If you have trouble guarding your eyes, you are not the only one. The problem began a long long time ago with Eve in the Garden of Eden. Mankind has been suffering the consequences ever since.

The tree of knowledge of good and evil
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The account of her tragic error is found in the very first portion of the Torah, “Bereishit,” as it says:

“And the woman SAW that the tree was good for eating, and that is was a DESIRE TO THE EYES….”   Just like with the temptations of the Internet.

Too bad that Eve didn’t have a filter on her computer. The world would be a lot better place today.

After Eve convinced Adam to eat the forbidden fruit with her, the Torah relates:

“Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized they were naked.”

The Torah commentator, the Sforno, explains that previous to their sin, the sexual act was performed to fulfill the Divine commandment to be fruitful and multiply. But now they felt shame in their sexuality and nakedness in that the primary function of their sexuality became the selfish satisfaction of sensual desire. They now displayed a desire for every base pleasure, despite its harmfulness.

Rabbi Shimson Raphael Hirsh writes that man need not be ashamed of his sexuality, as long as it stands in the service of the Almighty, as set down in the laws of marital relations. But when this condition is lacking, man feels ashamed in his nakedness, awakening the Divine voice within us, reminding us that we are not meant to be beasts.

Preceding their transgression was another example of the dangers of following after one’s eyes, in the wickedness of the serpent, the world’s very first pornographer. The Torah states that “the serpent was cunning beyond any beast of the field.” Rashi explains  the lust and jealousy of the serpent was aroused when he SAW Adam and Eve engaging in marital relations, unashamed and unconcealed, “in the eyes of all” (Bereishit, 3:1, Rashi).

The jealous lust of the serpent led to the downfall of mankind, just like the pornography on the Internet destroys thousands of lives today. Adam and Eve were subsequently expelled from the Garden, and man has been trying to return ever since.

So if you still haven’t installed an anti-porn filter on your computer – do so today. For your sake, and for the sake of your children.     

For several years now, I have been trying to help people understand the simple truth that a Jew belongs in Israel. Many people find the concept difficult to grasp because they have never learned about the intrinsic unity of the Jewish People, Torah, and Eretz Yisrael. It simply isn’t taught in the Diaspora. Because of the length of the exile, Jews have come to identity with the places where they live, believing they are Americans or Frenchmen or Swiss. They learn about the rituals of Judaism: tefillin, Shabbat, keeping kosher, and the like, but they are never introduced to the bigger picture. After all, if the rabbis taught their congregants that they were supposed to be living in Israel, it would mean the end of the Diaspora – or the rabbis.

So I will try once again to switch on the old light bulb in your heads with the hope that some Jew, somewhere in the world, may wake up to the bigger picture of what Judaism is really all about.

Looks like an etrog to me.

Before we perform a mitzvah, we recite a blessing in which we praise G-d for sanctifying us via His commandments. The mitzvot add to our holiness. When we eat kosher food, our bodies become holier. When we study Torah, our minds become holier. When we wave the lulav, our hands and arms become more sanctified. When we dwell in the succah, everything becomes holier, our eating, our talking, our studying, our sleeping. Kabbalists refer to this as “ohr hamakif,” or being surrounded by G-d’s encompassing light. In the succah we are enveloped by holiness. It saturates us and elevates all of our existence, like being in a spiritual sauna.

Now if our succah booth is in the Land of Israel, then it is like we are in a little sauna inside of a giant sauna. We get a colossal, magnified  spritz of holiness. For all of the Land of Israel is surrounded by G-d’s encompassing light. Just by living in the Land of Israel, everything in our life is sanctified in G-d’s encompassing light – our homes, our cars, our jobs, our military service, our speech, our thoughts, our deeds.

Welcome to Israel!

And because we are surrounded by the holy geodesic bubble of the Land of Israel, all of the Jews living here are joined together, bumping into each other like atoms in an atomic fission centrifuge, each one giving added power to the next, so that everything a Jew does is multiplied scores and scores of times, making him into a bigger Jew.

"Hey, stop shoving and try to be polite!"

By living in the encompassing light of the Land of Israel, a Jew joins the “clal,” the encompassing unity of the Jewish People. His private life becomes attached to the greater life of the clal. Instead of being an individual Jew, he becomes a NATIONAL Jew. His life becomes magnified in his bonding with the NATION. Just by going to the grocery store he is helping to rebuild the Jewish People in the Land of Israel, in fulfillment of prophecy and our prayers. That’s why the Chofetz Chaim declared that a mitzvah performed in Israel has 20 times more mitzvah power than the same mitzvah perform anywhere else. Because of the mega-power of the clal, and the incredible chain reaction that occurs when we are gathered together in our Land.  

And for those who want to say that they can play a part of the greater life of America just as well – what can I say? Mazel tov for being a part of a gentile nation! Do you really believe that’s the goal of Judaism? I’ve never seen it written in the Torah.

In addition to our exalted Ushpizin: Avraham, Yitzhak, Yaacov, Moshe, Aharon, Yosef, and King David, we have so far had the pleasure to host in our humble succah Jews from Mexico, Yemen, England, and New York. How wonderful to see the ingathering of the exiles taking place in one’s one yard! The guest from New York was especially interesting. During the ten years he spent in prison for alleged involvement in a serious crime, he became a baal t’shuva. What was especially amazing is that when his sentence was over, he actually left the penitentiary! Unlike so many of our brothers and sisters in the prison of exile in Diasporas around the world, this brave individual had the courage to pack up his few belongings and walk out the prison door to freedom the moment he had the chance! What a hero!

Make no mistake, my friends – the exile is a prison! In the holiday Musaf prayer, we say, “Because of our sins, we were exiled from our Land and were cast far away from our soil.”

Exile is a punishment. Whether it’s the most kosher ghetto in Brooklyn, Miami Beach, Toronto, Manchester, Melbourne, or Johannesburg, it’s exile all the same.

That’s why we pray. “Bring back our outcast exiles from amidst the gentiles, and our scattered ones gather together from the corners of the globe, and bring us to Zion, Your city in joy!”

Can anything be clearer than this? Our Sages fixed the wording of our prayers to teach us what our proper aspirations should be. Judaism, and being a Jew, means having a constant burning desire to return home to Zion. For nearly 2000 years, the gates of the prison were closed. But now they are open.

Hope to see you here soon!

What's he talking about? I'm not in a zoo!"

If you planted an etrog tree in Brooklyn it wouldn't grow. If it did, it would die. Just the way the Diaspora is destined to die. The etrog tree doesn’t belong in Brooklyn. The climate isn’t right for it. It’s the same with the lulav, hadasim, and aravot. The four species are indigenous to Eretz Yisrael, just as the Torah is indigenous to Eretz Yisrael, and the Jewish People are indigenous to Eretz Yisrael.  We belong in Eretz Yisrael. All of the holidays are intrinsically connected to Eretz Yisrael. The Torah was designed and fashioned by the Almighty to be observed in Eretz Yisrael, not in America, Canada, Australia, or Timbuktu.

How wonderful to be in the Land of Israel where you hear hammers pounding away the week before the holiday and see sukkah booths wherever you look!

I remember living in New York City and walking the length and width of the city on the holiday of Sukkot and not seeing even one sukkah on the street. Finally I found a mini sukkah, the size of a telephone booth, in the back alley of a kosher dairy restaurant, adjacent to the bathroom.

How wonderful to be in the Land of Israel where you don’t have to be embarrassed or afraid to sit in your sukkah out on the street! Where apartment buildings are built with terraces designed for the Sukkot holiday! Where the Kotel and the place of the Temple are a short walk or car ride away! Where there are sukkah booths outside of every restaurant! Where it’s a national holiday with school vacation, and not some strange  mumbo-jumbo practice of the Jews.

How wonderful to be in the Land of Israel where you can be proud to walk down the street adorned in your tallit and proudly carrying your arba minim in your hand!      

Thank G-d for having brought us back to the Land of Israel!

Hag samaoch!

“For some time now, I have been struggling with an inner battle. A powerful force is impelling me to speak on the subject of t’shuva.”

Thus Rabbi Kook begins his inspiring book, “Lights of T’shuva.” While psychiatrists offer many theories about man’s existential dilemma and pain, Rabbi Kook reveals that the real cause of humanity’s suffering stems from mankind’s alienation from G-d. The solution, he teaches, is t’shuva.

I had the great honor of working with the distinguished scholar, Rabbi David Samson, in translating and explaining Rabbi Kook’s writings in a book we called “The Art of T’shuva.” With the Day of Repentance approaching, I sincerely recommend readers to look at the abridged chapters that we have posted. You will find many new ideas there that can greatly improve your lives and lead you to a newfound happiness.

For example, because of this blog and my writing at jewihsexuality.com, I sometimes get letters from people who are suffering from all kinds of problems. Many of them feel a lack of self worth, and this leads them to depression and serious transgressions. Often, their lack of self worth stems from the sick and distorted values of Western culture which places undue emphasis on material success, fame, honor, and physical beauty. If you don't have a $100,000 salary and a fancy car, you're a bum.

Rabbi Kook sets things straight. True success in life is getting closer to G-d. More important than all the money and fame in the world is being a good person. In the eyes of Judaism, the most successful person is the one who sets his life on a course of constant t'shuva. Even if he still has a long way to go, just the fact that he is on the t'shuva train means that he is a winner.  

So happy t’shuva, my friends!

And once again, I hope that all readers who I have offended will find it in their hearts to forgive me, as I certainly forgive any talkbacker who offended me.