Rabbi Daniel Bouskila
Rabbi Daniel Bouskila is the International Director of the Sephardic Educational Center.
Quality of Life
Parshat Vayigash (Genesis 44:18-47:27): It was brief. Jacob, head of the House of Israel, met with Pharaoh, King of Egypt
Sit, eat, stay a little while in the sukkah
Sukkot is \’z\’man simchatenu\’ — our season of rejoicing. It is a time to celebrate, to enjoy meals with guests, to sing, to study and to appreciate life. It is a time \’le-shev ba-Sukkah,\’ to live life to its fullest — in the sukkah.
Which do you choose — blessings or curses?
Parshat Ki Tavo (Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8) Throughout Moses\’ dark description of curses, the theme of enemies is prevalent. This, too, is part of the curses we wish to obliterate on Rosh Hashanah.
The voice of wisdom
Parashat Chukat (Numbers 20:1-22:1) Who was Miriam? She is the only woman in the Torah who bears the title \”Neviah\” — prophetess. So who was she?
Shavuot 5768: Multitude of views from majestic Mount Sinai
What prompted Agnon, a master of original writing, to create an anthology of rabbinic texts relating to Shavuot? As an author with a deep connection to his religious roots, Agnon related to the experience of Shavuot, a celebration of the centrality of books in Judaism.
Had Gadya — according to S.Y. Agnon
Both the composition and inclusion of \”Had Gadya\” into the Passover haggadah are shrouded in mystery.
This popular Aramaic song, chanted at the end of the seder purportedly to keep the children awake, is dated no earlier than the 15th century. Composed of 10 stanzas, \”Had Gadya\” follows a cumulative pattern similar to \”The House That Jack Built,\” where a new detail is added in each stanza.
My father’s war
\”This is what we grew up praying for and dreaming of,\” my father told me in a recent conversation, \”so I did not need to read any further.\” Nessim Bouskila made his way to the headquarters of the Jewish Agency in Paris, where he found more than 400 young men and women already lined up, eagerly awaiting the \”privilege,\” as Papa worded it, to help defend Israel.
A Building of Wisdom
How do we build a House of God? How do we achieve the spiritual mandate that God placed upon the community when asking of them to build the Mishkan, the dwelling place of God? Anybody who serves a community as its spiritual leader understands that the nature of my question has little to do with the architectural plans of the building, rather it addresses the religious and spiritual atmosphere we are challenged to create within the four walls that we call our \”House of God.\”
Law and Order
In his magnum opus on the history and development of Jewish civil law, \”Ha-Mishpat Ha-Ivri\” (\”Jewish Law\”), Israeli Supreme Court Justice Menachem Elon remarks that basing a viable modern legal system on Jewish Law is no easy task — \”it calls for great intellectual effort, creativity and boldness.\”
While the questions associated with incorporating Jewish civil law into Israel\’s legal system are complex and beyond the scope of this column, I do wish to pose one modest question: Is it possible, in select instances, for the principles and spirit of Mishpat Ivri to serve as a quasi-legal and moral guide on certain matters of Israeli policy?
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