Rabbi Abrams Blog

Could G-d have made the world worse than He did? It’s pretty bad as is. Genocides, animal suffering, political polarization and hatred. Are enough to make some people question G-d’s existence. Whether there is logical proof for G-d can be debated back and forth. It’s not a slam dunk either way. It’s kind of like G-d created this world as a game. And we’re the players in it. The game (life) has rules. And limitations. What’s the point of it all? I was taught that the point of the game is to find G-d. And transform this dark world he created. Into a place of light (Moshiach). And, Yes, it could have been worse. This world has a lot of darkness. But the game also has periodic  miracles . Like G-d peeking His head out to tell us He’s here. I know you know what I mean. I’ve experienced them. And you have too. Things that don’t make sense. Some come through righteous leaders (like the story of  why I wasn’t aborted ) Some major ones happened thousands of years ago (like the Exodus a...

I made a mistake. A local friend asked me if I could pull together a minyan so he could say Kaddish for his father. I told him I’d try. So I sent out an SMS message from our database to a few dozen people I thought might like to help this nice fellow by joining a minyan. One of the recipients felt my tone was too technical and not heartfelt enough and responded with some healthy rebuke. It was painful. But I’ve learned how to go through these painful rebukes a few times in my life. Here is a line from the Rebbe’s calendar: “ My father wrote in a letter: Cherish criticism, for it will place you on the true heights. “ I’ve heard that they’re called blind spots. Like when you’re driving. And a car is right beside you, but you just can’t see it. The only way to find it is by turning your head. I was created with character flaws (and maybe someone else reading this email was too). And the worst part about these flaws, Is that sometimes I’m completely oblivious to them! I might write somethi...