Darchei Noam דרכי נועם

How much attention do we pay to the Haftorot? I know of some people in this shul who leave the premises during the Haftorot for an early Kiddush. But the Haftorot raise interesting questions. Who chose which Haftorah to affix to which Parsha and why? The answer to this question is shrouded in mystery. Apparently it was the men of the Great Assembly. Often, their reasoning is apparent. There are thematic connections between Haftorah and Parsha. But is there an overall scheme,

What does it mean to accept the Torah? To what extent is a knowledge of the natural world a part of accepting the Torah? The Maharal wrote in 1588 “The grass and trees praise Hashem…No created thing exists in in its own behalf. Hashem created each and everything in the universe and each and everything attains significance through Hashem and without Hashem no thing would exist….no other thing exists except Hashem” It would seem that the Maharal was saying that we should study

2nd day sukkot 5778 So, we shake the lulav and Etrog and we sort of proclaim like Chabad, G-d is here there and everywhere. And we observe nature sometimes and we say surely there is a G-d in the world. This beautiful sky, these beautiful trees they could not be here were there not a Maker and a Master of the Universe who created them. We are in such moments, whether knowingly or unknowingly, making an argument about the existence of G-d, one of the oldest arguments in the b

There are 4 very enigmatic sayings in this week’s parsha They raise difficult questions First the parsha says “You are all standing this day before the Lord, your God the leaders of your tribes, your elders and your officers, every man of Israel, your young children, your women, and your convert who is within your camp both your woodcutters and your water drawers” Who is standing before God? Apparently everyone, leaders followers, all occupations, all social classes, al