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Showing posts from April, 2015

-The power of values!- Power Up Thursdays, session # 2

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In the world around us, the moral values constantly change. Just 20 years ago same sex relationships were looked down upon and today if someone would speak negatively about gay marriage he will get himself in trouble. The levels of modesty changed a lot as well. Looking at pictures from the Brighton beach boardwalk from 40-50 years ago it becomes very clear how undressed our society became. Rabbi Nahum explained how important it is to have an inner core of values, the values that are able to withstand the test of time and fashion. In our extremely fast changing world we have to be strong and stable in our morals. For this reason it’s essential to incorporate God’s wisdom and ethics in our everyday lives. Our emotions and directions tend to change,  His wisdom does not.  The ancient wisdom was brought down to us by our teacher Moshe (around 1312 B.C.E. ) and later passed down to his student Joshua and so on till the Men of the Great Assembly. “Anshei Knesset HaGedolah” –

Launching of "Power Up Thursdays"

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Young Juhuro, full of energy and enthusiasm, gathered together on Thursday, April 16 to launch a revolutionary educational project- “Power Up Thursdays”. Room was filled with excitement when Rabbi Uri Nahum started his presentation. What we expected to be a Torah class was actually more of an insightful conversation. Rabbi Nahum asked every person in the room what that person would like to learn, what are the topics that are on the students’ minds? This is a very risky move, most rabbis come with a prepared class and teach the topic they know well. Rabbi Nahum is so knowledgeable that he can take this risk. Guys chose to study subject of marriage and ethics.  And so it was… That night we were immersed into the refreshing waters of Torah wisdom. We learned about King Hizzkiya who didn’t want to marry because he saw in prophetic vision that an evil son will come from him. We discovered that prophet Hoshea married a prostitute and then had to divorce her few years later, all by Alm

Kabbala and music, Wild Kavkazi and Chassidic dancing

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It was supposed to be a class about Kabbala and music, with some singing of Sephardic songs and some LeChaims. Instead, it turned into a spontaneous charge of positive energy, accompanied by Lezginka and Chassidic dancing. Rabbi Tamir Zaltsman brought a guitar and taught us about origins of music in Torah, while singing alone beautiful Jewish tunes. He also explained how 5 levels of our soul are effected by music. Very few people are as qualified as Rabbi Tamir to talk about the subject. He is a Torah scholar and a musician as well. We are very lucky that he honored us by conducting this session.   Wonderful, kosher for Passover food and drinks sponsored by David Azayev kept everyone satiated and tipsy. Andrey Davidov brought in his tarbuka (a type of drum, that will make even the shy people move and dance). Rambam Agababayev really made the evening by his amazing and skillful playing. He feels his audience and knows exactly how to make them party. What was unexpected is givin