I rarely if ever comment or disagree with pronouncements or public statements of other rabbis. These are people who are driven to publicity and even sensationalism and I never feel inclined to spoil their fun. However, every so often there comes along a rabbinic pronouncement so outrageous and damaging that even my reticent nature forces me to respond. A rabbi is reported in public print and electronic media to have claimed that only one million Jews died in the Holocaust and that because of assimilation and intermarriage, the other approximately five million victims were not „real“ Jews. This claim is outrageous on numerous grounds – certainly in outlook but moreover in the…

 

Leadership

The fact that the current Torah readings concentrate on the life and career of Moshe as being the all-time supreme leader of the Jewish people, and through them of civilization generally, caused me to give some thought to the trait of leadership. We always think of leadership as a positive trait. Yet, some of the most charismatic and successful leaders of nations and empires have been very bad people who have led their people to ruinous disaster. So, a case can be made that certainly not all phases of leadership are to be viewed as positive attributes. Like all traits of character and behavior, there are many qualifying circumstances that will determine the positive or negative aspects…

Rabbi Berel Wein ‏@historyrabbi 

Vaeira

The comparison of the complaint of Moshe to God about His lack of compassion regarding the enslaved and persecuted Jews in Egypt, to the more sanguine acceptance of God’s will by the patriarchs of Israel of an earlier generation is somewhat puzzling. Moshe’s complaint is really a cry of anguish and pain over the desperate situation of the Jews in Egyptian bondage rather than a statement of… 

Rabbi Berel Wein ‏@historyrabbi 
Rabbi Berel Wein ‏@historyrabbi 

Parshat Veira 5776 Newsletter – Rabbi Berel Wein http://conta.cc/1n4L5o9 

Eingebetteter Bild-Link