ב"ה
If we are only what we are, we are most decidedly not divine. As beings unto ourselves, we are finite and self-absorbed things, manufacturers rather than creators. To create, we must rise above our individuality; to actualize our divine essence, we must transcend the bounds of self.
One of the most widely misunderstood concepts in the Torah are contained in the words tumah and taharah. Translated as "unclean" and "clean," or "impure" and "pure," tumah and taharah--and by extension the laws of Niddah and Family Purity--often evoke a negative response. Why, it is asked, must a woman be stigmatized as "impure"? Why should she be made to feel inferior about the natural process of her body?
The world's natural bodies of water--its oceans, rivers, wells, and spring-fed lakes--are mikvahs in their most primal form. Created even before the earth took shape, these bodies of water offer a quintessential route to consecration. But these waters may be inaccessible or dangerous, not to mention the problems of inclement weather and lack of privacy. Jewish life therefore necessitates the construction of mikvahs--"pools" whose water is collected in accordance with the Halachic guidelines which preserve its power of purification. No other religious establishment, structure, or rite is as crucial to Jewish life, or can affect the Jew on such an essential level, as the mikvah.
A heart transplant saves the life of a 65-year-old woman dying of heart failure. A modern "miracle of medicine." Was it the Providence of G-d that provided the heart just in time to save the recipient? Where was the Providence of G-d, too late to save the donor from the effects of undiagnosed hypertension? And when the recipient unexpectedly developed a fatal infection due to the use of immuno-suppressant drugs, is the medical team to blame? And if they had treated her appropriately was this "an act of G-d"--a term sometimes used by doctors when everything appropriate was done but the patient died?
 "Passover in the former Soviet Union is the most passionately revered holiday in the Jewish calendar," says Chabad Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz, executive director of the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Confederation of Independent States. |
Leviticus 12:1-13:59 Week of April 2 - 8, 2000 The Parshah In A Nutshell Full Parshah Summary With Commentary 
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