. Since October 7, this phrase has been uttered by countless Jewish university students as they are physically bullied and intimidated by rising Jewish hatred. There is a fascinating insight at the beginning of this week's parsha that helps reframe the issue. The Torah articulates the different roles and responsibilities of the Levites, the spiritual custodians of the Mishkan. There were three primary families from the tribe of Levi, and each had distinct roles assigned. The three Levite families were Kehas, Gershon, and Merari. In describing the role of the family of Gershon, the Torah uses interesting language. The Torah states, זֹ֣את עֲבֹדַ֔ת מִשְׁפְּחֹ֖ת הַגֵּרְשֻׁנִּ֑י לַעֲבֹ֖ד וּלְמַשָּֽׂא. It is translated as, "These are the duties of the Gershonite families as to serve and porterage." Was this a noble service or a mundane task of schlepping (another Yiddish word)? One idea that is offered is that there are two general ways we can embrace our communal responsibilities in particular and obligations as Jews in general. We can view it as part of a higher calling that we have been chosen and have a special destiny in history. Part of having a higher calling comes with more responsibilities. If someone embraces this worldview, they can view their Jewish responsibilities as a privilege and badge of honor. Another view is to view responsibilities in life as a Jew as nothing short of a burden. Such a person will regularly lament about how burdensome or unfair it is to lead a Jewish life. The Torah taught the Gershon family that they can choose how to embrace their communal responsibilities. They can view them as a privilege for which they can be thankful, or as a burden for which they can resent. While we may not belong to the Gershon section of the tribe of Levi, we are regularly asked to choose how we view our approach to Jews. How is it for you? A privilege or a burden? Have a Peaceful Shabbos, Rabbi Yaakov Fisch

Why Shavuos is Relevant Today

As we celebrate the holiday of Shavuos, it is worth reflecting on the significance of this date and its impact on the Jewish People in particular and the world in general. Shavuos is the anniversary that G-d revealed the blueprint for humanity to live a life with the utmost holiness and Godliness on this mundane earth. G-d revealed this blueprint to us in what is known as the Torah. It is hard to overstate how transformative this transmission was to the Jewish People. The Torah unlocks the ability of a mortal being and allows him to live a life of meaning, purpose, and fulfillment. The Torah enables the Jew to infuse spirituality and purpose into mundane and physical activities. The Torah has empowered the Jew to connect with the Divine even in the world's darkest moments and find that light in an increasingly dark world. In his book Derech Hashem, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato (1707-1746) writes G-d created many spiritual manifestations in this world with His presence. However, one embodiment is more compelling and more intense than any other in this world. This manifestation of Godliness and holiness that one can connect to in this experience is more profound and superior than any other experience. Someone can only experience this profound manifestation through Torah Study. That is another explanation of the famous words of the sages, ותלמוד תורה כנגד כולם or the Study of Torah is equivalent to them all. I found this interpretation mindblowing and refreshing at the same time. It provides an entirely new and refreshing perspective on the power of Torah study. The conventional understanding of the purpose of Torah Study is to accumulate knowledge. For example, to know how to put Tefilin on his arm, he must study and be knowledgeable in the laws of Tefilin. However, there is another dimension that is entirely different and transcendent about Torah Study. It is the ability of a mortal being in this mundane world to connect with Godliness and holiness that will touch his soul to the core. For this reason, it is meaningful for our souls to study sections of the Torah that we have studied before, i.e., the weekly Parsha, or to explore areas of the Torah that may have little practical relevance. The truth is the connection to Godliness and holiness our souls connect with during this experience is so profound that it matters little what the topic is or how relevant the Talmudic discourse may be for the participants in the class. אשרינו מה טוב חלקינו! Fortunate is our lot in life that we have the gift of Torah! As we celebrate the Yom Tov of Shavuos, let us reflect on this unparalleled opportunity for spiritual experiences that the Torah offers us in the jungle of this mundane world. Have a Great Yom Tov, Rabbi Yaakov Fisch

Chickens Come Home to Roost

The chickens have finally come home to roost. After increasing calls to "globalize the intifada," two young Jews were murdered in our nation's capital this week after attending an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. The shooter yelled "Free Palestine" as he brutally cut short the lives of two people with so much promise in front of them. If anything, it should dispel any myth that the so-called "Free Palestine" has anything to do with alleviating the plight of Palestinians. The two victims had been committed to fostering good relations between Jews and Arabs and their deaths do absolutely nothing to assist the Palestinian cause. There are so many layers of this tragedy to unpack. I will touch upon a few points. Security: Undoubtedly, there should be and will be calls to increase security in the Jewish community. The WSJ noted that the average cost for security for Orthodox Jewish Schools in 2022-23 was $184,000 and has risen to $339,000 in 2024-25. There are limits to what increased security can accomplish. As Bari Weiss noted, "No police force, not even the best in the world, can hold back a culture that has embraced violence as a means of expression." While the calls for an increased security posture are justified, the issue is far more complex than just increasing a security budget. Free Speech: It's a tragic irony that adherents of the Free Palestine movement manipulate the privileges of liberal democracies to advance hate and violence. While I am not a constitutional scholar, the Supreme Court ruled many years ago that free speech does not entitle you to "yell fire in a crowded theater." In essence, it means that while you generally have the right to express yourself freely, that freedom is not absolute and can be limited if your speech creates a clear and present danger, such as inciting panic or causing harm. This week's murder of two Jews demonstrates the dangerous overlap between hateful rhetoric and bloodshed. Root of Conflict: If there can be any silver lining since October 7, the roots of the conflict have become more apparent. As this week's events have demonstrated, it has nothing to do with alleviating the plight of the Palestinians or Arabs. In March, there was a revenge killing in Syria by militias associated with the new regime who executed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite sect. In case you missed the United Nations condemning it or the students marching in Ivy League Universities, you are not alone. The double standard is so obvious and blatant. The root of the conflict is also not because of the lack of any Palestinian State. The Tibetians and Kurds have long aspired for a state and their cause gets a brief yawn from the international community. It's also not about settlements, occupation or anything else the mainstream media might want us to believe. The root of the conflict is the strong objection by nations all over the world to any Jewish presence in the Land of Israel. The ties of the Jewish People to their ancestral homeland are apparently too much for many to handle. It's essential to be clear-eyed about what is at stake. Everything else is just noise. Have a Peaceful Shabbos, Rabbi Yaakov Fisch

It Just Takes 10,000 hours

Our friends in the UK have a custom during Shiva to wish the mourners, "A Long Life." I have wondered what kind of long life they were blessing others with. For a person simply to spend more time on this earth and not have any meaning or purpose would not seem to be the ideal blessing. I have been pondering this question recently as we heard about the bombshell announcement coming out of Nebraska this week. Omaha's most beloved son, Warren Buffett, at the age of 94, also known as the Oracle of Omaha, announced that he will be stepping down as CEO from his position at Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett, who started the company as a failing textile maker and transformed into an investing juggernaut worth over a cool $160 billion, was calling it a career. Although he had selected his successor a few years ago, the timing of this announcement and his departure from the company by the end of this year caught everyone by surprise. After a standing ovation, applause from the audience of around 40,000, he joked: "The enthusiasm shown by that response could be interpreted in two ways." There is not enough ink in the world to write about many layers of the Warren Buffett story. In his weekly column in the WSJ, Jason Zweig wrote, "Ever since 1942, when he bought his first stock at 11, he has devoured information about companies, reading corporate reports the way most people listen to music. As a young investment manager, Buffett would wander through his house with his nose in a corporate annual report, practically bumping into the furniture, oblivious to the comings and goings of family and friends. While his kids played at an amusement park, he would sit on a bench and read financial statements. Buffett was there physically, but mentally and emotionally, he was off in a world of his own, fixated on tax-loss carryforwards and amortization schedules. According to his estimates, Zweig added, "Buffett has read more than 100,000 financial statements in his more-than-seven-decade career. Malcolm Gladwell wrote in his book, Outliers, about the 10,000 rule. He argues that while some may think that one needs supernatural natural talents or abilities to reach mastery in any field, it really takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to achieve mastery in any skill. Ten thousand hours is a little more than 416 days straight, without eating, sleeping, or anything else. That is not possible for any human being to sustain. However, if one spends four hours a day practicing an activity, over the course of 365 days, that equals 1,460 hours in a year.In less than eight years, one can achieve mastery in that field. Warren Buffett clearly applied the 10,000 to his study of the stock market and dividends paid off quite handsomely. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, the great Torah sage who passed away in 1986, was known to have completed the entire Talmud over 200 times in his lifetime. Reb Moshe, as he was affectionately referred to, applied the 10,000 rule to his dedication and passion for Torah Study. While he may have been blessed with intelligence and a solid memory, the amount of time he spent pursuing his priorities resulted in him being able to master the entire Torah and be proficient in any area of Jewish Studies. It may be a bit of an oversimplification, but there is much truth to the notion that if you want to become the very best in the area of life that is most important to you, all you need to do is spend 10,000 hours on the project. Have a Peaceful Shabbos, Rabbi Yaakov Fisch

Greatest Miracle in Our Lifetime

Shaarei Tzedek Medical Center is a hospital on a hill in the Bayit Vegan section of Jerusalem. It is known to be a world-class healthcare facility. What may not be so well known is that its maternity ward delivers over 22,000 babies annually. While there are no official stats, this is one of the highest numbers of babies delivered in one hospital in the world. To give some context, the number of babies delivered is far lower in Jacksonville, a city with a population comparable to Jerusalem. UF Health, which, according to my basic research, delivers the most babies locally, has 4,000 births in its facility. The number of babies delivered in Israel is, in fact, the highest among all nations in the developed world. The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) is a unique forum where the governments of 37 democracies with market-based economies collaborate to develop policy standards to promote sustainable economic growth—released data showing that Israel has, on average, three children born to a woman. The study says that at least 2.1 children are needed to ensure a stable population. Most Western nations have a birth rate of 1.2- 1.8 per woman. The high birth rate in Israel is a primary factor in its population continuing to rise. It currently has a population of nearly 10 million people, a twelvefold increase in numbers since 1948, when it had a population of about 800,000. In addition to the birth rate far exceeding the death rate, Jews from all over the world have returned to their ancestral homeland. Today, there are more shuls and places of Torah study in the Land of Israel than in the last two thousand years. I think of my ancestors who lived in Eastern Europe and would gather around the Seder table and declare at its conclusion, “Next Year in Jerusalem.” For them, having a vibrant Jewish life in Israel was a fantasy. The reality of Jews returning and thriving in their ancestral homeland is a gift to our generation that I am not sure we fully appreciate. The prophet Zecharia declared two thousand years in the throes of the Jews being exiled from Israel the following words. כֹּה אָמַר ה' צְבָאוֹת עֹד יֵשְׁבוּ זְקֵנִים וּזְקֵנוֹת בִּרְחֹבוֹת יְרוּשָׁלָים וְאִישׁ מִשְׁעַנְתּוֹ בְּיָדוֹ מֵרֹב יָמִים: וּרְחֹבוֹת הָעִיר יִמָּלְאוּ יְלָדִים וִילָדוֹת מְשַׂחֲקִים בִּרְחֹבֹתֶיהָ: Translation Thus said G-d: There shall yet be elderly men and women in the squares of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of their great age. And the squares of the city shall be crowded with boys and girls playing in the squares. The last year and a half have been agonizing and excruciating with the war and the hostages that are still in captivity. At the same time, it is still worthy to remind ourselves about the story of Jewish life being rebuilt in our ancestral lifetime as perhaps the greatest miracle of our generation. Have a Peaceful Shabbos, Rabbi Yaakov Fisch

What Is Our Toil?

A wedding guest was asked to speak at the special occasion. He apparently had no compunction about going on for too long as his remarks stretched to longer than an hour. Most of the guests had left at the 90-minute mark of his speech as they had enough. At the two-hour mark, the parents of the groom and bride decided they had enough as well and left the hall. At the three-hour mark, the bride said to the groom," This is the happiest day of our lives, and we don't want to let the speaker hijack our wedding." They slowly headed for the exit. After three and a half hours, the speaker finally concluded his speech and opened his eyes to find an empty wedding hall. He did see his friend Chaim Yankel at the other end of the ballroom. He inquired as to where all the guests had gone. Chaim Yankel responded, "Are you meshuga? You can't speak for four hours and expect people to stay for it." The speaker then asked Chaim Yankel why he remained when everyone else had left. Chaim Yankel responded," I am still here because I am the next speaker!" I am thinking of this old kibitz as this week, history was made in the United States Senate regarding the longest-ever speech. Cory Booker, the Senator from New Jersey, gave the sermon of his career that lasted 25 hours and 5 minutes, surpassing former Sen. Strom Thurmond (S.C.), who held the previous record as he spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes. I understand that Booker did not eat, drink, or have any bathroom breaks during this marathon speech. I read an article that quoted Booker saying that he intentionally dehydrated himself so he would not require any bathroom breaks. I was curious as to why the esteemed Senator would climb the Mt. Everest of speeches. The longest speech ever was a reaction to the Trump Administration's policy. Some call this an amazing feat, while others call it a pathetic stunt. While I am not in the practice of providing political analysis, the longest speech ever is noteworthy. For whatever reason, Senator Booker felt this was something worth investing an extraordinary amount of effort and energy. We all invest much of our effort and energy into various endeavors. This investment takes a toll on us, and sometimes, we need to ask ourselves what we are sacrificing so much of our well-being for. The Talmud in Sanhedrin quotes the verse from Job, אדם לעמל יולד. Translation: Man is created for toil. The Talmud elaborates in its analysis. Everyone was created for toil, but the person who chooses to toil with the Torah is fortunate. In other words, no one on this earth has immunity from stress or everyday pressures. Some fantasize that if they only abandoned the Torah and tradition, their lives would be much easier and less stressful. However, we know that EVERYONE has to endure stress and pressure in one way or another. It's just a question of what arena we want to put our effort or energy into. Fortunate is the person who chooses to toil and receives his dosage of stress from the areas of engaged Jewish life. Others choose to expend their energy and effort into delivering a 25-hour speech or other dubious endeavors. It's up to us how we toil. Let's choose wisely. Have a Peaceful Shabbos, Rabbi Yaakov Fisch