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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.
Thursday, July 9, 2015

Parshas Pinchas: Do what you have to do and don't worry what others say!

"Now the name of the man of Yisrael that was slain with the Midyanite woman was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a father's house among the Shimoni" (Numbers 23:14)

The Torah tells us that not only did Pinchas kill these two people because of the terrible desecration of G-d's name but Zimri was none other than a prince of the tribe of Shimon. The Talmud tells us that there were a number of miracles that occurred for Pinchas when he did this but had Zimri killed, he would have been justified in what he did as the Torah tells us that if someone comes to kill you, you can defend yourself and kill him if need be!

 This is an incredible lesson for us to learn. Pinchas acts for the sake of heaven in this situation to the extent that he could have been killed for his actions and his death would have justified! That being the case, we have a lot to gain from Pinchas's actions.

How many times have we been put in situations that we have had to strengthen ourselves and adhere by the standards of the Torah only to be made fun of or other difficulties associated with it. The Torah teaches us that we must adhere to its standards even if it is hard or may cause us other problems.

We have to keep ourselves upright and do what G-d wants us to, to the best of our ability even though there will be forces against us that want us to capitulate to societies standards or to go with the flow and compromise. There are times when we may have to compromise but it can't be at the extent of taking Jewish law and turning it into a pretzel, making it "fit" in to our lifestyle or "adapting" it for the times!

How many times do we hear that we don't have to be so stringent or that we can lower our standards for other things. Yes we have to live in this world but there are standards that G-d has for us that we must adhere to! It is like being in a standard army; there is a commander and a commandee!

G-d is our commander and He has given us a blueprint for us that will lead us to develop a connection to Him! This gives us the ability to reach our true potential by fulfilling the mitzvos! The more we learn about them and incorporate them into our lives the more meaning it will have for us!

The Torah is about action and implementing its timeless lessons. If we learn it like any other subject, then it is just mental gymnastics that has no intrinsic meaning, just studying another academic topic!

As we go further into the three weeks and the nine days, we realize more than ever that the most important thing we are lacking in this world is that we do not see G-d's presence directly. The more we do and grow brings G-d's presence back to this world.

May we do what we need to do and help bring the Messiah speedily in our days!

Shabbat Shalom

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