Making each step count #Noakh#Noach#devartorah#parashathashavua

People who want to feel better, reduce stress, and shed unwanted pounds are discovering that walking may be the best exercise of all. A fitness philosophy of 10,000 steps a day, which first took hold in Japan, has gained popularity in other countries. Experts advise starting slowly and working toward a higher goal, realizing each day that every step counts.

It’s even more important to stay spiritually fit by “walking with God,” which the Bible describes as an intimate, growing relationship with the Lord. “Enoch walked with God for three hundred years” (Genesis 5:22). “Noah was a just man, righteous in his generations. Noah walked with God” (6:9).

We can walk with God. We talk with Hashem as we daven and at other times of the day, observe His commandments, and enjoy His presence. We trust His guidance when we cannot see what lies ahead. It is not just the destination that’s important, but the journey we take together.

There’s no better time than now to begin walking with God, because each day every step counts.

 

TB Bekhorot 18 The difference between teffilin and lulav when comes to borrowing the

Daf TB Bekhorot 18b discusses who is obligated of the giving the bekhor, the firstborn of a sheep or cattle, to the kohen when somebody gives another person a sheep to guard. That sheep is kept together with the homeowner’s sheep. Only one of the sheep is a firstborn. One of the sheep dies, but nobody knows which one was the firstborn. Rabbi Akiva holds the onus of proof that the living sheep is the firstborn lies upon the  kohen. “Rabbi Tarfon holds: The homeowner transfers to the priest a portion of his courtyard so that the priest should acquire the firstborn offspring located there, because it is suitable for him that the mitzva of giving the firstborn to a priest should be performed.” (sefaria.org translation)

The desire to observe a mitzvah is underlying principle Rabbi Tarfon’s approach. The owner of the courtyard wants to observe the law of the firstborn; consequently, he transfers a portion of his courtyard to be kohen so that the firstborn automatically goes to the kohen.

Rabbi Tarfon’s approach has a practical halakhic ramification. A person goes to shul and doesn’t have a pair of tefillin. He sees the teffilin laying on the bench. May he use them without asking permission? The Shulkhan Arukh Orakh Hayim, Siman 25, Seif 12 rules yes. The presumption is the owner of the tefillin is happy and please when a mitzvah is performed using his property.

Nevertheless, there are key conditions and limits.

·        Location: You may only use the tefillin in the exact area or room where the owner left them. You cannot take them home or to a different building.

·        Occasional Use Only: It must be an occasional or one-time use; you cannot borrow them regularly or systematically without asking.

·        No Objections: If you know or suspect the owner is particular (or if there is a note/sign forbidding use), you may not use them.

·        Cleanliness and Condition: The borrower must be clean and unkempt/sweat-free. If the owner is present, you should always ask rather than assume permission.

·        Restoration: If the straps or tefillin were folded when you found them, you must refold/tidy them back up after use.

Unlike teffilin this presumption that the owner of the  lulav and etrog is happy that a person is using his lulav and etrog without permission is not applicable. We learn that the lulav and etrog must be owned by the person and not borrowed or stolen on the first day of Sukkot. The Torah states, "And you shall take for yourselves on the first day..." (Leviticus 23:40).

The Hebrew word lakhem (לָכֶ֜ם/ "for yourselves") is interpreted by the Sages to mean that the four species must strictly belong to you, rather than being borrowed or stolen. This ownership requirement applies explicitly to the first day of Sukkot (or the first two days outside of Israel, where Yom Tov is observed for two days). From the second (or third) day onward, one may borrow someone else's set.

If someone wants to let another person use their lulav and etrog on the first day, they typically transfer legal ownership as a temporary conditional gift (matanah al t'nat le-hakhyil), after which the recipient can return it.

 

 

 

My response to Mamdani's October 7 tweet

October 8, 2026

Dear Mr. Mayor,

Yesterday should have been a day for New Yorkers to stand with the victims of  October 7^th , their families, and all still living with the trauma of Hamas’ unprovoked barbaric attack. If Hamas had not attacked Israel, Israel would not have entered into a war in Gaza sparing both life and property.

Instead you chose to respond to the grief of Jewish New Yorkers by advancing false and inflammatory attacks against Israel. Shame on you. You chose to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists whose charter demands the murder of all Jews worldwide. Shame on you. You chose to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists who cruelly murdered over 1200 innocent civilians Jews, Arabs, and foreign workers and took around 230 hostages back into Gaza and held some of them for nearly 2 years. Shame on you. You chose to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists who sexually abused some of those hostages.

Shame on you. You chose to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists who spread the lie about Israeli genocide in Gaza. Shame on you. You chose to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists who built a tunnel system consisting of command centers, supply depots, and prison cells underneath hospitals, schools, mosques, and private homes. Shame on you. You chose to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists who use their own civilians as human shields. Hamas prevented their own civilians to leave areas Israel warned that will be targeted. Hamas prevented their own civilians to enter their tunnel system whose length rivals the New York City subway system as bomb shelters. Shame on you. You chose to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists who stole humanitarian food aid from their fellow Gaza citizens and then sold it to them with a high markup.

Shame on you. You chose to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists who padded the death toll with people who were part of the terrorist armed forces, who died of natural causes, and innocent civilians who were killed by their own missiles that fell short of the target, and innocent civilians. Taking all those people in account, the ratio of armed combatants to innocent civilians is 1:1, an unheard of low ratio especially in such a congested urban area. You chose to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists who murder their own people who protested against their rule.

By choosing to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists, you not only inappropriately shifted the focus away from the victims of Hamas’ cruelty, but also placing Jewish New Yorkers at risk as anti-Semitic hate crimes continue to rise in our city.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Gary Greene

TB Bekhorot 7b If bees are not kosher, why is honey kosher?

The Mishnah on daf TB Bekhorot 5b teaches a very important kashrut law. “that which emerges from the non-kosher animal is non-kosher and that which emerges from the kosher animal is kosher.” (Sefaria.org translation) We can logically deduce that camel’s milk isn’t kosher because a camel isn’t a kosher animal and cow’s milk is because a cow is a kosher animal.

The Gemara asks and then answers despite the fact that a bee isn’t a kosher animal is honey is kosher for our consumption. “For what reason did the Sages say that the honey of bees is permitted? It is because they bring the nectar from the flowers into their body, but they do not excrete it from their body as a bodily excretion.” (daf 7b, Sefaria.org translation)

Rabbi Jack Abramowitz explains:

“…bees don’t make honey the same way that animals make milk or eggs, i.e., it’s not a product of their bodies. Rather, they make honey the way that you or I might make bread or a cake, i.e., by taking the necessary ingredients and processing them. 

“Honey is made from flower nectar, which is kosher. Bees don’t digest the nectar, they just mix it with saliva and store it in their honey sacs. In the hive, the bee regurgitates the honey, where it’s sealed in the honeycombs. Bees don’t secrete honey; you can squeeze bees all day long and you won’t get a drop. (Note: Don’t squeeze bees all day long.)

“There is a second opinion in the gemara that honey is permitted because of an inference from Leviticus 11:20: we may not eat non-kosher winged insects but we may eat the product of a non-kosher winged insect, specifically bee honey. This dissenting position only disagrees as to why honey is kosher; no one disagrees that honey is kosher.

“Royal jelly is different. Royal jelly is a secretion from glands in the bee. Unlike honey, royal jelly is a real product of the bee, and is therefore generally considered to be unkosher. One must also be careful of unfiltered honey that contains bee parts, which are not kosher. Honey could also be sold with non-kosher additives. It is therefore advisable to look for honey with appropriate kosher supervision.” (https://jewinthecity.com/2022/09/why-is-honey-kosher-if-bees-are-not/)

Bee honey is mentioned in the Bible several times, but “never is there an implication that it is a cultivated product. Apiculture developed many centuries later and is referred to in the time it. The ‘Biblical’ bees were wild bees, the honey they produced was considered public property. Anyone finding honey was free to eat his fill:

‘If you find honey, eat only what you need,
Lest, surfeiting yourself, you throw it up.’ Proverbs 25:16

‘Returning the following year to marry her, he (Samson)  turned aside to look at the remains of the lion; and in the lion’s skeleton he found a swarm of bees, and honey. He scooped it into his palms and ate it as he went along. When he rejoined his father and mother, he gave them some and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had scooped the honey out of a lion’s skeleton.’ (Judges 14:8-9)

‘Everybody (Saul’s army) came to a stack of beehives where some honey had spilled on the ground. When the troops came to the beehives and found the flow of honey there, no one put his hand to his mouth, for the troops feared the oath.’ (I Samuel 14:25-26)” (Nogah HarreuveniHareuveni, Nature in Our Biblical Heritage, page 12)

Interesting rabbinic tradition, Rashi, and other commentators identify the honey in the Bible as date honey or what is known as silan today and not bee honey.

Part of the Israelite declaration when handing his firstfruits to the kohen, he says: “Look down from Your holy abode, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the soil You have given us, a land flowing with milk and honey, as You swore to our fathers.” (Deuteronomy 26:15) “This refers to dates” (Jerusalem Talmud Bikkurim 1:3)

“So, when GOD has brought you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which was sworn to your fathers to be given you, a land flowing with milk and honey…” Text (Exodus 13:5) Rashi: “זבת חלב ודבש FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY — milk flows from the goats and honey flows from the dates and from the figs.”

 

 

 

 

Transforming sibling rivalry #Beraisheet#devartorah#parashathashavua

My four sons are about 2 ½ years apart in age. Growing up they were quite “competitive” (translation: they fought). Judy and I understood because we both grew up with brothers. At times my children’s story felt like it fit in the book of Genesis, which might well be subtitled A Brief History of Sibling Rivalry. Cain and Abel (Genesis 4); Isaac and Ishmael (21:8-10); Jacob and Esau (27:41); and Joseph and everyone not named Benjamin (chapter 37).

In this week’s Torah portion, Beraisheet, we learned that both Cain and Abel brought offerings to God. The basic difference was that Cain’s offering was of an inferior quality, while Abel’s offering was of the highest quality. Got accepted Abel’s offering and not Cain’s. Immediately the Torah records: “Cain was much distressed and his face fell. And GOD said to Cain, “Why are you distressed, and why is your face fallen?  Surely, if you do right, There is uplift.” (Genesis 4:5-7)

Rabbi Zelig Pliskin comments: “Cain was eaten up with envy over his brother's success and felt embarrassed and humiliation that his own offering was rejected. The Almighty told him that his reaction was inappropriate. When you can correct your mistakes and omissions it is improper to waste time suffering over the past. What is appropriate is to try to make the necessary corrections in the future. (Sforno)” Growth through Torah, page 24)

Happily for us our tradition points the way out of the morass of sibling rivalry. Our High Holidays teach us that teshuva, repentance over past faults and mistakes, and forgiveness can restore our relationships. Leviticus 19:18, 34 enjoins love for one’s fellow and of the stranger as a mitzvah. Aaron the High Priest serves as a role model for us. “Hillel would say, ‘Be of the followers of Aaron, loving peace, pursuing peace, loving your fellow human beings and bringing them to Torah.’” (Pirke Avot 1:12)

As my sons grew over, they have become close, inviting each other over to the homes to celebrate holidays together. Thank God, our sibling rivalries can transform into brotherly love when we live up to our tradition’s aspirations for us.

 

Now’s a good time to begin #devartorah#Simkhattorah

 Dr. Charles W. Eliot, longtime president of Harvard University, believed that ordinary people who read consistently from the world’s great literature for even a few minutes a day could gain a valuable education. In 1910, he compiled selections from books of history, science, philosophy, and fine art into fifty volumes called The Harvard Classics. Each set of books included Dr. Eliot’s Reading Guide titled “Fifteen Minutes A Day” containing recommended selections of eight to ten pages for each day of the year.

What if we spent fifteen minutes a day reading the Torah? We could say with the psalmist, “Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word” (Ps. 119:36–37).

Now would be a perfect time to begin reading the Torah. On Simkhat Torah, Sunday, October 4^th, we shall finish the last chapter of Deuteronomy and begin the first chapter of Genesis. By reading one aliyah a day you can finish the entire parasha whether or not you come to shul on Shabbat. I would also encourage you to pick up a commentary like our Humash, Etz Hayyim to enhance your understanding and enjoyment of the Torah reading.

Fifteen minutes a day adds up to ninety-one hours a year. But for whatever amount of time we decide to read the Torah each day, consistency is the secret and the key ingredient is not perfection but persistence. If we miss a day or a week, we can start reading again. “Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end” (v. 33).

Shabbat shalom and Chag Samayakh,

Rabbi Greene

 

TB Bekhorot 6 Why milk still needs rabbinic certification

The Mishnah on daf TB Bekhorot 5b teaches a very important kashrut law. “that which emerges from the non-kosher animal is non-kosher and that which emerges from the kosher animal is kosher.” (Sefaria.org translation) We can logically deduce that camel’s milk isn’t kosher because a camel isn’t a kosher animal and cow’s milk is because a cow is a kosher animal.

The Gemara on daf TB Bekhorot 6 makes a strong argument why cow’s milk should also be considered nonkosher if not for God’s intervention. Two different reasons are provided. The first argument is the milk is converted from blood. Of course, we know already that we are forbidden to eat blood. “The milk originates from the blood, which is forbidden for consumption, as the Master said that the reason a nursing woman does not experience menstruation is because the blood is spoiled and becomes milk.” (Sefaria.com translation) Of course, the rabbis didn’t know modern biology.

The second argument stems from the prohibition of eating a limb severed from a live animal, ever min hakhai-עבר מן החי. “since generally speaking there is nothing that comes from a living animal that the Merciful One permits, and yet this milk of a kosher animal is similar to a limb severed from the living and is nevertheless permitted, the permissibility of milk is a novelty of the Torah” (Sefaria.org translation) The milk comes out of the cow’s udder and could be considered severed from the limb.

Although there is no scriptural proof that cow’s milk is indeed kosher, the Gemara provides three proofs that it is. They are:

“Rather, proof may be brought that milk is permitted from the fact that it is written: “And there will be goats’ milk enough for your food, for the food of your household, and maintenance for your maidens” (Proverbs 27:27). According to the verse, goats’ milk serves as food, and therefore must be kosher.

“The Gemara rejects the proof: But perhaps the verse is referring to selling the milk as merchandise and using the money to buy food, and not to consuming the milk itself. Rather, proof may be brought from the fact that it is written with regard to Jesse’s instructions to his son David upon sending him with provisions for his brothers, who were at war against the Philistines: “And these ten cheeses you shall bring to the captain of their thousand” (I Samuel 17:18), which indicates they ate dairy products.

“The Gemara rejects this proof as well: But perhaps this verse too means the captain can sell the cheese as merchandise. The Gemara responds: Is that to say that it is the norm during war to engage in commerce? Clearly the cheese was meant for consumption, which proves it is permitted to eat dairy products.

“And if you wish, say instead that proof may be brought from here: The Torah praises Eretz Yisrael as: “A land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:17), and if milk was not permitted, would the verse praise the land to us with an item that is not suitable for consumption? And if you wish, say instead a proof from here: “Come, buy, and eat; and come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1).” (Sefaria.org translation)

Although cow’s milk is kosher, it still needs rabbinic supervision. I learned before modern farm milking procedures, when the farmer’s milk production didn’t meet the required quota, the farmer would add other animal’s milk to the container. Sometimes he would use pig’s milk. Once the pig’s milk was added to the barrel all the contents became trief.

Nowadays when no human hands touch the milk as it goes from the cow to a metal container, I once thought that milk really didn’t need rabbinic supervision anymore. I was wrong. When I was a rabbi in Springfield, MA, one of the local milk producers lost their rabbinic certification. I inquired why. I learned the milk was kosher; however, to fortify it with some vitamin which I don’t remember they used an extract from sharks. Of course, sharks are not kosher and that extract made the entire run of milk trief. The consumer has to be careful for the milk may be kosher but not what is added to fortify it. That is why even today milk needs rabbinic certification.