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About Me

Rabbi Chaim Coffman
Rabbi Coffman has helped people from all across the spectrum to prepare themselves properly for Orthodox Conversion to Judaism. His students admire his vast knowledge and appreciate his warm, personal attention and endearing sense of humor.
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Followers

Welcome to Rabbi Chaim Coffman's Blog!

I would like to thank you for visiting my blog, Beyond Orthodox Conversion to Judaism.

The conversion process can be a lengthy and daunting one to say the least and I want you to know that I am here to help you through it.

I have been teaching newcomers to Judaism for over a decade and over the last few years I have seen that conversion candidates really lack the support and knowledge they need to navigate the conversion process and successfully integrate into the Orthodox Jewish community.

I created my mentorship program in order to help make this whole experience as smooth and as painless as possible! (Can't do much about the growing pains, though ;)

Feel free to get to know me a little through the posts on my blog and visit the mentorship and syllabus page if you are interested in possible joining us.

I sincerely wish you all the best in your search for truth and spiritual growth.

Looking forward to meeting you,
Chaim Coffman

My Rebbe, Rav Moshe Sternbuch

In case you were wondering why I have all of these articles written by Rav Moshe Sternbuch, he is my Rebbe, and one of the gedolei hador (greatest Rabbis of our generation).

Rav Sternbuch fully endorses me and supports my mentorship program.

He is the address for all of my halachic or hashkafic (practical and philosophical) questions that I or my students may have.

The articles are based on his weekly talks on the Torah portion that the Rav gives in Jerusalem in his kollel. As a member of the kollel I get first dibbs on the photocopies and I type them up for my blog so you can all benefit from the Rav's erudition and insight.
Monday, April 8, 2013

The 48 Ways to Acquire Torah: Knowledge of Scripture and Mishna

The next of the 48 ways to Acquire Torah is the knowledge of Scripture and Mishna. The commentaries tell us that one should be an expert in Scripture and Mishna since they are the foundations of Torah. The Mishna is what the foundation of the Talmud is which makes up what we learn and why we do the fundamental things in Judaism.

The Jewish people have survived this long exile because they have have kept to the laws of the Torah and have learned it. Unfortunately, we have seen the other side which is lack of knowledge of the Torah. This has resulted in assimilation and intermarriage.

The more the Jews know about their heritage, the more they are likely to perpetuate their priceless heritage to future generations. If we don't, then that lack of knowledge leads us to assimilation and intermarriage.

There is an example of this a number of a years ago an Arab terrorist was in jail and he saw his Jewish jailer eating pita during Passover. The arab terrorist said to the jailer, "Doesn't it say in your Torah, that you are not allowed to eat any leavened product during the holiday of Passover." The jailer responded, "that was thousands of years ago, it doesn't apply today, we today living in the land of Israel are the new Jewish people. We don't have to keep those old laws."

The arab terrorist replied that a people that has no connection to its history, will eventually relinquish the land that they hold right now. This gave him more of an impetus to keep up the intifada since eventually the Israeli's will give up the land because they don't have such a connection to it.

As we continue to count Sefira and make our way towards Shavuos, we shouldn't forget the importance of learning Torah but we should live it as well!

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