On this day, November 29, in 1947, the United Nations General Assembly voted on whether or not to partition the then-British-held land of Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state.  After days, months, and years of working to create a Jewish state, it came down to one small vote.  Three minutes later, a Jewish nation was voted into being.

This moment in history must be remembered and embraced by us, for without it, there would have been, ultimately, no creation of the State of Israel.  This was the moment when optimism and hope flourished.  This is when we Jews knew we would have, finally, after so many centuries of homeless wandering, a place to call our own.

Please watch and enjoy the following video on the history of this momentous day:

Sharing Thanksgiving Dinner with family is a really special time... a time where we express verbally our gratitude to G-d - something we should be doing every day.

Today in North America it is the holiday of Thanksgiving.  My family always celebrated this holiday of thanks, as a time to get together and celebrate each other and everything we have in this life.  As Jews, we can trace all of these blessings back to G-d.

Thinking back on our family celebrations, there was always one moment each year that stood out in my memory (and it wasn’t when my mom sprayed whipped cream at me straight from the can, although that stands out, too!).  It was the moment when we went around the table and each of us proclaimed what we are grateful for.  Of course, everyone was happy to declare their gratitude for family, friends, food, and shelter.  Then there was me.  I was always grateful for the same thing: indoor plumbing.

Well, there is a lot to be said about not taking the little things for granted! When traveling in places like India or Nepal or rural Fiji, there often was no indoor plumbing.  If you were lucky, there was a hole in the ground into which you could pour some water after you’ve used it.  If you weren’t, well, there were always tress and bushes!  There were times in our travels that I would have given up a lot just to have the luxury of a hot shower and a clean bathroom.

In this week’s parsha we meet Esav (Esau), who famously comes to his brother Yaakov (Jacob) after a hunting expedition.  Yaakov is cooking a red lentil soup because his grandfather Avraham has passed away and lentils, being round, represent the circle of life.  It is a mourner’s meal.  Yet, Esav bursts into the tent and demands that Yaakov “pour that red stuff down [his] throat.”  He has no concern for the meaning and importance of the meal.  All he cares about is the food that is before him, so great and uncontrollable is his hunger.  Not only does he demonstrate callous indifference for the death of his grandfather or his mourning family, but he tosses his birthright aside as well.  All for the sake of a bowl of red lentils.

We all have things we crave in life.  For me, it could be indoor plumbing, for you it could be steak, and for Rabbi Ben I’m pretty sure it’s fruit.  Yet, most of us have a hard time putting ourselves in Esav’s position, where we would carelessly throw away something precious to us in exchange.

…Or would we?

Having to use "toilets" like this one in India made me even more grateful for indoor plumbing, when I have it!

The truth is that many of us would throw away something important to us for the sake of a momentary pleasure or to satisfy a craving or desire.  The sad thing is that we, like Esav, do it without even realizing until much later exactly what we’ve done.  Those of us who drive too fast because we are in a hurry to meet our friends at the restaurant are literally risking our lives, not just our birthrights.  And those of us who crave that McDonald’s cheeseburger or pepperoni pizza wantonly toss away the chance at a mitzvah just to satisfy a craving, and so that our style won’t be cramped.  Yet, sadly, it is not until we reach the World to Come that we will be fully aware of our mistakes.

It doesn’t have to be this way.  We do not always need to be as Esav, chasing after our momentary desires, pleasures, and ego.  The key is in awareness.  We must notice exactly what we want but – instead of running after it – walk slowly after it, or put it aside until a later time.  We must remember to express our gratitude instead of blindly chasing after our desires.  If it is indoor plumbing for which we are thankful, let’s remember to stop and make a blessing to thank G-d for it after we’ve used it.  If it is a cheeseburger we want, let us stop and thank G-d that we have pareve cheese or veggie burgers so that we can have a kosher version – and then let us make a blessing before and after eating to thank G-d directly.  No matter what our desire is, there is a way to learn self-control and a way to learn to express our thanks, whether it is by making a blessing or doing a mitzvah.  This is the lesson we can learn from Thanksgiving and from Esav.

Happy Thanksgiving and Shabbat Shalom!

So… A short post for today.  We have up our new YouTube Channel!  So you can find us on there as TravelingRabbi!

One thing I thought to share was because I was just looking at a video I shot in Amman, Jordan.  We got to our hotel room, the best one we could find for a reasonable price, and it was very spacious.  Sort of like a palace.  Just… a palace in severe disrepair haha.  Rabbi Ben, who has traveled for much longer and to stranger places than me, thought it was funny that I wanted to do a video tour of our room.  When we got to India I understood why.  Compared to some places we stayed, this really was a palace!

Anyway, welcome to the world of travel… enjoy your stay!

Do Jewish People Celebrate Thanksgiving and Can Jews Celebrate Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is largely an American and Canadian holiday, though today more people in various countries around the world are celebrating it. Thanksgiving in the United States is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November and in Canada it is celebrated on the second Monday of October. On Thanksgiving many families get together for a dinner which is often comprised of Turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce.

If you are Jewish and invited to a Thanksgiving dinner or want to host one is there any halachic issue (issue in Jewish law)?
The concept of a thanksgiving holiday/festival appears in almost every culture. A celebration is held at the beginning or the end of the harvest season to give thanks. As Jews we celebrate this with the festival of Shavuot, which is also known as ‘Chag Habikurm’ because the first fruits harvested were brought to the temple as a gift. Chag Hakatzir is another name for Shavout which alludes to celebrating the first harvest of grain.

In some indigenous cultures they will celebrate at the end of the harvest season and give thanks to their idols and pagan deities. Such a thanksgiving celebration a Jew should not attend. However the thanksgiving instituted in North America is about giving thanks to G-d for a good harvest and thus there would be nothing wrong for a Jew to take part off course provided the meal was kosher.

Is turkey kosher? Read more HERE!

Kosher Flavored Crab Chips YUM!!!!!!

Keeping Kosher and Maris Ayin: What is the Issue with Maris Ayin?

This picture raises an interesting question in halacha (Jewish law) known as ‘Maris Ayin.’ The concept of maris ayin is that we can be doing something permissible according to Torah and halacha, but to the onlooker, we may be doing something wrong.

For example going into a McDonald’s to use the toilet is fine but someone may see us and think we are going into McDonald’s to eat and conclude that it’s okay to eat there.  Today because going into a McDonald’s and similar non-kosher restaurants to use the toilet is a common practice, Rabbis have ruled that there is no problem with maris ayin. However, sitting down at the table to drink a soda there would cause a problem.

In recent years there has been an explosion of fake dairy and fake meat products. You can now make a sandwich with fake meat and fake cheese that looks like the real thing.

When these products first came out it was a serious issue of maris ayin, but today it’s common practice to eat these; for example to have pareve (non-dairy) ice cream after a Shabbat meat meal. We no longer worry about this being maris ayin. It is still a good idea to bring the ice cream container and put it on the table so people can see that the ice cream is not dairy.

According to halacha it would be fine to drink fish blood, but because people would see us and may think we are drinking animal blood, it is forbidden to drink the fish blood. But say you lived in an Eskimo village where it was common practice to drink fish blood, or comes a time when drinking fish blood is a daily health ritual performed by everyone, it is possible to say that it would become permissible to drink the fish blood.

Kosher Crab Flavoured Chips for Sale

The key question in maris ayin is what will someone think? With this bag of chips, at a distance someone could see the large image of the lobster but not the little kosher symbol. If I were eating these chips, I’d either put them into a new bag or eat them from the existing bag with the picture facing me. This way I don’t need to worry that people may think Crab Flavored chips are kosher, because this could lead someone to buying a brand in the future which is not kosher.