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Written by Rabbi Levi Brackman
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Friday, 27 January 2012 15:28 |
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Weddings are often very extravagant affairs. It is an opportunity for people to share a joyous occasion with friends and family. If the parents of the bride and groom are wealthy, they will want to invite as many friends and acquaintances to join them in a high-end event, with top level service and entertainment. All of this can cost a huge amount of money. Who can really blame a wealthy person for wanting to treat his or her guests according to their own standards? The problem is that social pressure develops within communities to make big weddings that many cannot afford.
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Last Updated on Saturday, 28 January 2012 19:58 |
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Written by Rabbi Levi Brackman
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Friday, 13 January 2012 12:43 |
The race to be the Republican Party nominee for president of the United States has now begun in earnest. This week saw the first presidential primary in New Hampshire. But as one listens to the candidates it is difficult not to be disappointed. Something about this competition seems unbecoming of individuals who want to become the next leader of the free world. The question that I keep coming back to is what qualities should we really be looking for in a potential president of the United States?
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Last Updated on Friday, 13 January 2012 12:59 |
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Written by Rabbi Levi Brackman
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Friday, 30 December 2011 03:07 |
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Many of us have been watching in horror as a fringe element of haredim in Israel advocate the exclusion of women from all forms of public life. Over the last week we have seen violence erupt with rioting in Beit Shemesh that included throwing stones at police officers, the threatening of a YNET female photographer and perhaps more disturbingly than anything else was the harassment of a seven year old girl on the street for not being dressed "modestly enough." As the father of a little girl my outrage can barely be contained.
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Written by Rabbi Levi Brackman
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Friday, 23 December 2011 13:29 |
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By now many people have weighed into what must have been a very private decision for a famous individual. Of course I am talking about Matisyahu’s beard or lack thereof. It is not my position to judge Matisyahu and say that he was either right or wrong. Over the course of history there have been many very pious Jews who had clean shaven faces. There is no reason for me to assume the Matisyahu is any different from that prototype.
Nonetheless, for a Hassidic Jew the beard and Peyot (sidelocks) are not just symbolic on a Kabbalistic level they also represents fidelity to the Hassidic community and its ideals, values and norms. I recall as a child a close family member started to feel disenfranchised from our Hasidic community and as that evolved it culminated in him shaving his beard. As a child that one act devastated me because it was the final step in him removing himself from the community. And somehow it felt as though a close family member was distancing himself from us as a family as well.
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Last Updated on Friday, 23 December 2011 13:33 |
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Written by Rabbi Levi Brackman
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Wednesday, 23 November 2011 16:34 |
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Larry Page the co-founder of Google visited Steve Jobs the co-founder of Apple Computers before the latter died a few months ago. Jobs told Page that instead of trying to be all things to all people he should choose a few key products that Google really wants to develop and focus on making them the best they can be. The message was: focus on what you do best and be the best in the world at it. This encompasses what Steve Jobs was able to achieve. There are few products in the world that can beat Apple both in terms of quality and design.
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Last Updated on Friday, 25 November 2011 09:35 |
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