The King in the Field
Holidays are unique streams of Divine energy permeating our world.
On those days, one can’t work and still be plugged into the holiday ‘energy’.
Elul: its unique energy is the 13 attributes of mercy.
Why is this month not a holiday?
Alter Rebbe: Analogy of the King in the Field.
1. You don’t have to change. Approach the king as you are.
2. You can ask for insignificant, personal things.
Elul is not a holiday as G-d’s Elul energy doesn’t disrupt our everyday lives.
How is that possible?
City: A spiritual city dweller represents a person whose life is consistent with G-d’s agenda.
Desert: A spiritual life that is a wasteland.
Field: In between.
Our hands may be dirty, our…
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T’shuvah Time
It is the season of T’shuvah, more commonly known as repentance. It’s happening even as we read these words. The summer draws to its close and the harvest is brought in. The corn stalks have grown to their limit, while the bee seeks the last drop of honey before the flowers fade and the squirrel drags one final nut to his winter store.
There is no time to be lost as the Master will soon call.
Our Sages visualized all of nature joining man in urgent preparation for the Days of Judgment. Thus every creature and even every atom of existence readies itself for that annual rendezvous with its Creator.
Those days of self-inspection and spiritual improvement begin with the…
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Open Your Jewish Hand (21:7)
Approximately twenty five years ago two Israeli scientists, Dr. Leo Sachs of the Weizmann Institute and Dr. M. Bat-Miriam of the Israeli Institute of the Biological Research, came forth with an astounding theory. They analyzed the fingerprints of 4,000 Jewish immigrants and after careful analysis the scientists came to the conclusion that Jewish fingerprints show identical common traits which are not discernible in other races or groups of people. In other words, the Jew has a distinctive fingerprint!
Whether we accept their assertion or not, and whether further evidence will be discovered to either bolster or demolish their research, has yet to be determined. But this I do know, that in fact there is a time-tested and proven method of…
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The Rabbi’s Business
Recently, after koshering a congregant’s home, she asked, “What do I do if…” Without letting her finish the sentence I replied, “Call me and ask.”
“Can’t you just give me some general pointers?” she persisted. “I don’t want to keep on bothering you.”
Well believe it or not, that’s a Rabbi’s job. I don’t mean being bothered. Answering shailos, which is the Hebrew word for legal questions in Jewish life. In fact, not too long ago in the shtetls of Europe, that’s what most community Rabbis spent their day doing. And the questioning congregant was always made to feel like a welcome customer. After all, if it weren’t for people with shailos, the Rabbi wouldn’t be in business.
There’s a…
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After the Fifteenth
In the first mitzvah commanded us as a nation, G-d decreed that we link our lives to the moon. Thus was born the lunar calendar. The alignment of the moon in relation to the earth and sun means that, to the earthly observer, the moon passes through phases in which it grows and diminishes and, at one point, disappears altogether. The night on which the moon is first visible after its brief hiatus is the first day of the Jewish month. Fifteen nights later the moon reaches its full luminescent potential, and starting from the 16th it begins to shrink. The people of Israel mark time with the moon because they, like the moon, soar and regress, trusting that each…
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Three Weeks
“Judah has gone into exile…She dwelled among the nations but found no rest; all her pursuers overtook her in the narrow straits - bein hametzarim.” (Lamentations 1:3)
Rashi: Three weeks between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av.
The 21 days are really 21 days and 21 nights corresponding to the 42 journeys of the Jews in the desert before reaching Israel. These represent the major obstacles, pit-stops, and rectifications that Jews must accomplish.
All her pursuers overtook her:
All who pursue their G-dly service during Bein HaMetzarim will succeed. These days are particularly auspicious. These 21 days parallel the 21 holiday days: Shabbat (1), Rosh Chodesh (1), Pesach (7), Shavuos (1), Rosh Hashanah (2), Yom Kippur (1),...
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G-d’s Exile
Not too long ago, most Jews were familiar with the phrase Sh’chinta B’Galusa. This Aramaic term first introduced in the Zohar and often referred to in Talmudic writings, is translated as, “The Divine presence is in exile.” The inference being, that not only the children of Israel were dispersed and scattered among the nations, so was their Father in heaven.
On Tisha B’Av then, we not only abstain from food and mourn our sad state; we also shed a few tears for G-d. In fact, this knowledge that G-d Himself accompanies us and shares our tribulations makes our burden a little easier to bear.
Yet simply knowing that Hashem allows Himself to be exiled - and we surely appreciate His…
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The Three Weeks
Fun and Sun; Barbecue and Vacation. All of these are part of the usual summer images. Now think of fasting, no joyous celebrations, music banned and aestheticism. What do these pictures remind you of? If you answered “summer” you were still correct.
For three weeks every summer, from the 17th day of the Hebrew month Tammuz until after the 9th of Av, a host of Halachic restrictions, designed to curb our enjoyment of the physical world, are enjoined. These days have been marked with national tragedies from the beginning of Jewish history. The breaching of Jerusalem’s walls, the first public burning of the Torah, idols being placed in the Temple, our capital and Holy House destroyed, Crusades, the Inquisition, countless…
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The Rebbe’s Science
(In honor of Gimmel Tammuz - Adapted from Chabad.org)
The Lubavitcher Rebbe was a man of ideas - childhood, education, marriage, work, illness, bereavement, science, technology, feminism, leadership, war, money - to him, these were much more than life-events and tools: they were concepts to be developed in our life’s quest for G-d.
Unlike his predecessors who spent their education solely in Yeshivas, (shortly after his marriage, and upon the encouragement of his father-in-law, the Previous Rebbe) he enrolled in the University of Berlin and took courses in philosophy and math. Similarly, in Paris, he continued his studies at the Sorbonne and at a Parisian engineering college. Throughout his life, he constantly borrowed ideas from science to buttress the values…
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An Imperfect Chassid Speaks
Date: 3rd of Tammuz. Location: Ohel (Where the Rebbe is interred).
Midnight: The Ohel complex of building, tents, and makeshift facilities is teeming with thousands who have come to the Rebbe’s gravesite for blessing, spiritual guidance and inspiration. The lines spill over into the street and the wait is close to two hours, plenty of time for reciting Psalms and introspection.
Thirteen years ago, the pundits predicted that the Lubavitcher movement would collapse without its Rebbe. Yet the number of Chabad schools, synagogues, camps, projects, and centers has dramatically increased…and yes, the lines continue to grow longer. What is the Rebbe’s continued appeal? How does he still command allegiance? I am no spokesperson for Chabad, but let me share a…
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In Honor of Gimmel Tammuz (adapted From Chabad.org)
The Lubavitcher Rebbe was a man of ideas - childhood, education, marriage, work, illness, bereavement, science, technology, feminism, leadership, war, money - to him, these were much more than life-events and tools: they were concepts to be developed in our life’s quest for G-d. Unlike his predecessors who spent their education solely in Yeshivas, (shortly after his marriage, and upon the encouragement of his father-in-law, the Previous Rebbe) he enrolled in the University of Berlin and took courses in philosophy and math. Similarly, in Paris, he continued his studies at the Sorbonne and at a Parisian engineering college. Throughout his life, he constantly borrowed ideas from science to buttress the values of Torah.
On many occasions he addressed the faith/science…
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What You See, Is What You Get
Having just returned from Crown Heights in Brooklyn, where thousands of Chassidim had converged to commemorate the second yahrzeit of the Rebbe’s passing, my thoughts these past few days were perhaps more reflective than usual. In addition to recommitting myself to the ideals the Rebbe held so dear, I could not help but indulge in thinking about his predecessor, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneerson, whose freedom from Communist Russia we celebrate this Shabbat, the twelfth day of Tammuz.
Why did these two individuals become the acknowledged leaders of world Jewry in their lifetimes? And why were they held in such esteem, that their disciples were willing, upon their Rebbes’ advice, to leave friends and family in order that they set up…
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The Silent Soul
It was the first birthday party my three-year-old daughter had ever attended. The children gathered round and watched in excitement as the candles on the cake were lit: “One, Two, Three.” Everyone puffed out their cheeks ready to blow, except for my little girl who encircled the flames three times with her arms, covered her eyes, and blessed the candles.
“The soul of man is the candle of G-d.” Placed in this dark world, our soul is not meant to be snuffed out, but to shine outwards.
Adam received the world’s first soul. At Sinai, we all received our Jewish souls, our neshama. I say, we all, because we have a tradition that all neshamas, of past and future lives,...
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Heavenly Sleep
The Midrash relates how the Jews slept the entire night before the giving of the Torah. Even the next morning, when the Almighty appeared to bestow His gift upon the former slaves, He found the Israelites asleep. For this reason it is customary to stay awake the night of Shavuos and study the Torah; to undo the slumber of our forefathers.
After their departure from Egypt, a great longing overcame the Jews to receive the Torah. In their eagerness, they began counting the days till the anticipated moment. One can imagine that if they were impatient at the onset, how great their desire must have been just prior to the actual event.
It should also be remembered that their counting…
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Truth
How often have you been asked the question, “Why do the Orthodox think that they are the only group that has access to the truth? Aren’t there many paths to the truth? And shouldn’t every man seek G-d in his own heart, in his own way?”
Truth, by definition, is absolute and unequivocal. To speak of different truths is a contradiction in terms. Nonetheless, truth can have many faces…
and manifestations.
Still faces and manifestations are only expressions of truth. If one desires the truth itself, one must surrender all individual conceptions and inclinations and relate to the truth solely on its’ terms. Let me illustrate.
Imagine a world in which musical instruments and the very concept of music is…
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Don’t Just Kiss…
The tale revolves around a Moabite princess with a life of luxury and power who throws it all away to accept Judaism. What is even more fascinating is the parallel road begun by Ruth’s sister, Orpah. Both had married Jewish men, were willing to follow their mother-in-law when their husbands died and were about to go beyond the point of no return when…
Orpah kissed her sister and mother-in-law good-bye and turned to take the easier route back home. The book tells us that Orpah cried at that moment. Her tears were gathered and not forgotten. The Almighty G-d who counts everything used them to water her future progeny. She was rewarded with children who would be heroes and warriors….
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Israel & Yehudi: Heaven & Earth
Since the day on which the Voice of G-d overwhelmed us at Sinai, we have never been the same. That change was so fundamental and complete, that it became forever impossible for us to retreat into an age that predates that Revelation. Something unprecedented happened that day. He not only revealed His name to us, but we subsequently acquired His name…Historically, this would manifest itself in the two names we would be known by; Israel and Yehudi.
The last two letters of Israel mean G-d in Hebrew, while the first three letters of Yehudi parallel the first three letters of Hashem’s Ineffable Name.
The significance of this curiosity will become clearer when we understand the two matters upon which the…
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One Flesh
We inhabit a reality defined by two basic states: being and naught. After all is said and done, everything boils down to “it is” or “it is not.” The “nots” delineate the parameters of a thing, establishing what it is not, while the “is’s” fill these parameters with the essence of what the thing truly is. This binary nature of creation is a reflection of the fact that the Torah, the “blueprint” by which G-d created the world, is divided into positive and negative realms.
“I am the L-rd your G-d,” the most fundamental of the positive commandments, is complemented by “You shall have no other gods before Me,” the essence of all divine prohibitions. “Love your fellow as yourself”...
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Giver & Receiver
One always imagines the ancient assembly of Sages utilizing their brilliant powers of deduction combined with the guiding force of tradition to create the Rabbinic decrees…such as the holidays of Purim or Chanuka.
This prerogative we assume is limited to the scholars who were generations removed from Sinai….But in an era where G-d spoke directly to man…surely there could have been no justifiable cause for man to meddle…And yet…the humble and loyal shepherd Moses had the boldness to add to the Heavenly directive.
we now refer to as the Oral Law. It seems proper, even mandatory, that future scholars be given the right to implement additional safeguards that would ensure the continuing vitality of Torah. Otherwise the Rabbis would have…
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The Other New York
Maybe you haven’t heard, but recently I was in New York and had a harrowing experience. At first, everything seemed normal. Downtown was bustling. Skyscrapers were being built higher than ever, Broadway was giddy with a new musical, and street hawkers were doing a brisk business from unsuspecting, gullible tourists. But when I reached a residential neighborhood I noticed, for the first time, something missing. There were no….
chools. Upon asking a local I was informed that there were indeed several academies for the wealthy and well-born, but education for the masses simply did not exist. Now that I was paying more attention, it soon became obvious that there seemed to be no public hospitals either. Once again, I was…
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The Gift
G-d loves us, His human creatures so much that He gave us colorful butterflies, and sunsets so multihued they take our breath away. He also furnished us with majestic mountains for climbing…cool breezes…tiny sweat glands…leafy forests…and various wildflowers. You can even pick some for your spouse. Of course, they will thank you for your thoughtfulness, but did you thank Him for His?
After hiking some more you might come across a stream and decide on a swim. Here is another opportunity to be appreciative of Hashem’s never-ending gifts. Feel the silt between your toes, brush up against a fish and remember that before you were born you also were trapped in a watery womb…but since then He has broadened your…
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