Description
Perceptions, Volume 2 – By Pinchas Winston
I WAS ASKED by a local yeshiva around 1993 to write on the weekly parsha for their web site. ,
It was part of a larger project to stay in touch with their alumni, and the Internet, still quite innocent at the time, seemed to be a viable indeans of doing so.
I agreed, and “Perceptions” was born.
I had already started writing books and was considering writing a weekly essay on the parsha.
The books provided a mind-opening Torah perspective on life and various historical issues,
and Perceptions was going to do the same.
Books, however, are more readily distributed around the world.
It is hard enough just to distribute a weekly essay locally, l
et alone nationally,
and even more so internationally.
At the time,
I hadn’t been sure how to overcome that obstacle.
The Internet quickly changed that.
Within a short time, the online community grew in size, and delivery of Torah knowledge became simpler than mailing a letter.
The means to share Torah was growing exponentially, and more and more Torah organizations joined the effort.
One such organization, now called Torah-org, found Perceptions through the yeshiva’s web site, and contacted me.
They asked if they could post it and send it out to their mailing list, which was rapidly growing.
What was the question?
This led to the book “Perceptions.” In 1998, the OU, in conjunction with ArtScroll, published a year’s worth of Perception essays in book form.
People have been quoted as saying, “Shabbos is not the same without Perceptions at the table.”
Since that time I had considered on many occasions to publish a second volume of Perceptions.
I had also been encouraged to do so by people who had read the first one.
It was only because of the work involved in preparing so many, weekly essays for publication that I kept putting it off.
Fourteen years and over 800 issues later, it is time.
A lot of history has gone “under the bridge” since the first book, but Perceptions still continues to provide a unique look at old ideas, to gain insight into current events, and life in general.
And, even though some of the ideas are more Kabbalistic, the goal remains the same: make difficult ideas user-friendly, and inspiring.
If ever there was a labor of love, it is writing on the weekly parsha.
It is also a huge responsibility, especially if the writing will reach masses.
You’re basically saying, “This is what God means to say . . . ” It is a big problem if God Himself disagrees.
You have to pray that He doesn’t.
This is why feedback is both welcome AND appreciated.
Write to [email protected] to agree, disagree, and certainly to point out errors in this book.
As the great Rebi Yehudah HaNasi once said, “I learned much from my teachers, more from my colleagues, and the most from my students (Makkos 10a).
To receive Perceptions as weekly email, write to [email protected].
I WAS ASKED by a local yeshiva around 1993 to write on the weekly parsha for their web site.
It was part of a larger project to stay in touch with their alumni, and the Internet, still quite innocent at the time, seemed to be a viable means of doing so.
I agreed, and “Perceptions” was born.
I had already started writing books and was considering writing a weekly essay on the parsha.
The books provided a mind-opening Torah perspective on life and various historical issues, and Perceptions was going to do the same.
Books, however, are more readily distributed around the world.
It is hard enough just to distribute a weekly essay locally, let alone nationally, and even more so internationally.
At the time, I hadn’t been sure how to overcome that obstacle.
The Internet quickly changed that.
Within a short time, the online community grew in size, and delivery of Torah knowledge became simpler than mailing a letter.
The means to share Torah was growing exponentially, and more and more Torah organizations joined the effort.
One such organization, now called Torah-org, found Perceptions through the yeshiva’s web site, and contacted me.
They asked if they could post it and send it out to their mailing list, which was rapidly growing.
What was the question?
This led to the book “Perceptions.”
In 1998, the OU, in conjunction with ArtScroll, published a year’s worth of Perception essays in book form.
People have been quoted as saying, “Shabbos is not the same without Perceptions at the table.”
Since that time I had considered on many occasions to publish a second volume of Perceptions.
I had also been encouraged to do so by people who had read the first one.
It was only because of the work involved in preparing so many
weekly essays for publication that I kept putting it off.
Fourteen years and over 800 issues later, it is time.
A lot of history has gone “under the bridge” since the first book, but Perceptions still continues to provide a unique look at old ideas, to gain insight into current events, and life in general.
And, even though some of the ideas are more Kabbalistic, the goal remains the same: make difficult ideas user-friendly, and inspiring.
If ever there was a labor of love, it is writing on the weekly parsha.
It is also a huge responsibility, especially if the writing will reach masses.
You’re basically saying, “This is what God means to say . . .” It is a big problem if God Himself disagrees.
You have to pray that He doesn’t.
This is why feedback is both welcome AND appreciated.
Write to [email protected] to agree, disagree, and certainly to point out errors in this book.
As the great Rebi Yehudah HaNasi once said, “I learned much from my teachers, more from my colleagues, and the most from my students (Makkos 10a).
To receive Perceptions as weekly email, write to [email protected].
