Rabbi Abrams Blog

The past couple of weeks have been extremely eventful in the political/news cycle.  The shooting of a president and the decision not to run for re-election (and more importantly the response in the media & social media) reminded me about two times that the Rebbe spoke directly about these things. One was a talk the Rebbe gave after Jimmy Carter lost his re-election bid.  The Rebbe spoke about how even though the Rebbe strongly disagreed with the Camp David accords, he was disheartened by the unbecoming remarks people were making about a person who did what he thought was best for the country (i.e. he was getting trashed in the media). The second was after Ronald Reagan was shot.  The Rebbe asked how such a thing could happen, and as usual, traced it back to education… I don’t have a YouTube link to the talk on Carter (if you subscribe, you can watch it  here ).  However, the Rebbe asked for that talk to be transcribed and inserted in the congressional records, which it was.  You ca

Tomorrow in the Torah, we will read the story of Bilaam & Balak.  They were antisemites who tried destroying the Jews. The unique thing about Bilaam, was his amazing connection to G-d.  The Talmud teaches that he could talk to G-d just like Moses. This guy was so connected to G-d that he even asked for permission to “curse the Jews” . G-d said no. But he couldn’t stop himself, so he tried anyways. And failed. Three times!!! Each time Bilaam tried cursing the Jews, G-d made blessings come out of his mouth. Despite his deep connection to G-d, he just didn’t get the point… My blessing for you is that G-d turn any “curses” in your life turn into blessings, and that you (and me) “get the point” of what G-d wants from us.

“Do you believe in G-d?” Most people think the answer to this question is either “yes” or “no”. Some people may go back and forth as to what their answer is.  “Yesterday I believed in G-d, but today…” It’s as if belief is something you have to vote on, either check “Yes I believe” or “No, I don’t believe”. If someone believes in G-d while everything is good, but then doesn’t believe in G-d when bad things happen, or vice versa, what does that say about their belief when they were a “believer”? The truth is that belief in G-d is a spectrum.  It’s a muscle, that can be strengthened or weakened. Let me illustrate this with a teaching from the Talmud: “Getting angry is like bowing down to an idol” Anger=Idolatry?!  What does that mean? The answer is very simple:  If a person really believes in a G-d worth believing in, how could they get angry?  Isn’t everything in the hands of G-d?  Doesn’t G-d have my best interest in mind?  Doesn’t G-d have the ability to give me what’s good? Of course,