Rabbi Abrams Blog

  Someone asked me a good question: What is the big deal about the Torah? There are many other Jewish books, including the prophets, that seem to be more profound than the 5 books of Moses. Here was my answer: Any book that needs "human reviews" to be considered profound wasn't written by a G-d worth believing in. It's tempting to want G-d to be what "I" think is good and important, but that's projecting "me" on G-d. As Mark Twain wrote: "G-d created man in His image, and man has been repaying the favor ever since". G-d's book is profound on His terms, and if I believe in a G-d totally beyond this world (the only G-d worth believing in), I'll make it my mission in life to continue searching for meaning in it. If His book seems to me, to lack profoundness, I know the problem is me, and I've gotta figure out how I can change myself to find meaning in it.

  What is more beautiful, nature or a garden? If you say garden, will that be an insult G-d?  If you say nature, why do people spend so much money on landscaping? Personally, I'm a garden person.  While we still lived in NY, Natanya and I would walk to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens at least a couple times a week.  It was our favorite place.  Every time we visited, there was something new, exotic, and everything was arranged to create such amazing beauty. Nature is beautiful as is, but we can make it even more beautiful.  Of course, some parts of the world are too beautiful as is and we can only mess things up by trying to interfere, but the vast majority of the planet is here to be cultivated.  It's not just about plants.  G-d created His world complete (עולם על מילואו נברא), but He wants us to make it even more perfect.   Exactly 70 years ago from tonight, the Rebbe, in his inaugural address as Rebbe declared באתי לגני-  G-d is coming to His garden.  The purpose of our genera

It's been brewing for a while, but the events of this week underscore a sad milestone in the path America seems to be on.  The majority of Americans, on both sides of the political aisle, believe that America is heading in the wrong direction.  Each side blames the other with evidence and rationale to explain their beliefs.   As Jews, we aren't loyal to either political side.  The Previous Rebbe once said about politics, "Nothing can exist without the truth of Torah.  Whatever truth exists in each political side is from Torah." I've been wanting to write this idea down for a while now, but have been waiting for the right time.  Hopefully that time is now.  Many political systems and empires have achieved the status of world power, from the Babylonians, to the Romans, to the Turks, the British, and for the last 300 years, America.  America has been a tremendously benevolent country, and has created unprecedented prosperity.  However, empires' status as world po