Editor's Note:
Dear Friend,
I was in the car the other day listening to a report of a standoff between the police and a person who had barricaded himself in a house with a cache of guns. The incident ended when the fellow shot and injured himself, thankfully before he was able to do anyone harm.
In addition to road closings, traffic snarls and people not being able to get to where they needed to be, one ramification of the standoff was that the local school was closed for the day, and the last day of the school year was postponed.
Here is where my mind began wandering.
One unfortunate individual had an impact on thousands of people’s lives, one that will last for months to come.
If he could affect so many people, just think how much you and I can influence the world by an act of kindness. And imagine how positively the world can be affected by millions of good deeds.
Don’t sit around waiting for the spotlight to find you. Get out, do something good, and you will be the spotlight.
Eliezer Zalmanov,
Responder for Ask the Rabbi @ Chabad.org
Daily Thought
Torah and Us
The Torah and a Jew are one.
So much so, that even a Jew who claims he has no connection with the Torah—when pushed up against a wall, even that Jew will hold the Torah as the most precious thing in life.
This Week's Features:
Be a Child, Always by Tzvi Freeman Sometimes I ask myself, “Who is this G‑d I’m praying to? I can’t see Him. I can’t understand Him. How can I have any relationship with Him?”
And I answer myself with a childhood memory.
As a child, I wanted a bicycle. For months. Real bad. I finally got one for my birthday, which happens to be in October. But in October in Vancouver, where I grew up, it could rain for weeks without stop.So I asked G‑d to please make it sunny tomorrow, so that I could ride my new bike. Which He did. For which I was very grateful. Because in Vancouver, that’s a miracle.
And if you would have asked me then, “Who is this G‑d? What makes Him G‑d? How do you know He exists?”—none of those questions would have had any meaning to me. All I knew was that He was listening whenever I talked to Him, wherever I talked to him, as long as I really meant what I said. And that if I needed a sunny day, G‑d was the address.
That is all I can tell you about the G‑d to whom I prayed as a child. And that is the G‑d to whom I pray now as an adult.
As Rabbi Shimshon of Chinon put it—so often quoted by the Rebbe, “When I pray, I pray with the mind of a small child.”
Yes, then I was a child. I knew no better. Now I have a mind of my own. Now I’ve read books and written books, studied from teachers and argued with them, sat and contemplated and contemplated again, and then contemplated my contemplations.
And yes, that’s the hardest part of becoming an adult—growing and learning while never leaving the child behind. Because all the philosophy and theology and Kabbalah and contemplations of all the greatest Jewish thinkers is only to achieve some sort of grasp of one thing: Who is this G‑d to whom we prayed as a child?
But we cannot. As soon as we have grasped, He is gone.
And so, when we talk to Him, we put aside all our philosophy and reasoning, all our contemplations and realizations, and we pray with the mind of a small child.
BY TZVI FREEMAN
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, a senior editor at Chabad.org, also heads our Ask The Rabbi team. He is the author of Bringing Heaven Down to Earth. To subscribe to regular updates of Rabbi Freeman's writing, visit Freeman Files subscription.PARSHAH
Tasting Life’s Bitter WatersYou are married, or intensely committed, to a vision, a goal, a dream. Then along comes life . . .
By Chana Weisberg
You are married, or intensely committed, to a vision, a goal, a dream. You are devoted to this vision because you know it will make the world a better place for yourself and everyone else. You believe that regardless of the effort it takes, following through with this goal will ultimately make your life more fulfilling, more altruistic, loftier.Then along comes life. And with it the ups and downs, the challenges and the obstacles.
You’re not sure of the cause, but at some point you find that you have swerved from your path, strayed from your morals. It might have been restlessness or boredom with the monotony of the day-to-day minutiae. Or perhaps it was a spirit of impulsiveness, a rebellion against the swerves that life has thrown you.
Maybe you can be blamed for losing your vision and forgoing your ideals. Or maybe you couldn’t ever have been expected to rise above the harsh circumstances of your life.
Whatever the case, you wake up one morning to the realization that you have changed. You are no longer leading the life that you had always believed you would. You have strayed from your moral vision. You have betrayed your dream.
You may ask yourself: If I do change paths now, what will be the end result?Is there a path of return? Do I want to take it? Are the costs too high? Is it worth the effort? If I do change paths now, what will be the end result? Will I ever fully succeed?
Common wisdom, laced with its jaded cynicism, says there’s no turning back the clock. Move on with life, leave your childish idealism behind and face the reality of adulthood. Life is not a bed of roses; you need to look out for yourself and your needs. Forget your lofty ideals; a path of sacrifice is not where you will find fulfillment. And anyways, once you have already veered off the path, it can never be the same. It’s simply too late.
Torah wisdom, of course, asserts the opposite.
This week’s Torah reading discusses the law of the ishah sotah, the “wayward wife” who is suspected of adultery.
Moralists see the story of the ishah sotah as expressing the sanctity and holiness of marriage in Judaism.
Others see G‑d’s willingness to erase His holy name for the sake of marital harmony as an indication of the importance of peace between man and wife, and amongst mankind in general.It is a question here of simple existence, whether the marriage will or will not continue
Kabbalists see the story as a cosmic metaphor of the “marriage” between G‑d and the “wayward” Jewish people, who are tested and eventually exonerated through the “bitter waters” of exile.
But perhaps we can also see, in the story of the sotah, a promising lesson for each of us in the personal sojourns of our own lives.
Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: Should any man’s wife go astray and deal treacherously with him,
and a man lie with her carnally, but it was hidden from her husband’s eyes, but she was secluded [with the suspected adulterer] and there was no witness against her . . . (Numbers 5:12–13)
The ishah sotah is labeled a wayward wife because she has “strayed,” deviated from the prescribed moral road, even if she has not been implicated in actual adultery. Her husband has warned her in the presence of two witnesses not to seclude herself with her suspected lover. She has ignored this warning. Her behavior prevents the marriage from being permitted to continue.
At this point, the husband or the wife can decide to terminate the marriage, without any admittance of guilt. Neither the husband nor the wife can be forced to have the test of the bitter waters.1
But should they wish to resume their marriage, the suspecting husband brings his wife to the Holy Temple, where the kohen enacts the ceremony of the bitter waters. The husband then brings an offering for his wife, making it clear that he wishes to continue the marriage should his wife be vindicated.2
The offering consists of unsifted, coarse barley flour, the commonest grain, without the oil or incense that accompany other grain offerings. It is a question here of simple existence, whether the marriage will or will not continue. An animal food—barley—is brought to signify the wife’s questionable moral standing: even if her guilt has not reached the point of actual adultery, she has veered from the pure path and followed her animalistic instincts.
The kohen shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and some earth from the floor of the Mishkan, the kohen shall take and put into the water.
Then the kohen shall stand the woman up before the L‑rd, and uncover the [hair on the] head of the woman . . .3
He shall then give the bitter, curse-bearing waters to the woman to drink, and the curse-bearing waters shall enter her to become bitter. (Numbers 5:17–18, 24)
Relevant passages from the Torah were written on a scroll and dissolved in the “curse-bearing waters.” The name of G‑d appeared in these passages, and in the process it would be erased. If the woman was guilty of actual adultery, the waters would cause her an accursed death.4 If not, she would be blessed with offspring, and her marriage would enjoy a newfound commitment and happiness.5
But since the ishah sotah had strayed from the proper path—even if she had not actually committed adultery—why was she blessed so abundantly?The ishah sotah, like each of us struggling with the vicissitudes of our own lives, has never really entirely strayed
Because in truth, the ishah sotah, like each of us struggling with the vicissitudes of our own lives, has never really entirely strayed. We are still “married” to our ideals and vision, since they are so much a part of our soul. We simply need to be reunited with our true, inner self.
Like the ishah sotah on her path of exoneration and return, this takes effort. It takes strength of character. It might involve humiliation or sacrifice. But if our resolve is firm enough, if our character is up to the challenge, if we persevere in what we know is true and right, ultimately we will succeed.
G‑d stands at our side. Once we have demonstrated our commitment, He will defend us, even allowing His own name and honor to be “erased” while assisting us in our endeavor.
Moreover, not only will we succeed at realigning our own life to what it was originally, but our commitment and the fruits of our commitment will be more productive and more blessed, leading to greater yields and to a more mature relationship with ourselves and with our world.
Because we haven’t just returned to what we were. We have grown through the process.
True growth is not about only persevering on one straight path. Only after tasting of the bitter waters of life, only after struggling and stumbling and standing up against the darker forces of our world, does one become a greater, more courageous and enriched human being. Only after straying and then rebounding are we driven with a stronger yearning for inner unity and divine life. Only after experiencing the darkness of life’s night and the desolation of its winters do we attain an even more intense and meaningful bond with G‑d.
The lesson of the ishah sotah to each of us, man or woman, is that though our path may be a difficult and twisted one, when we victoriously face down the wearying struggles and tempting choices we emerge as greater individuals, and as a redeemed people, in a redeemed world.
FOOTNOTES
1.Talmud, Sotah 6a.
2.Furthermore, the “bitter waters” test will not work if the husband has been unfaithful or had sinned in the laws of sexual purity at any point in time (Talmud, Sotah 47b and Yevamot 58a).
3.This uncovering of her hair is against the propriety of the Jewish wife, just as the ishah sotah has gone against the moral standards of modesty. From this verse is derived (Talmud, Ketubot 72a) that it is improper for a married woman to be seen publicly with her hair uncovered.
4.The man with whom the ishah sotah committed adultery would have the same consequences of an accursed death at the time when she drank these waters (Talmud, Sotah 28a).
5.The Talmud (Sotah 26a) states: if she had been childless until now, she became fruitful; if her pregnancies were difficult, they now became easy; and so on.
BY CHANA WEISBERG
Chana Weisberg is the editor of TheJewishWoman.org. She lectures internationally on issues relating to women, relationships, meaning, self-esteem and the Jewish soul. She is the author of five popular books.Illustration by Dovid Taub. Dovid is the creator of the Itche Kadoozy Show.
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More in Parshah:
• Climbing to G-d (By Lazer Gurkow)
Three Parts
The priestly blessing (birkat kohanim) is one of the most well-
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| Detail from an old gravestone in the Jewish cemetery in Třebíč, Czech Republic, bearing the hand position used during the priestly blessing. (Credit: Wolfgang Sauber) |
The blessing, which is found in this week’s Torah portion, is divided into three It is a blessing for physical wellbeing and sustenanceparts:1
May the L‑rd bless you and watch over you.
May the L‑rd shine His countenance to you and favor you.
May the L‑rd raise His countenance toward you and grant you peace.2
Although the traditional interpretation of the blessing is a physical one, the actual words speak of something more lofty. The kohanim stand before us and, with three blessings, nourish our relationship with G‑d. When you think about it, these three verses represent the arc of our spiritual climb. First we serve G‑d, then we know G‑d, and finally we rise to the pinnacle of unification with G‑d.
In the first verse, G‑d blesses and “watches over” us. He is the patron, the benefactor and protector, and we are the beneficiaries. In the second verse, we rise to a level of partnership with G‑d. He shines His countenance to us, rather than upon us from above. In the third verse, G‑d raises His countenance to [see] us. When He seeks to bless us, He doesn’t look down to find us in creation. Rather, He looks up from creation and into Himself, because we become completely united with G‑d.
The Curve
These three levels comprise the full spectrum of our relationship with G‑d. When we embark on our Jewish experience, we are G‑d’s subjects. He commands and we obey, with or without understanding. But when we delve into the the inner meaning of the mitzvahs, we realize that we play a critical, even cosmic, role in creation. G‑d created the world for the sake of Torah. When we study and practice the Torah, we fulfill the mandate of creation. It is as if G‑d allows us to be His partner. He creates, and we give His creation meaning.
The first level is accessed through the practice ofWe play a critical, even cosmic, role in creationmitzvahs; the second level, through the study of Torah. The third and final level—that of utter unification—is accessed through self-sacrifice: risking our lives for G‑d’s sake. When we risk our lives for G‑d, we embrace our seminal bond with our creator, acknowledging that life is worthless without Him. With that we ascend the ladder of spirituality and tap into the endless well of inspiration that is the soul, realizing its true depth and untold power to unite with G‑d.
Thought and Speech
G‑d spoke the world into existence. Souls, however, emerge from a higher order—that of divine thought. Thoughts are more internal than words. We think for ourselves; we speak for others. Words are external; thoughts are internal.
Just as we tell others what we first think to ourselves, so did G‑d, in creation, reveal ideas that He first conceived for Himself. Since souls emerge from the dimension of divine thought, the soul transcends the world.
The Midrash teaches that before creating the world, G‑d consulted with righteous souls. This is understood to mean that He visualized the delight that He would derive from their worship and service of Him.3 It was only because G‑d visualized the pleasure that He would receive from the soul’s descent into this world that He proceeded with the project of creation. Thus the soul is the purpose of creation, the reason G‑d created the world.
Yet the soul resides in a human body, within the physical world. When G‑d views the soul as it functions within the body, He sees it as an object of the world. When G‑d views the soul as it is for itself, He sees it as His partner, a partner that was present and involved when He conceived of the world.4
Unification
The soul emerges from divine thought, but it doesn’t originate there. The soul’s origin is wrapped up with G‑d’s essence—it is merely projected through divine thought into creation. This is akin to the bond between father and The soul emerges from divine thoughtchild. The seminal point of contact between a father and child lies within the father’s essence, even though the child later emerges as a separate being. The soul emerges as a separate entity, but in origin it is utterly bound with G‑d.
When we access this level of the soul through self-sacrifice, we unite completely with G‑d and rise above creation. Rather than being facets of creation, or even partners in the project of creation, we become part of the creator. Thus, G‑d looks up from creation and seeks us within Himself—the third of the priestly blessings.
The priestly blessing empowers us to make this three-step climb. In the first blessing, G‑d protects and sustains us. In the second, G‑d treats us as partners who have the power to work with Him on His project and give meaning to His creation. In the third stage, when we have reached the pinnacle of devotion and perfected our connection with G‑d, we reach a state that transcends the universe completely and is completely at one with G‑d.5
FOOTNOTES
1.According to Avudraham, this is the meaning of the introduction to the priestly blessing: “Our G‑d and the G‑d of our forefathers, bless us with the blessing that is tripled in the Torah.” According to Shaloh, on the other hand, “tripled” refers to our tradition to chant the Parshah three times, twice in Hebrew and once in Aramaic. This is why many prayerbooks place the comma after the word “Torah” rather than after the word “tripled.”
2.Numbers 6:24–26.
3.Bereishit Rabbah 8:7. See also Sefer ha-Maamarim 5703, Rosh Hashanah, ch. 3.
4.This section is based on Tanya, chapter 2.
5.This essay is based on the commentary Keli Yakar to Numbers 6:24–26, and Torah Ohr, p. 36.
BY LAZER GURKOW
Rabbi Lazer Gurkow is spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Tefilah in London, Ontario, and a frequent contributor to The Judaism Website—Chabad.org. He has lectured extensively on a variety of Jewish topics, and his articles have appeared in many print and online publications. For more on Rabbi Gurkow and his writings, visit InnerStream.ca.• The Id and the Yid (By Mendel Kalmenson)
Let’s start with two stories. The tales are somewhat similar: in both, one creature attempts to act like another, but fails.In the first, it’s an animal who is trying to be human; in the second it’s a human trying to be an animal.
Here’s the first story:
Once, during a dinner discussion at the royal palace, Maimonides, personal physician to Sultan Saladin, argued that only human beings can change their character, while animals could not.
One of the sultan’s anti-Semitic advisors, seeing an opportunity to humiliate the Jewish physician, proposed a wager, claiming he could transform a cat into a waiter, thus teaching it to behave contrary to its nature.
Now, the advisor was also a remarkable animal trainer, and did indeed succeed in training the cat to walk on its hind legs, to hold a little tray in its paws, to wear a costume of sorts, etc.With great fanfare, the advisor opened the door, and in walked the cat
On the designated day, Maimonides arrived with only a little box. The Sultan and his court seated themselves. With great fanfare, the advisor opened the door, and in walked the cat—costumed, on two legs, with a tray of delicacies in his paws.
The sultan looked at Maimonides, who, still smiling, opened his box. Out ran a mouse. The cat immediately dropped the tray, went down on all fours and began chasing the mouse all over the great dining hall . . .
The second story, as told by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov:
There was once a prince who went mad and insisted he was a rooster. He sat under the table naked, clucking and eating his food off the floor. The king had tried everything to cure him, but nothing worked, and he was in despair. How could this mad son of his ever grow up to inherit the kingdom?
A wise man who had heard about the king’s predicament arrived at the palace and said he could cure the prince. He was promised great reward if he succeeded.
So, the wise man took off his clothes and sat under the table, pretending to be a chicken too. Sitting there under the table, he began to get to know the Rooster Prince.
Then one day, the man called for a pair of pants and began putting them on. The Rooster Prince objected, saying, “What do you mean, wearing those pants? You’re a rooster, and roosters can’t wear pants!”
“Who says a rooster can’t wear pants?” the man replied. “Why shouldn’t I be warm and comfortable, too? Why should only humans have all the good things?”
The Rooster Prince thought for a while. The man had a point. The floor under the table was very cold and uncomfortable . . . So he asked for pants, too, and put them on.
The next day, the man asked for a warm shirt, and began to put it on. Again the Rooster Prince objected: “How can you do that? Roosters don’t wear shirts!”“Why should I have to shiver in the cold just because I’m a rooster?”
“Who says?” the man replied. “Why should I have to shiver in the cold just because I’m a rooster?”
Again the Rooster Prince thought it over, and realized that he was cold, too—so he put on a shirt. And so it went with socks, shoes, a belt, a hat . . . Soon the Rooster Prince was talking normally, eating with a knife and fork from a plate, sitting properly at the table; in short, he was acting human once more.
Princes or Cats?
Who is man? An age-old question if there ever was one.
Is he born with an essence, or is his nucleus formed through childhood?
If something in him is innate, what is it?
One prominent religion subscribes to the theory of original sin, claiming that man was born into sin. Thus, man is a sinner by nature.
Many respected secular thinkers reached a similar conclusion, though from an entirely different point of view.
They maintain that at his core, man is driven by selfishness, ego and lust, and is no more than a masquerading beast. The good in him is superimposed and external, the result of nurture, not nature.
Some are grimmer in their analysis:
Any good which man does, they posit, is insincere and false; the smile and the favor are but tools of manipulation and self-interest.
Judaism is far more optimistic.
For one, in one of its most breathtaking teachings, the Bible states that “G‑d created man in His image.”
G‑d is inherently good, and so is the being He created called man.
As for the question of how man comes to sin if indeed he is so G‑dly, the Talmud answers profoundly: “A person does not commit a transgression unless a spirit of folly enters him.” 1
Far from being poetic, the Talmud here weighs in on our question regarding the makeup of man.
Unlike others who believe that man is at best a trainable cat who can act human so long as the mice are away, the Talmud suggests that man is in essence a beautiful being—a royal prince!—who, because of a “spirit of folly,” can sometimes confuse himself with a squalid rooster.In Jewish thought, it is badness, not goodness, which is alien to man
Thus, in Jewish thought, it is badness, not goodness, which is alien to man, a foreign product smuggled in from the outside.
A Third Story
A professor once complained to the Rebbe about the nature of people.
“From my encounters, I have noticed that people can seem nice and charming at the outset. They may express concern for you, show interest in your life, and even openly admit that they love you! But if one digs just a little deeper than the outer surface—some require more digging than others—at their core everyone is exactly the same: selfish, arrogant and egotistic. Why is this the nature of mankind?”
The Rebbe responded with a parable:
“When one walks on the street, things often look so elegant and appealing: tall flowery trees, fancy houses, paved roads and expensive cars. But if one takes a hoe and begins digging beneath the surface, he discovers dirt and mud, nothing like the beautiful but ‘deceptive’ world aboveground.”
At this point the professor was nodding his head in agreement, not fully realizing where this was going.
“But if he weren’t to give up,” the Rebbe concluded, “and would continue digging deeper, he would eventually encounter precious minerals and diamonds.”
So, it’s not that Freud had it all wrong.
He just didn’t dig deep enough.
For if he would have, he’d have discovered that beneath the id is the Yid.2
And even if we at times succumb to our animal inclination, we can always be humanized again, since like the prince beneath the table, and like diamonds coated in dirt, our essence never changes.3
FOOTNOTES
1.Sotah 3a. The basis for this Talmudic exegesis is the biblical verse (Numbers 5:12) describing the sotah, a woman suspected of adultery: “Any man, if his wife will go astray (tisteh in Hebrew) . . .” Instead of using the more linguistically correct word titeh, the Torah uses tisteh (from the root word shtut, “folly”), to teach that one sins only due to a spirit of folly. For an explanation regarding the specific connection between the sotah and this teaching that applies to every sin, see the Rebbe’s talk (Likkutei Sichot, vol. 2, p. 311) which inspired this essay.
2.Interestingly, when the words Yid and id are combined, they spell yidid, which in Hebrew means “companion” or “friend.” Perhaps we could say that this suggests that the two are not mutually exclusive, but can and do coexist, though on different levels—the Yid deeper and more central than the id.
3.Inspired by the Rebbe’s talk published in Likkutei Sichot, vol. 2, pp. 311ff.
BY MENDEL KALMENSON
Rabbi Mendel Kalmenson is the rabbi of Beit Baruch and executive director of Chabad of Belgravia, London, where he lives with his wife, Chana, and children.
Mendel was an editor at the Judaism Website—Chabad.org and is also the author of a popular book titled "Seeds of Wisdom."
• Nasso in a Nutshell
Completing the headcount of the Children of Israel taken in the Sinai Desert, a total of 8,580 Levite men between the ages of 30 and 50 are counted in a tally of those who will be doing the actual work of transporting the Tabernacle.G‑d communicates to Moses the law of the sotah, the wayward wife suspected of unfaithfulness to her husband. Also given is the law of the nazir, who forswears wine, lets his or her hair grow long, and is forbidden to become contaminated through contact with a dead body. Aaron and his descendants, the kohanim, are instructed on how to bless the people of Israel.
The leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel each bring their offerings for the inauguration of the altar. Although their gifts are identical, each is brought on a different day and is individually described by the Torah.
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VIDEO
Footsteps of JerusalemA slice of life from the holy city. Footage from various scenes around Jerusalem shot in 2011 and 2012. by Daron Resnik
Watch (5:37)
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More in Video:
• Your Guide to the Shema (By Malky Bitton)
<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="http://embed.chabad.org/multimedia/mediaplayer/embedded/embed.js.asp?aid=2537707&width=auto&height=auto"></script><div style="clear:both;">Visit <a href="http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/default_cdo/aid/591213/jewish/Video.htm">Jewish.TV</a> for more <a href="http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/default_cdo/aid/591213/jewish/Video.htm">Jewish videos</a>.</div>
• The Month of Sivan (By Shimona Tzukernik)
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LIVING AND LEARNING
My Scary Drive in a Car that Was OverheatingWhat do you do when you feel your inner temperature dangerously rising? by Chana Weisberg
No, please don’t happen now!” I was thinking as I was driving along the highway in the cold of the winter.We had been having some car trouble, with the engine overheating at random times. For a while we made sure to keep extra coolant fluid in our trunk in the event of an emergency. But after fixing what turned out to be a leak, we hoped that the issue was finally resolved.
Now far from home, and alone, the problem resurfaced. I wasn’t excited about the prospect of finding a rest stop, but as I watched the temperature indicator rising, I realized I had no choice.
Several moments later, after a kind gas station attendant explained that the coolant container just hadn’t been closed tightly and it had allowed some of the precious liquid to leak out, I was safely back on my way. With the engine’s temperature—as well as my own blood pressure—now back to normal, I could drive safely while contemplating what had just happened.
Our drive along life’s highways also has many occasions that can cause us to get too hot under the collar. Irrespective of the temperature outside, once our anger has been triggered, our inner temperature rises by the moment. It could be a leak in our faith, or our emotional containers may just not be properly closed, and we’ve become too affected by our circumstances.
Continuing to drive in such a state is no longer safe. We need to stop, evaluate, and cool off the engine of our heart.
What is this psycho-spiritual “coolant” that can help keep our inner temperatures even-keeled?
For some situations, the solution may be meditating on the fact that everything is happening exactly as it is meant to be; that G‑d is ultimately guiding us, and that this too (even an overheated car on a forlorn road!) is for our good. Or, it might mean taking a precious few moments closeted away from the current problem and allowing the quiet solitude to help us regain equilibrium. Other times, it may involve adequate preparation before beginning the long drive—making sure to seal your container tightly, or to steel yourself so that you’re not leaking your precious calm as you enter the trying circumstance.
In these weeks leading up to the holiday of Shavuot, as well as through the summer months, we’ve begun reading Pirkei Avot, Ethics of Our Fathers. These beautiful nuggets of wisdom help us gain greater wisdom and perspective as we work on building our character traits in preparation for receiving the Torah. These also may be our precious ammunition when our engine is becoming too hot to handle.
Because one thing is clear: driving an overheated vehicle is just not a safe option.
What do you do when you feel your inner temperature dangerously rising?
Chana Weisberg,
Editor, TJW
BY CHANA WEISBERG
Chana Weisberg is the editor of TheJewishWoman.org. She lectures internationally on issues relating to women, relationships, meaning, self-esteem and the Jewish soul. She is the author of five popular books.
YOUR QUESTIONS
Can I Use My Neighbor’s Wi-Fi Without Permission?Sometimes at night I like to check my e mails and browse the Internet. Can I use an unsecured Wi-Fi network without permission? by Yehuda Shurpin
Question:
I work during the day, and because I mostly use the Web at work, I don’t have an Internet connection of my own at home. Sometimes at night I like to check my e‑mails and browse the Internet. One of my neighbors has an open, unsecured wireless connection. Can I use his Wi-Fi without permission?Response:
Before beginning a discussion about using unsecured Internet connections according to Jewish law, it must be noted that many countries and states have specific laws that prohibit accessing someone else’s computer or network without authorization. According to Jewish law, as long as civil law does not contradict Torah law, “the law of the country is the law,” and the halachah follows civil law.1 In New York State, for instance, unauthorized use of a computer network is considered a Class A misdemeanor.2
Therefore, any discussion on this topic from the perspective of Jewish law must be based on the assumption that civil law does not explicitly address it. Nevertheless, the question of using an unsecured network raises a number of halachic issues, and is worth delving into further.
Borrowing Without Permission
When you use your neighbor’s Wi-Fi, you are essentially “borrowing” his computer, router, modem and Internet connection without permission. The Talmud records a dispute among the sages as to whether one who borrows something without permission is considered a borrower or a thief.3 The halachah follows the opinion that this person is considered a thief, even if he or she intends to return the object afterward.4
There are exceptions to this rule, however. In cases where the object of “theft” is something that no one (not even a small number of people) would object to someone’s borrowing without permission, and there is no risk of damaging the object, halachah considers it permissible to use it without approval.5
Although accessing the Internet through an open Wi-Fi connection rarely causes damage to the network, it seems safe to assume that at least a small number of people would object to their Wi-Fi being used without permission, and doing so would be considered stealing.
There is, however, another reason why some say that using an open Wi-Fi network without permission would be permitted.
Objects of No Substance
When discussing the mitzvah of listening to the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, the halachah posits that if someone blew from a stolen shofar, he nevertheless fulfilled his obligation. The rationale in this case is that the laws of theft do not apply to entities without substance, like sight and sound.6
(It should be noted that there is a dispute about whether the reason one still fulfills his obligation is because the mitzvah is only to hear the sound of the shofar, and the laws of theft do not apply to sound alone, or because [unlike, for example, the mitzvah of lulav] there is no requirement that the shofar must belong to the one using it.7 The halachah follows the opinion that the reason is because the laws of theft do not apply to something without substance.8)
Based on this idea that things without substance cannot be stolen, it would seem that using a neighbor’s open Internet connection without permission would be permitted. However, other commentaries point out that stealing something without substance isn’t considered stealing because using that intangible object did not cause a loss to the owner. Should it cause a loss, it would certainly be considered damaging or stealing another person’s property.9
Generally, subscribers pay an Internet service provider (ISP) for a limited amount of access to the Internet, called bandwidth. The speed of an Internet connection depends on the amount of available bandwidth at a given time. Wider bandwidth allows more data to be sent and received simultaneously, resulting in faster Internet service. When a non-subscriber downloads large files using an open Internet connection while the subscriber is using the Internet, the reduced bandwidth can significantly slow the owner’s connection. In other words, this causes a loss to the neighbor.
Therefore, although an Internet connection may be classified as something without substance, if using it causes the owner a loss in any way, it would be prohibited to use it without permission. If one used the Internet in a way that had no effect on the owner’s speed, however, or at times when the neighbor isn’t using the Internet, it might be halachically permitted.10
Although less common, some service providers charge subscribers based on the amount of data used. In this case, using a neighbor’s Wi-Fi without permission could cause a loss regardless of the time of day, and using the open network would be prohibited without permission.
“This One Benefits . . .”
When discussing this issue, some rabbis refer to a well-known Talmudic concept that if “one person will benefit, and the other one suffers no loss,”11 you cannot hold the other person back from deriving that benefit.12 In fact, in some instances halachah forces the owner to allow the other person to derive that benefit.13 But as we explained above, in many instances using someone else’s Internet connection does indeed cause a loss to the owner. Therefore, this rationale would apply only in a scenario in which the owner does not suffer a loss.
So, to answer your question: If you live in a place where using an unsecured Internet connection without permission is permitted by civil law, and you can be sure that your using the Wi-Fi will not slow your neighbor’s connection, increase his bill or cause him any other kind of loss, halachah would theoretically permit you to use the Wi-Fi without permission. But why not play it safe? Knock on his door and ask him if he minds—it’s the neighborly thing to do.
FOOTNOTES
1.Babylonian Talmud, Nedarim 28a, Gittin 10b, Bava Kamma 113b and Bava Batra 54b. See also Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 369, and Igrot Moshe, Choshen Mishpat 1:88.
2.Laws of New York State, http://ypdcrime.com/penal.law/article156.htm#156.05.
3.Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 88a.
4.Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 292:1.
5.Sefer Meirat Einayim (Sema) 292:4; Shulchan Aruch ha-Rav, Choshen Mishpat, Hilchot Metziah 28 and Kuntres Acharon ad loc. See also Shulchan Aruch ha-Rav, Choshen Mishpat, Hilchot She’eilah 5.
6.Jerusalem Talmud, Sukkah 3:1; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 586:2.
7.Both opinions can be found in the Jerusalem Talmud, Sukkah 3:1. See also Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Shofar Sukkah ve-Lulav 1:3, and gloss of Raavad ad loc., who each follow one of the opinions in the Talmud. This dispute continues with the commentaries on the Shulchan Aruch, with Magen Avraham siding with Maimonides, and Taz with Raavad.
8.Mishneh Torah loc. cit., and Kesef Mishneh ad loc. See also Magen Avraham on Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 586:2, and Shulchan Aruch ha-Rav 586:4.
9.R. David Lichtenstein, Kuntres Internet be-Halachah, Chapter 5 (http://ihalachah.com/files/hibh.pdf).
10.Ibid.
11.Babylonian Talmud, Bava Kamma 20b.
12.Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 363:6.
13.Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 12b.
BY YEHUDA SHURPIN
Rabbi Yehuda Shurpin responds to questions for Chabad.org's Ask the Rabbi service.
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More in Your Questions:
• Should the Torah be Rated PG? (By Aron Moss)
Question:
I have a three-year-old who is quite bright. I try to read to her and teach her as much as I can about stories from the Torah, but recently it’s become increasingly difficult. It seems like every story in the Torah needs to be edited for children. I find myself confused all the time with what I am supposed to teach her. Adam and Eve sinning and being thrown out of the Garden of Eden, G‑d destroying It seems like every story in the Torah needs to be edited for childrenthe world with a flood, the Ten Plagues visited on the Egyptians. Should the Torah be rated PG?Answer:
It’s funny: all these stories you mention, kids have absolutely no problem with them. It’s we adults who have the issues. We have become morally queasy. But our kids need moral clarity.
Adam and Eve did what they were told not to, and they were punished. The generation of the flood was corrupt and was destroyed. The Egyptians who threw Jewish babies into the Nile were punished, after ignoring one warning after another, with the horrible plagues. The message is unmistakable: evil catches up with you. You can get away with it for a while, but not forever. A three-year-old gets that.
Now, of course, the world is not all black and white, people are not all good or all evil, and not every choice is between absolute right and wrong. Life is full of gray areas, nuances and subtleties, and in most moral dilemmas the lines are not so clearcut. But subtlety is for adults. A child needs the security of seeing things in black and white. Rules have to be plainly expressed; borders have to be sharply defined. Good is good and will be rewarded. Bad is bad and will be punished. Children struggle when things are vague and wishy-washy. They thrive on clarity.
We Bad is bad and will be punishedas parents need to be unequivocal about what is right and wrong, and the consequences of choosing the right way or the wrong way. This is the most important lesson you can teach your child. And that is the theme of the entire Torah. In a world of moral equivalence, this message needs to be communicated loud and clear.
Your child has an inner moral compass, but you need to help her cultivate it. Develop her sense of good and evil, and she will grow to be a morally healthy adult, PG (please G‑d).
BY ARON MOSS
Aron Moss is rabbi of the Nefesh Community in Sydney, Australia, and is a frequent contributor to Chabad.org.
FIRST PERSON
Goodbye, BubbyIt’s hard to say goodbye to someone you love. by Yoel Judowitz
Deep into the night I sit at my grandmother’s bedside,
 |
| The author's grandmother |
I close my eyes.
I see a gnarled apple tree in the back of an old stone house. I can feel the rough bark in my young pudgy hands as I sit high in the leafy branches and breathe in the cool country air. I feel the tingly thrill of youth. I am at Bubby’s house.
I smell Shabbat. The aromas of chocolate cake and fish, soup and chicken, are rich, comforting, enveloping.
Shabbat is warm, Shabbat is light, Shabbat is sweet.
Shabbat is proudly walking with grandfather to shul, feeling his hand squeezing mine. Wearing his spotless bekeshe and shtreimel, Zaidy resembles royalty. Shabbat is watching my Zaidy’s shining face, his long beard, his eyes squeezed tight in concentration as he stands ramrod-straight and thunders the words of kiddush. Bubby’s face glows from behind the candles.
Shabbat is the sound of Bubby humming along with the zemirot, correcting us when we miss a word. Shabbat goes late into the night with funny Yiddish words like duchunas and tzifeysen hopping around my little head as we are finally carried upstairs to cuddle beneath the heavy quilts and dream in the cold Monsey night.
I glance at her face. Her eyes are slightly open.
Holding Bubby's hand. ©Yoel Judowitz
I call to her loudly. “Bubby!” Her eyes widen for a brief moment. Is she looking? I think I see a reaction. How could she not respond to her Yoli?
She always eagerly anticipated my visits. Only a few weeks ago I came with my wife and children. We sat and talked, and the children ran in for lollipops. Her face shone with joy, and I felt enveloped in her love.
We talked about life. We talked about art.
Bubby is my artistic inspiration. The first real picture I ever drew—a portrait of the Satmar Rebbe, after who I am named—hung right next to her Shabbat table, professionally framed and matted. I remember thinking how good it must have been because of the way she spoke about it. “The eyes,” she would say, “you know how to capture the eyes.”
It is only now that I’m older that I appreciate the rarity of a chassidic girl from Czechoslovakia attending the Rhode Island School of Design. My bubby, the young artist and dressmaker whose scholarship ran out the year before she graduated, vicariously celebrates her love of art at through me.
We talked about life—the meaning of life, what is important, what is real. Bubby listens. She values what I have to say, but knows how much I treasure her words as well.
Bubby loves words. Poems, articles, books, Scrabble . . . the young immigrant from Czechoslovakia who became an English teacher loves the English language. Maybe it was her way of mastering the transition of settling in a new country as a child; maybe it is just her naturally gifted mind. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of her poems and writings, collected over a lifetime, were destroyed in the fire that burned down her house. It is one of the few things we will not discuss. It is too painful.
We talked about her father, my great-grandfather. Still now, at the age of 92, Bubby is her parents’ daughter. There is no greater influence in her life.
Her father came over to America ten years before the war. For ten years he worked at any job he could find, trying to bring over his family. “How did he do it?” I ask her over and over.
And then she tells me the story. “Right before the war broke out, Father sent a letter to Mother saying he would like to visit. Mother responded, ‘If you are coming to stay, fine. But if you are planning to return, please don’t come. The pain of separation will be greater than the joy of seeing you. I would rather come to you.’” Father sent tickets and the family came. “They were so close,” she adds, and her voice trails off, her eyes looking into a past I cannot see.
The author with his grandparents
Each time I hear the story, I think about that letter and my great-grandmother’s honesty and devotion to her husband, which ultimately saved their lives, and mine. I think about my great-grandfather’s worst tragedy, a business deal gone sour, forcing him to leave his family and live alone in America for ten years. A hardship which ended up meaning salvation for his family, my family and future generations.
We share a love of teaching, Bubby and I. I am the third-generation teacher in my family. Bubby is a teacher, and Bubby loves children, especially the ones in the back of the class. Her students call her every Friday. Her students from 20, 30, 40 years ago, now mothers and grandmothers themselves, still call to be enveloped in her aura of positivity and encouragement. “I believe in you; I see in you things that others may have missed or do not appreciate,” she tells them. So real, so authentic, that it has nourished them from fourth grade well into adulthood.
Humble, authentic, simple and righteous. That is my Bubby.
It’s hard to say goodbye to someone you love.
It’s hard when that person can’t answer you because she is lying silently on a hospital bed. It’s harder still when all you can see is an emotionless face, half-covered by an oxygen mask. A face worn deep with the beauty and dignity of age, eyes that shone with joy and wisdom, now silent and dim. And all you want is one chance, one last chance, to look into those eyes and connect, one last time.
It is almost morning. A pink glow lights up the horizon outside the hospital window, and I can hear the nurses changing shifts. It’s time for me to leave and catch my flight back home to my family.
I am still holding her hand. I can see her breathing and I feel close, like a father holding his sleeping child. My face is wet with tears, and the pain is still deep in my chest—“Bubby, I love you,” I whisper and kiss her cheek. “Thank you, Bubby.”
One of my grandmother’s poems:
Prayer
By Rose S. Ort
It is Thursday—and one o’clock.
With the whisper of the holy day to come,
Peace has descended upon my household . . .
The table is set
Awaiting the first glimmer
From the alabaster candles
That bless the day eternally
And evermore.
The subtle, savory scented air
Wafts about my kitchen
Titillates my senses,
Dances through my house,
Stirs my children in their sleep.
They smile in anticipation
Of the joy that metamorphoses
Each week at this same hour . . .
When the Shabbat preparations mingle
With the Shabbat expectations
Of kedushah (holiness) . . . and menuchah (rest) . . . and
Scented, sanctified food.
May we all rejoice in our profound dream of peace,
Until that true moment when Moshiach will appear
And give us sacred, blessed hours each day—each year
Into infinitum.
BY YOEL JUDOWITZYoel Judowitz has been drawing and creating art for as long as he can remember. He spends his time teaching and working on illustrating books and other products at his art studio, YJStudios.
THE REBBE
A Shavuot MessageIn our religious and spiritual life, also, we have the seasons and festivals which recur year after year . . .
Correspondence by Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, The Lubavitcher Rebbe
Excerpts from a letter
By the Grace of G‑d
Rosh Chodesh Sivan, 5715
[May 22, 1955]
Brooklyn, N.Y.
. . . It is surely unnecessary to elaborate on the close relationship between the physical and the spiritual, which even modern science has become convinced of.
Physically, at this time of the year, we find Nature again in full bloom. After a period of hibernation, it springs back to life with renewed vigor and vitality, faithfully reproducing the same elements which characterized the same period a year ago, and two years ago, and all the way back to the first seasons of the Nature cycle.
In our religious and spiritual life, also, we have the seasons and festivals which recur year after year, and reproduce the same spiritual elements which first gave rise to them. Thus, at this time of the year, with the days of Sefirah connecting the festival of Passover (physical freedom) with its culmination in Shavuoth (spiritual freedom), we can—if we are sufficiently prepared and attuned to it—relive the experiences of our ancestors who actually witnessed the Revelation and accepted the Torah at Sinai.
What a long way our ancestors covered in the course of but 50 days; from the abominations of Egyptian “culture,” in which moral depravity and polytheism reigned supreme (as recent archeological discoveries have amply brought to light)—to pure monotheism at Mount Sinai, where the Jew receives the Torah with the call of Na’aseh v’nishma. Na’aseh first, i.e., complete surrender of man to G‑d.
Through the medium of the Torah, G‑d “descends” on Mount Sinai, and the Jew ascends to G‑d—the soul is released from all its fetters tying it down to earthly things, and, on the wings of fear of G‑d and love of G‑d, unites with the Creator in complete communion. It is then that it can fully appreciate the inner meaning of “I am G‑d thy G‑d, Who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage,” and the rest of the Ten Commandments, till “Thou shalt not covet,” i.e., not only refrain from taking what is not yours, but not even desire it.
This great rise from the abyss of Egypt to the sublime heights of Sinai was attained by pure and simple faith in G‑d, from the day when parents and children, women and infants, several million souls in all, set out on the trek through the desert, not dismayed by the irrationality of it, but simply obeying the Divine call with absolute trust. This won special Divine favor, in the words of the Prophet: “I remember unto thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thy betrothal, thy going after Me into the wilderness.” It is this faith that carried the Jews through the ages, an insignificant physical minority in the midst of a hostile world, a spot of light threatened by an overwhelming darkness. It is this absolute faith in G‑d that we need nowadays more than ever before.
It is said, the whole sun is reflected in a drop of water. And so the whole of our nation is reflected in each individual, and what is true of the nation as a whole is true of the individual.
The core of Jewish vitality and indestructibility is in its pure faith in G‑d: not in some kind of an abstract Deity, hidden somewhere in the heavenly spheres, who regards this world from a distance; but absolute faith in a very personal G‑d, who is the very life and existence of everybody; who permeates where one is, or what one does. Where there is such faith, there is no room for fear or anxiety, as the Psalmist says, “I fear no evil, for Thou art with me,” with me, indeed, at all times, not only on Shabbos or Yom Tov, or during prayer or meditation on G‑d. And when one puts his trust in G‑d, unconditionally and unreservedly, one realizes what it means to be really free and full of vigor, for all one’s energy is released in the most constructive way, not only in one’s own behalf, but also in behalf of the environment at large.
The road is not free from obstacles and obstructions, for in the Divine order of things we are expected to attain our goal by effort; but if we make a determined effort, success is Divinely assured, and the obstacles and obstructions which at first loom large, dissolve and disappear.
I wish you to tread this road of pure faith in G‑d, without over[unclear in original] introspection and self-searching, as in the simple illustration of a man walking: he will walk most steadily and assuredly if he will not be conscious of his walk and not seek to consciously coordinate the hundreds of muscles operative in locomotion, or he would be unable to make his first step.
Wishing you success in all above, and hoping to hear good news from you and yours,
With the blessing of a happy Yom Tov of Receiving the Torah with inner joy,
Sincerely,
[Signature]
CORRESPONDENCE BY RABBI MENACHEM M. SCHNEERSON, THE LUBAVITCHER REBBE
Letter of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory.
LIFESTYLES
Mount Sinai CakeShowcase the beauty of Mount Sinai with this beautiful Shavuot cake. by Miriam Szokovski
'm excited about this cake because it came out exactly the way I visualized it. (No, it doesn't always!) It's also an easy cake to decorate, so even if you're a complete novice with no prior experience, you should be able to pull this one off.
We're about to celebrate the holiday of Shavuot, which marks the giving of the Torah over 3,000 years ago. After G-d chose Mount Sinai to be the place He would give the Torah, the small, brown, dry mountain burst into bloom, growing flowers and lush greenery.
So today I present you... Mount Sinai cake!
I'm giving you recipes for the cake and frosting (below), but if baking's not your thing, don't let that put you off. I'm not really a fan of cake mixes and bought frosting, but because this is more of a "concept cake," I think we can make an exception this time. Or if you have a favorite cake recipe, feel free to use that instead. Really, any cake and any frosting will work for this one.
To get the mountain shape, you'll need either the Wilton Wonder Cake Mold, or you can use a stainless steel mixing bowl. Make the cake batter and pour it into the pan. Make sure the pan is well greased so the cake will come out easily. Bake the cake until a toothpick comes out dry. Let it cool before turning it out of the pan.
To decorate, you'll need the cake, frosting and candies. I used chocolate lentils (aka: smarties, m&ms, candy-coated chocolate), and I specifically chose a type that comes in two sizes.
Stick the cake in the freezer for a couple of hours - this will make it easier to decorate. Sift the icing ingredients together, add the water and mix with a spoon in one direction until icing is smooth.
Take the cake out of the freezer and put it on a piece of wax paper (this will make the clean-up easier). Pour the icing over the top and let it drip down the sides.
You can help it along with a knife, or a spatula. Don't worry if it's not too perfect, because you'll be covering it anyway. Let the excess icing drip onto the wax paper.
Stick the cake back in the freezer for about half an hour (or in the fridge for a couple of hours), and then change the wax paper so you're working on a clean surface.
Now it's time to start decorating.
First form a couple of flowers. I used the smaller candies for flowers. One candy for the center, six for the petals. Don't worry if you have a hard time placing them evenly, it's about the overall effect, not absolute perfection.
After you've made a couple of flowers, start filling in the spaces with the larger green candies. Continue making flowers and filling the space with green candies until the cake is fully covered. You can use some of the smaller green candies to fill in gaps, like I did.
VERY IMPORTANT: Keep your fingers clean. If you get some frosting on your fingers, wipe it off before continuing. You don't want chocolate frosting all over your candies - it will look like a muddy mess.
Try to be as light-fingered as possible. You don't want to push against the frosting too firmly. And if it starts to feel melty, you can stick it back in the freezer for half an hour and then keep going. It all depends on how quickly you work.
And that's all there is to it! You just created a beautiful Mount Sinai cake with no special equipment or cake decorating skills. You could also give this job to your kids - keep them busy for a while and get them excited about the holiday. Win win.
If you'd like to add an extra touch, you can print out a picture of the two Tablets, tape them to a toothpick and stick it in the top of the cake.
These are the recipes I used, but again, you can use any cake and any frosting. Doesn't even need to be chocolate. Whatever you prefer.
Cake Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups oil
2 ¼ cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup cocoa
2 ¾ cups flour
2 tsp. coffee dissolved in 1 ¾ cups hot water
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. baking powder
1½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
Cake Directions:
Cream oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until there are no lumps.
Pour into greased pan and bake on 325°F until a toothpick comes out clean, approximately 45-50 minutes.
Frosting Ingredients:
2 ½ cups confectioners sugar
1 cup cocoa
¼ tsp. salt
6-7 tbsp. hot water
Frosting Directions:
Sift cocoa powder and confectioners into a bowl. Add salt. Whisk with a fork to combine.
Add the hot water 2 tablespoons at a time, mixing with a spoon in one direction until frosting is smooth.
What's on your Shavuot menu?
BY MIRIAM SZOKOVSKI
Miriam Szokovski is the author of historical novel Exiled Down Under, and a member of the Chabad.org editorial team. She enjoys tinkering with recipes, and teaches cooking classes to young children. Miriam shares her love of cooking, baking and food photography on Chabad.org’s food blog, Cook It Kosher and in the N'shei Chabad Newsletter.
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More in Lifestyles:
• Distressed Mason Jar Vases (By Abbey Wolin)
It’s traditional to decorate the house with flowers and greenery in honor of Shavuot.
To make an arrangement like this, you will need:
Mason jars
Enamel paint
Paintbrushes
Sandpaper
Raffia
Scissors
Skewers
Assorted flowers
Step 1:
Paint your glass mason jar any color you want. Let it sit for 24 hours, and then bake it in your oven at 350° F for half an hour.
When the jar has cooled, let it sit overnight.
Step 2:
Rub the sandpaper over the glass, giving the mason jar a distressed look.
Rinse the jar, so the paint “sand” washes off.
Wrap raffia around the lip of the jar and tie it in a messy bow.
Step 3:
Fill the vase with the flowers of your choice.
To make the cute little Shavuot decorations, download any image from Google Images. Just type in the image you’re looking for, and when you find one you like, copy and paste it into a Word document. Resize it and print. It’s that easy! Cut out the image, attach it to a skewer and voilà! You’ll have a cute accessory for your arrangement. You can also attach the image to the raffia around the jar. That would be a great way to indicate place settings at the Shavuot table.
BY ABBEY WOLIN
For the past 12 years, Abbey Wolin has been bringing creativity back to the classroom. She has held positions as a regular and special education teacher in various schools. She is currently the lead designer and founder of Not 2 Shabbey, a company specializing in hand painted personalized gifts. You can reach Abbey by visiting Not2Shabbey.com.• Choni the Circle-Maker (By Chana Rivka Hawkins)
Artist’s Statement: I was so inspired by the story of Choni the Circle-Maker and the miracle of rain that I wanted to portray the story on canvas. In my painting, Choni stands in his circle under the blazing hot, dry sun. But over to the left are the dark clouds and rain approaching . . . BY CHANA RIVKA HAWKINS
Chana Rivka began her journey to Judaism in her early 20s. At the same time, she began to paint. She took a break from painting when she married and had children, but later in life, when she moved to a Jewish community, the beauty of Judaism and the observant lifestyle motivated her to express her love for Torah through painting.
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JEWISH NEWS
Q&A: Bringing to Light the ‘Teachings of the Rebbe’Creators of the Jewish Learning Institute's "Paradigm Shift" discuss the intricacies of encapsulating the Rebbe’s philosophy in a six-week course, and what they hope students take away from the experience. by Mindy Rubenstein
Leading up to the 20-year mark since the passing of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, tens of thousands of students ages 20 and up have begun a six-session Rohr Jewish Institute Learning (JLI) course this month on the Rebbe’s teachings under the aegis of Chabad-Lubavitch centers around the world.
Titled “Paradigm Shift: Transformational Life Teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe,” the course took more than 18 months to create, and builds on the work and advice of 40 different scholars.
Here, course co-editors Rabbi Naftali Silberberg and Rabbi Mordechai Dinerman discuss their effort to try to encapsulate and convey the Rebbe’s all-encompassing perspective on living a purposeful life to adults around the world.What are the three most important ideas you hope students take away from the course? Silberberg: That the world is a beautiful garden, a wonderful place. That no matter my current state, I am exactly where G‑d planned for me to be. And that I matter—infinitely so. Dinerman: First of all, when we endeavor, as the Rebbe so often did, to view life in a positive way, we are not merely choosing a subjective way of processing the world around us; we are actually getting in touch with a deeper reality—the truth. G‑d, the epitome of goodness, vests Himself into each detail of existence. We therefore have the ability to “open our eyes” and discover an overwhelming amount of good that is revealed and perceivable. Secondly, people often think of the soul as something buried deep below our consciousness. The Rebbe taught that our soul is a core of perfection that is always expressing itself, and that it is a major player in our everyday lives. This empowers us to define ourselves and other people by this core of perfection. And third, Torah does not speak about an alternative world, and it is much more than a spiritual guide and a code of religious conduct. Instead, once we understand that Torah is the blueprint of the universe, we understand that Torah is the key to the best life, and that if we desire to know how to interact with the world and to uncover what the world is all about, we need to look to Torah for guidance.
Rabbi Naftali Silberberg
How did you select the topics from the vast corpus of the Rebbe’s teachings? Silberberg: After interviewing tens of scholars, we sat down and distilled the information, and the themes pretty much emerged on their own. Dinerman: I should first point out that the course consists of many more ideas. Each lesson is a tapestry of multiple ideas and concepts woven together by a common underlying theme. Indeed, one of the goals of this course is for participants to be able to connect the dots—to appreciate the Rebbe’s teachings not only as separate, stand-alone elements, but as pieces of larger puzzles, of his core foundational ideas. Thus, even one who is familiar with many of the Rebbe’s teachings will gain from this course by discovering the common threads between the pieces, which allow broader ideas to shine, larger than the sum of their parts. In terms of content selection: We interviewed nearly 40 experts on the Rebbe and his teachings. We focused our attention on the themes and ideas that came up most often during these interviews. From these, we chose topics that we thought would have the most relevance to the daily lives of all Jews, and for that matter, all of humanity. What do you think will be some of the most interesting aspects of the course for most students? Silberberg: They will have a better appreciation for the Rebbe and everything he stands for. They will also better understand how Chabad’s activism and outreach efforts flow from a unique and empowering worldview that the Rebbe championed, the real “secret” behind Chabad’s success. Dinerman: I see two major points of impact in this course. First, participants acquainted with Chabad and the work of the shluchim and shluchos will feel like a light was suddenly switched on for them—one that dispels confusion and mystery. Many of the particularities of Chabad will be understood profoundly, and this is not usually possible in a setting other than rigorous study. You cannot really understand Chabad’s global and communal accomplishments without studying the Rebbe, and you cannot study the Rebbe without a tremendous focus on his scholarly teachings. This is because the Rebbe’s activism and initiatives were not just a pragmatic method of ensuring Jewish continuity; rather, they are an expression of deep-seated philosophical understandings about the nature of G‑d, the world, the human being and the Torah. It is these understandings that result in the successful activism of Chabad, and they need to be studied in-depth to understand the unique Chabad approach. On a more personally applicable level, thousands of people sought the Rebbe’s guidance and advice; still today, many turn to his teachings to find direction and purpose. If individuals seek to improve their lives, a good start would be to study the Rebbe’s teachings. Often, when we seek to enhance ourselves, we employ a localized approach in which we seek specialized solutions to improve a particular aspect of our lives. These methods, however, do not fundamentally change the way we perceive ourselves, our goals, our values, our friends. They do not alter our very approach to life, which has been formed based on what we were taught, what we read and what we experienced. But perhaps our very way of understanding life is what’s leading to the issues we are trying to resolve. If we can overhaul our general attitude and approach, the details will subsequently fall into place. Thus, it might be worthwhile to revisit our definitions of life and experience a refreshing paradigm shift. And the Rebbe showed us how the teachings of Torah provide an alternative but stunning way to read the narrative of our lives—refreshing and novel perspectives that are often different from the common perception. Two major topics addressed in the course are the Rebbe’s innate understanding of human beings and his hopes for humanity. How does the course address these overriding issues? Dinerman: Within certain circles, there is a tendency to think in terms of (what University of Pennsylvania professor and psychologist Martin Seligman calls) “a-rotten-to-the-core doctrine.” The concept of “Original Sin” is often associated with this view, as is Freud’s philosophy. This leads to cynicism about human nature. When someone does something good, too often, people endeavor to identify an ulterior motive. The Rebbe taught people to think differently: Our truest and deepest self is a G‑dly entity. Instead of reinterpreting the good as selfish, the Rebbe taught that the selfish was, in a certain sense, good. For example, the Rebbe explained that our selfish longing for material blessing is an expression of our desire to be granted the tools and resources that allow us to implement the Divine plan to make this world a home for G‑d. The Rebbe challenged us to see ourselves from this perspective. Faults, failures and bad habits do not define who we are. Our inherent core of perfection does. The Rebbe would urge people to engage in additional activities, an extra mitzvah, and never to be complacent with previous accomplishments. As far as I can tell, this did not offend or alienate people. Also, demanding people are usually not very loving and sensitive, but I have heard many people report that the Rebbe certainly was. Further, this love and respect was unconditional and extended to those who showed little enthusiasm for Jewish practice, despite the fact that the Rebbe was extremely passionate about the importance of all Jews adopting a Torah-rich life. How is this to be explained? The Rebbe saw the soul and its expression in each of us. When we think about ourselves or others, we often fail to take this part of ourselves into account. But considering that it is who we really are, the Rebbe insisted on seeing people from this perspective. Recognizing the divinity within means recognizing that the core of humankind is perfect. The Rebbe, therefore, related to everyone as holy beings, as perfect beings. That leads to unconditional acceptance and love of everyone. The Rebbe also wanted us to live from that place of perfection. He wanted us to live who we really are. The Rebbe saw this massive store of energy desiring to be expressed, but being held captive by our natural shortcomings and stumbling blocks. Hence, he didn’t let humanity rest. He seemed to be repeatedly exhorting: “Your accomplishments so far do not capture the true you; if you knew who you were, you would do much more.” Failure to do more means judging yourself externally, overlooking your essential self. This simultaneous loving acceptance and persistent demanding stem from the same place: recognizing the divinity within and seeing it as the very core of one’s being that finds expression all the time. People do not resent being pushed to do more if it grows out of recognition of who they really are and how they can be truer to themselves. On the contrary, it reaffirms their importance. When the Rebbe pleaded with us all to take another step, he wanted us to live from the place within that was flawless. He was reminding us of our inherent worth. The more we are able to see ourselves in this light, the more meaningful and productive our lives will be. What in this course inspired you personally, a lifelong student of the Rebbe’s approach? Silberberg: It was an opportunity for me to connect the dots. Today, when I study the Rebbe’s teachings or listen to one of his talks, I am much more aware of the larger context, the revolutionary worldview that spawned this individual idea. As a lifelong student of the Rebbe, I’ve actually been at a disadvantage in a sense, in that I take much of what the Rebbe taught for granted. Working on this course allowed me to understand how so much of what I assume to be “basics” is anything but—and is actually truly trailblazing philosophy. For more information and to register for the course, go to www.myjli.com or contact your local Chabad center.
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More in Jewish News:
• Four Killed in Attack Inside Jewish Museum in Brussels - Security tightened at Jewish institutions around Belgium (Chabad.org Staff)
The Jewish Museum of Belgium, where three people were killed by a gunman. (Photo: Wikimedia)
JERUSALEM—Four people, including an Israeli couple, were killed in an attack inside the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels late Saturday afternoon. Security was been tightened at Jewish institutions around the country.
The shooting was called the worst anti-Semitic attack in Belgium since World War II and came a day before Belgians were to cast their ballots in regional, federal and European elections on Sunday.
The gunman was still at large Monday, and Belgium’s interior minister Joëlle Milquet said that “maximum security has been deployed around places frequented by the Jewish community.” There were no special security measures in place at the museum prior to the attack, which may have been selected as an easy target, she noted.
Moniquet told a news conference that heightened security was necessary because “the perpetrators presumably knew they were on a ‘no-way-out’ operation. They are working under the assumption that they will be caught within days, and therefore have a motivation to maximize the attack by striking again if capable,” she warned.
According to earlier reports, a lone gunman double-parked an Audi sedan outside the museum at about 4 p.m., ran into the museum and quickly opened fire before returning to the car and driving away. Police later said that he may have fled on foot.
Police arrested a suspect within hours of the shooting in a car that matched the description and license-plate number given by eyewitnesses, and is considered a witness, according to local press reports.
The Times of Israel web site reported that the couple was identified late Sunday morning as Tel Aviv residents Mira and Emmanuel Riva, who were on an organized, private walking tour of Brussels when the shooting took place, and that Israel's Foreign Ministry said the bodies would be flown home for burial. The third fatality was a 23-year-old female museum employee. A fourth victim, Alexandre Strens,died on Sunday after being rushed to the hospital after the attack.
Didier Reynders, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister of Belgium, told the local media that he was near the museum when he heard shots ring out and ran to the scene.
“You can’t help thinking when you see a Jewish museum to think about an anti-Semitic act,” he said. “But the investigation will tell more.”
• Rabbi Wows Denver Crowd With Invocation at Nurse-Midwives Conference (By Faygie Levy)
Rabbi Mendel Popack at the 59th annual meeting of the American College of Nurse-Midwives (Photo: ©Robert Levy Photography)
It may seem an unusual match—a Chabad rabbi giving the invocation at a conference for midwives, many of whom are non-Jewish. Yet Rabbi Mendel Popack wowed the audience last week at the 59th annual meeting of the American College of Nurse-Midwives, this year held in Denver, with his two-minute blessing.
“It was really beautiful. He hit it out of the ballpark,” said Lorrie Kaplan, CEO of the American College of Nurse-Midwives. “I’ve been here seven years for seven invocations and I’ve never had anyone ask for a copy of the invocation, and here, people asked for it so they could reprint and send it out to other members.”
Popack, 33, who co-directs the Jewish Life Center in the Stapleton area of Denver with his wife, Estee, says he was pleasantly surprised to be asked to give the May 14 invocation before more than 1,500 people at the conference.
“I thought it was an opportunity to inspire and share the values of Yiddishkeit with a large population of people who otherwise were not introduced to that,” he said. “I tried, in the few minutes I had, to share what” Judaism would say. “As a rabbi, I was praying on their behalf.
“It was an opportunity to inspire,” he continued. “They have a very holy job and a strong responsibility at a delicate time in people’s lives.”
As part of his invocation, Popack said, in part: “Sovereign of the universe, who created all in love, teach us to love all that is good and beautiful in this world.”
“Allow us to recognize our gift of participating in the miracle of new beginnings as we stand by the side of future mothers at the most intimate time of their lives.”
“The Talmud relates that to sustain one life is equal to sustaining the entire world. Each individual is indeed an entire world. Grant us the wisdom to understand and appreciate this as we greet each new life, and the presence of mind to enhance and uplift the ‘world’ of each individual we encounter.”
Rabbi Mendel and Estee Popack
According to Kaplan, Colorado is one of the leading states in the country when it comes to access to midwives. She noted that some 12 percent of births in the state are aided by a certified nurse-midwife.
Just how did the rabbi come to the attention of conference organizers, given that the organization’s national office is in Maryland?
Local member Amy Nacht is a friend of the Popacks and director of University Nurse Midwives at University Colorado Hospital. Nacht had been the family’s midwife when Estee Popack was pregnant with the younger of her two sons.
For her part, Popack was happy to accompany her husband to the program, saying “we both feel that delivering a baby and welcoming a new soul into the world is holy work.”
• Student’s Commencement Speech in D.C. Emphasizes Torah Values (By Alex Sasson)
Gabriel Felder was selected for the prestigious honor of representing his graduating class at The George Washington University commencement, marking the second year in a row that a Jewish student leader has done so.
A popular Jewish student at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.—known for proudly wearing his kipah (skullcap) around campus—delivered the commencement speech on Sunday afternoon imparting to some 25,000 fellow graduates, faculty, family and friends the importance of utilizing each moment to its fullest.
Gabriel Felder, of Stamford, Conn., was selected for the prestigious honor of representing his graduating class at commencement, marking the second year in a row that a Jewish student leader has done so. Felder reflected on words his departed father, Louis Felder, told him before he went off to college, and cited timeless words of Torah as providing a life path.
Representing the graduating class of 2014 before the throng gathered outdoors at the National Mall, Felder—a political communication major in the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences’ School of Media and Public Affairs—emphasized that at every stage of life, especially during these formative years, a person must “live in the moment, and make the most of each and every opportunity.”
Felder served as president of GW’s Jewish Student Association, held multiple positions at GW Hillel and served on the board of GW’s Chabad Freshmen Jewish Club. He was also a regular at the campus Chabad run by Rabbi Yudi and Rivky Steiner, with whom he worked to improve Jewish life for students. Friends describe him as an inspiring person who created bridges between the Jewish community and the rest of the university, and represented the Jewish people well throughout his four years there.
Gabriel Felder
Felder began his address recalling a conversation he and his father had over ice-cream after returning from freshman orientation. After asking his son whether he was excited to be going to GW—and getting a resoundingly positive reply back—Louis Felder replied: “Good! Just don’t waste it!”
“He passed away just a little over a month after that humid June night,” Felder told the audience, without sharing the fact that his father was killed, along with seven fellow workers, in a murderous rampage at his workplace, breaking the hearts of millions who sat riveted to their television screens.
Displaying some of the tenacity and optimism that carried him through his subsequent years in college, Felder stated that as a newly minted “Colonial,” as GW students are called, “it was in my blood” not to waste any G‑d-given time or opportunities.
Felder explained that he and his fellow students learned well the teaching of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, that “in each journey of our lives we must fully be where we are. We may only be passing through on our way to somewhere else seemingly more important. Nevertheless, there is purpose in where we are right now."
“I can look today at this crowd and see proud parents beaming at the sight of their children in their caps and gowns,” Felder continued. “And I can look in my mother and my sisters’ faces and I can say wholeheartedly to my father that [I made] the most of my four years.”
The proud graduate went further to proclaim on behalf of all his fellow students “that none of us have wasted the amazing opportunity that it was to be given an education at The George Washington University.”
Grateful for Support
Felder also reminded his classmates that “commencement is a moment to take a step back and really think about all of the people who helped you get to this point,” urging them to “think back and be grateful for every professor who taught you to stand up and be heard; to every mentor that pushed you to lead and to not follow; and to every advisor you had, for his or her endless help in ensuring your education was the best it could be.”
More than anything, “be grateful to your parents who selflessly supported you your entire life. Be proud of the men and women you have become, for you will change the world for the better,” Felder stated.
“This moment is ours. But it’s not our only one. Just one of many. And I cannot wait to watch us seize them all.”
Thousands of people gathered outdoors at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for the GW graduation ceremony.
He concluded his address with a hearty rendition of Chabad of GW's signature “mazel tov and l’chaim” (“Good luck!” and “To life!”), and to roaring applause and laughter attempted to get a class picture by turning around on the platform and taking several “selfie” photos with his phone.
Felder plans to pursue his passion for education and community-building in New York this fall as a member of the Teach for America program, which encourages high-achieving students to serve as educators for two years in low-income neighborhoods throughout the United States and in some cases abroad.
“Gabe Felder is a natural leader and a real pride for the Jewish people,” said Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), the sponsoring organization of Chabad at GW. “To hear him so proudly identify his Jewishness, sharing such inspiring words of the Rebbe on the National Mall, no less, is really uplifting and encouraging, and is a tribute to himself, to his family, and to all his teachers and mentors.”
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