Rabbi Abrams Blog

Amalek was the first nation to attack the Jews after G-d took us out from Egypt.  King Saul was supposed to destroy Amalek, but he left the king and some sheep alive and they regrouped.   Just a few generations later, Haman, the Amalekean bad guy of the Purim story was behind a plot to “destroy, kill and annihilate every Jewish man, woman and child”.   G-d commands us in the Torah to “remember what Amalek did and completely erase the name Amalek“.  The way we fulfill this commandment is by reading the Torah portion about it. This Shabbos is called Parshas Zachor (portion of remembering). This mitzvah hits home extra this year as we are literally fighting the modern day “haters of Israel”.  Just like in the days of Purim, we overcame our haters in the most miraculous way, and turned Haman into a cookie and gragger (noisemaker), may we merit to save the Jewish people and keep them all safe in the most miraculous way.

At first glance, Purim is a confusing holiday:  On the one hand, it is an amazing holiday.  The Talmud says that all other holidays will become “obsolete” besides for Purim.  Purim is the celebration of salvation from genocide, 2,500 years ago in a temporary Persian exile. On the other hand, the Megilla (Purim scroll) doesn’t mention G-d’s name even once. If you examine the entire story, it could be written off as a coincidence, and even after the happy ending, the Jews were still in exile (it was another decade until they moved from Persia back to Israel to build the second temple). To me, the story of Purim is a reminder that while I have my own exile, as I’m sure you do, and I’m waiting for Moshiach to set the world straight, it doesn’t mean we can’t have a major salvation resulting in a major celebration. I may have to wait for Moshiach until all of my problems will be solved, but that doesn’t mean that until then, none of them can be solved.  May this Purim celebration indeed lead

Natanya & I just returned from a builders expo in Las Vegas.  Hopefully we made some connections that will save hundreds of thousands of dollars for our supporters who are making the Jewish Campus of Temecula a reality. Does G-d have my best interests in mind?   The short answer is “yes”. The longer answer requires an understanding of the difference between faith vs. trust . Here are two differences: Trust is stronger than faith . Trust is for the future, faith is for the past. Do you have faith in me, Yonasan Abrams?  Do you trust me? Can I borrow $10,000 and pay you back in a few weeks? That’s the difference.   Faith is believing in someone’s good intentions, that they will try their best, and rooting for them.   Trust , however, is relying on them for big things, and not worrying, even for a moment that things might not turn out as you were hoping. If things didn’t work out after the fact, I can have faith that the person tried their best.  I’m not angry that they lost my money