Thursday, September 1, 2016

Ree Text message

The Torah tells us in Deuteronomy 16:16 “Three times a year you shall appear before the LORD your G-d in the place which G-d chooses…” 
What a powerful statement. Some people took it really seriously, and showed up for only the two days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur!!!
Besides the irony in my previous sentence, there is something important to learn from that phrase.
 In many places in the Torah, the word used for times is “regalim”, from the word “regel,” legs. Three times a year we had to do a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
But also, the word “hergel”, habit, derives from the same root. Maybe the Torah tells us that three times is the minimum and the idea is to create a habit to go and meet G-d.
In memory of my beloved mother and teacher Miriam Rachel bat Israel Itzchak Z"L