The 11th Commandment

Posted on May 23, 2020 by Andy (Avraham) Blumenthal

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “The 11th Commandment.”

How many times do I hear about fellow Jews trying to “out-frum” (i.e. be holier than thou) other Jews: whether it’s in terms of Kashrut, Shabbat or even who stayed up the latest for the Passover Seder. Recently, when it came to coronavirus, I was more than a little shocked to read that someone actually attributed the disease to it being a punishment from G-d because women’s skirts are not being worn long enough. While certainly it’s good to be introspective and there is a strong concept of reward and punishment in Judaism, there is something about us Jews where we tend to want to go a little more and a little farther. In some cases, we are doing “hiddur mitzvah” (beautification of the Mitzvah) which is praiseworthy, but in other cases, we may be adding unnecessary “chumras” (i.e. stringencies) than can backfire religiously. My unequivocal preference is to follow my father’s teaching to me of the Rambam’s “Shvil Ha’zahav” (i.e. the golden path) and not go too far to the left or to the right, but keep a healthy middle of the road approach to life.

In the end, the number of commandments are what they are, and with 613 throughout the Torah, there is enough to keep us all busy going what is right with G-d and our fellow man. While we may like to overachieve in our careers, our education, and our pedigrees, it is not necessary to try to outdo each other religiously. Religion is a matter between us and Hashem and G-d knows what is in our hearts and counts up all our deeds according to His holy Torah with nothing added and nothing subtracted.

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

The Commandments are for All of Us

Posted on February 22, 2020 by Andy (Avraham) Blumenthal

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called “The Commandments are for All of Us.”

While some Jews certainly thrive in Yeshiva delving into the Talmudic understanding of the laws for long hours every day, and they serve an important role in understanding and transmitting the laws from generation to generation, others may be more interested in the fundamental philosophy of Judaism and in “doing what’s right” by applying the core teachings of the Torah at their own levels every day. Maybe this is one reason that the Ten Commandments are presented separately from the “mishpatim” that follow. Not that they aren’t both important and necessary, but that the Torah is for all of us in the ways that each of us can appreciate, learn, and apply them within the overall framework of the Torah.

Of course, all the commandments are important between G-d and man and between man and man, as well as the conceptual framework of the Ten Commandments and the details embedded in the rest of the 613 commandments. Yet certainly, all of us in one way or another struggle with some commandments more than others or with losing sight of either the high-level essence of the Torah or important details of implementation. Nevertheless, we must strive to not only appreciate that all the Torah comes from Hashem, but also that we each must work as best as we can, in our own capacities, to learn and fulfill G-d’s laws and to be a good example and “light unto the nations,” which is what being “the chosen people” is really all about.

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal of Chagall Tapestry in Knesset, Israel)

613 Everywhere

Posted on September 22, 2017 by Andy (Avraham) Blumenthal

So many times, I have written about the holy mystical number of 613 (the number of commandments in the Torah) and variations/transpositions on these numbers (316, 163, etc.).

My wife and I continue to see 613 all the time and everywhere!

Prices, receipts, license plates, accounts balances, stock price changes, lottery winnings, bar codes, time of day, wait times, schedules, number of email, rows in a spreadsheet, road numbers, social media views, etc. etc. etc.

– I have questioned myself over and over whether I am seeing it because I am sensitized to it or simply even looking for it at this point.

The answer is a definite no!

Here’s a recent example, of the change in the stock price for Teva Pharmaceuticals (above)–it’s exactly -.0613!

But this isn’t a one time event or a fluke.

As we all know stock prices fluctuate every moment on the marketplace. Yet, when I check at completely different and random times, it is up or down by a variation of 613!

Other times, I’ll check multiple stocks… and they will simultaneously be moving or priced at variations again of 613–at the exact same moment, I repeat, different stocks priced at the exact same moment.

Here’s another non-financial example:

I did a post a few weeks ago on the critical importance of emergency preparedness.

Look at how many views it got on LinkedIn…exactly 163!

This happens everywhere and all the time!

Here’s a third example:

A license plate.

Here’s a fourth example:

Can you see the code on the package…613!

A fifth example:

A tracking code on a shipment.

A sixth example:

A bar code on a bottle of Life Water.

A seventh example:

A label on some spinach!

An eighth example:

A construction site.

An ninth example:

A public solicitation for the Department of Energy.

A tenth example:

The winning pot for Powerball.

Hey, I am not superstitious and I am not OCD–seriously.

But this happens all the time.

I cannot help but think that G-d is sending us an important message.

From a personal level, my wife and I have both tried to take the messages seriously and to continue to improve our lives–albeit we know, we are far from perfect human beings.

However, we also feel compelled to share this message more broadly.

There is a lot going on in the world, and could this mean something bigger and more consequential to a lot more people?

Please, please, please, G-d have mercy on your children…we are but flesh and blood…and we desire to do good.

(Source Photos: Andy Blumenthal)

Today Is 6/13

Posted on June 13, 2017 by Andy (Avraham) Blumenthal

So today is 6/13.

Yes, check your calendar.

It only comes once a year.

613 is the mystical and holy number of commandments in the Torah.

For more than 2 years (this is not a short-term phenomenon), my family and even some friends have been seeing an inexplicable number of 613 everywhere.

Here is one from a stock I follow from the other week: Twitter was up exactly 6.13%…and I don’t follow that many stocks.

Just yesterday, another stock (that been doing terribly…it’s a startup!) is down an enormous 61.3% since I started following it.

And yet another major stock–of the largest company in Israel and the largest generic pharmaceutical company in the world–Teva–is down 16.03 year-to-date.

Nearly every day, we see an endless barrage of license plates, roads, train and plane schedules and physical or URL addresses, get purchase receipts or invoice totals, see number of posts, views, likes, or emails, and even the other day almost booked a hotel with the address….that’s right and only 613!

I am a rational person…maybe almost to the extreme, and what I initially laughed off as a lark or someone’s OCD thing, is beyond any reasonable explanation that I can fathom at this point.

I am left with faith that there is truly some message being sent from the One Above…the question is what is the meaning of the message?

I continue to hope and pray that the message is one of blessings and redemption for mankind…I hope you will join me in this prayer. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

The Miraculous Mezuzah

Posted on February 4, 2017 by Andy (Avraham) Blumenthal

So there is a Jewish commandment to put a mezuzah on your doorposts.

Reminiscent of ancient times when Jews were slaves in Egypt and G-d told the Israelites to put the blood of the Paschal lamb on the doorpost.

When they did this and the Angel of Death killed the firstborn in each home of the taskmaster Egyptians–he passed over the doorposts of the Israelites that had the blood on it as commanded by G-d.

So too these days, the Mezuzah has the holy prayer of the Shema Yisrael on it:

“Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is One”.

And it is believed to be a symbol of G-d’s divine protection for the home.

This week in Synagogue, Rabbi Haim Ovadia told some miraculous stories about the Mezuzah from when he was the Rabbi in Bogota, Columbia.

He told of how the cartels would raid the buildings where the people in the community lived. The cops would be told not to respond to the calls for help for at least an hour. But what was a miracle was that apartments with the mezuzahs were not harmed. Later, the people found out that the cartels, thank G-d left them alone, because they didn’t know what a mezuzah was and thought it was some sort of fancy alarm system!

Another story, was the boss who put mezuzahs on the offices at work, and what happened? The profitability of the business went up. When they looked at why this happened, they realized that the boss would stop at the mezuzah to recite the Shema, and the workers thought the boss was there paying more attention to them and so productivity went way up.

Finally, the last one was really funny. They couldn’t easily get mezuzahs in Bogota, so when they heard someone was coming from a trip to Israel, they asked him to bring 5 mezuzahs for the home. When it arrived, they opened it up, but lo and behold, the parchment with the prayer inside was missing from them. When they asked what happened to it–the person said, I already know how to put up a mezuzah on the doorpost with 2 nails and a hammer, so what do I need the instructions inside it for!

G-d is glorious and the holiness that he bestows on us with his commandments is amazing. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Mystical 613 – Inauguration

Posted on January 21, 2017 by Andy (Avraham) Blumenthal

Laundromat 613.jpeg

TV Show Alone 613.jpeg

So we are continuing to see the mystical, holy 613–the number of commandments in the Torah (Bible).

– From the number of views on my LinkedIn Profile, 613, in the last 90 days.

– To the tag the laundromat put on my dry cleaning, 60013.

– And to the caption, Day 61 – 1:31 PM, on the latest episode of the tv show, Alone, on the History channel.

For those of you of faith…there are no coincidences–every leaf that falls from the tree is only at the will of the One Above.

As I watched the inauguration of President Trump yesterday, it was inspiring that he featured the most number of religious leaders (6) at any inauguration.

And Trump, the President and billionaire himself, said that the military protects us, and law enforcement protects us, but the greatest protection is from G-d!

Further, I was amazed that one of the clergy that spoke at the inauguration was Rabbi Marvin Hier–the head of LA’s Simon Wiesenthal Center (that memorializes the Holocaust/Jewish Genocide that occurred just more than 70 years ago).

It was a true moment of awe, when Rabbi Marvin Hier said joyfully in front of the whole world (including the anti-Semitic United Nations and former President Obama with their evil resolutions against the Holy Land):

“Bless all of our allies around the world who share our beliefs…[and] by the rivers of Babylon we wept as we remembered Zion. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.”

Perhaps, just perhaps…we are really entering the time of the redemption–when G-d will shine his light on his people and there will be peace, health, and prosperity for all the righteous of the world.

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

613 Faith Redux

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Andy (Avraham) Blumenthal

So between Nov 2015 to June 2016, we were all seeing the mystical number of 613, the number of commandments in the holy Torah.

Then on June 12, 2016, there was a terror attack in Orlando, which killed 49 people and wounded 53 others.

We read about this all over the front page of USA Today on 6.13.16 (the date spells 613 in BOTH directions!)

Then all of a sudden we stopped seeing 613–completely stopped.

That is until 2 weeks ago.

When out of nowhere we all simultaneously and independently started to see 613 again.

On clocks, license plates, order numbers, treadmills, everywhere.

Yesterday, I saw 613 displayed brightly on a warning cone (above) in the roadway!

And today again, an order number received “randomly” for a purchase online ends in 613!

In Judaism, we are taught that nothing in life is random…everything comes from G-d.

All I can say is that it is scary to see this–it feels like some sort of warning or message–and we need to have renewed faith in G-d, turn to him, and ask for his mercy.

In the ongoing war of good over evil, I think it’s certainly a time for extra repentance, prayer, charity, and lots of good deeds. 😉

(Source Photos: Andy Blumenthal)