Thursday, May 13, 2010

What Are You Smoking?

ALL NIGHT LEARNING, ICECREAM PARTY AND DAIRY LUNCH - see below
 
Question of the Week:
 

I read an article by a professor in Israel who suggests that the revelation at Mt Sinai was actually a drug-induced hallucination. I thought it was a ridiculous proposition, but it did get me thinking. How do we know that it was indeed G-d who spoke to Moses and not some mind-altering mushroom?

Answer:

I read that article too. I am not sure what that professor was smoking when he wrote it.

There are ways to test whether a revelation is truly divine or just the product of human imagination. One of them is by examining the content of the message. G-d never tells you what you want to hear. When people make up their own revelations, the message they convey tends to be very convenient and comfortable. But if it is indeed G-d talking, He most probably will demand from you something you never would have asked from yourself.

Imagine Moses came down from the mountain and said, "Ok guys, here's the deal. G-d wants us to chill out. He thinks we are just fine as we are. Eat whatever you want, be loose in your relationships, and live a life that feeds your every whim and fancy. Don't fuss over petty things like being honest in your business dealings or being nice to strangers. As long as you are good deep down in your heart and are true to yourself that's fine. We are here to have fun, not stress over little moral scruples."

Had Moses brought us this message, we would be justified to suspect that G-d may not have said that. But Moses did not bring us a message of self-assurance and convenience. Rather, he came down from the mountain and said the following (not an exact quote):

"Ok guys, here's the deal. G-d created the world as an unfinished project. And we have to do the rest. We are not here to serve ourselves, we are here to serve a higher purpose. We are naturally selfish, and we have to become selfless. We are physical and hedonistic, and we must become soulful and sensitive. We need to care for the poor and down-trodden, we need to love our neighbours even when they annoy us. We need to practice acts of goodness even if we are not in the mood. We have a huge mission to achieve - to change the world by changing ourselves. There is no promise that things will be easy for us. But this is our mission. So get to work."

The demands that G-d makes of us in the Torah are steep. They challenge us to our very core. This itself shows that Moses received the Torah when He was high on the mountain, not on anything else. The Torah is not about getting high, but about living higher.

Good Shabbos and Good Yom Tov,
Rabbi Moss
 

To subscribe email rabbimoss@nefesh.com.au 

 

ALL-NIGHT LEARNING AT NEFESH

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Celebrate the giving of the Torah at our all night learning program. Come for part or come for the whole night, there will be coffee and cake and plenty of inspiration

First night Shavuos, Tuesday May 18 at Nefesh 54 Roscoe St Bondi

 

9pm - 9:45pm Stories That Won't Let You Sleep with R' Aaron Amzalak


10pm - 10:45pm The Ten Commandments of the Secular World and why we shouldn't keep them with Rabbi Moss


11pm - 11:45pm The Rebbe Revolution with Rabbi Yosef Braun


12am - 12:45am A Kabbalistic Wedding Canopy with Chazan Isser Feiglin

 

1am - 2:30am Mass Conversion at Mt Sinai a guided Talmudic study

 

2:30am - 4am Ask the rabbi - no holds barred


4am - 5am Short speeches from community members (volunteers needed)

 
NEFESH SERVICES - 54 Roscoe St Bondi Beach 
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Friday
Mincha 5:00pm followed by shiur in Likkutei Torah
6:30pm - 7:15pm Shabbos Service with kids program followed by Kiddush sponsored by Sheli Hersch in honour of the Yohrzeit of her brother, Des Fleisch 
 
Saturday
9am Class on Weekly Parsha
10am -12:15pm Morning Service with kids program followed by Kiddush in honour of the upcoming wedding of Ilan Miller and Sharon Saul
 

Mincha 4:40pm folllowed by Seuda Shlishis and Maariv 

 
Sunday
8am Shachris followed by breakfast and beginners Talmud
 
 
SHAVUOS SERVICES
 
Tuesday May 18 (candlelighting 4:43pm)
Mincha 4:50pm followed by drosha, Maariv 5:25pm
 
Wednesday May 19 (candlelighting after 5:40pm) 
Morning Service 10am-12:30pm
DON'T MISS READING OF TEN COMMANDMENTS AT 11AM, ICE CREAM PARTY FOR KIDS
followed by dairy lunch sponsored by Jack Reuben
Mincha 4:50pm followed by drosha, Maariv 5:25pm
 
Thursday May 20
Morning Service 10am-12:30pm (Yizkor 11:30am) followed by Kiddush sponsored by Rev Daniel Miller in honour of his father's Yorzheit and Michelle Brenner in honour of her father's Yorzheit
Mincha 4:50pm followed by Maariv
Yom Tov ends 5:39pm
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nefesh office | 45 bellevue rd | bellevue hill | NSW | 2023 | Australia

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