Editor's Note:
Dear Friend,
While preparing to record some of my favorite High Holiday tunes from the prayer service along with their deeper meaning, I was struck by something very telling. Almost all of our prayers are written in the plural. We are approaching G d not as individuals, but as one unit—a nation brought together by a common past, present and purpose.
This brought me to a second idea. Since we are all in this together, if some of us are missing, we are all missing. It’s not just enough for you and me to be in the synagogue and hear the shofar; every single Jewish man, woman and child needs to experience Rosh Hashanah.
Do you know someone who needs a place to pray? Please contact your local Chabad center. And if they cannot make it to synagogue, please ask about a shofar home visit. The Chabad rabbi will be glad to help, and you’ll be glad you did.
May it be G d’s will that we be inscribed for a good, sweet year—all of us together!
Aryeh Leib Hurwitz,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Team
Daily Thought:
Words and World
In the beginning, G‑d spoke and the world came into being.
On Rosh Hashanah, every year, we speak praises and prayers, petitions and pleas. We speak of ourselves and we speak of others.
On Rosh Hashanah, every word we speak counts. Because according to what we speak, and how we speak, so G‑d speaks. And our world comes into being.
____________________________
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This Week's Features
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Holidays
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Rosh Hashanah is the
Jewish New Year. It is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, and a
day of judgment and coronation of G‑d as king.
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More in Holidays:
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• Honey in
Jewish Law, Lore, Tradition, and More (By Efraim Rubin)
 You may be familiar with the custom of dipping an apple into honey on Rosh Hashanah, but where else does honey feature in Jewish tradition? Let’s explore the Torah sources that discuss this sweet treat.
Honey in the Scriptures
Land of Milk and Honey. The Torah describes the Land of Israel as “flowing with milk and [date] honey,”1 and a verse in our Grace after Meals praises Israel’s “Seven Species” of fruit and grain, including, last but not least, honey.
Indeed, the Rebbe notes that honey is truly the culmination of all the species preceding it. Date trees take a long time to grow, symbolizing the effort we must make during exile, while the sweet honey symbolizes the spiritual fruits that we will enjoy in the messianic era as a result of that effort.2
Heavenly taste. The heavenly manna that sustained the Jews for 40 years in the desert was like “a pastry fried in honey” (although the miraculous manna could also taste like whatever one imagined). 3
Samson's riddle. Several centuries later, the mighty Samson bare-handedly killed a lion that was about to attack him. When he later returned to that spot, he found "a swarm of bees in its belly, complete with their honey." Samson then posed this riddle to a group of his friends: "From the devourer came forth food; and from the strong came out sweetness."4
This inspiring idea—that even the negative can produce positive—may help explain the Rabbinic preference for bees’ honey over the Biblical date honey,5 as we will discuss further.6
Honey in Jewish Life
Good vs. sweet. Our age-old High Holiday custom to dip an apple7 in honey conveys our Rosh Hashanah wish that “G‑d grant us a good and sweet new year.” Why both “good” and “sweet”? Isn’t that redundant?
"Good" per se can remain on a lofty spiritual level, so we add the adjective “sweet”—we should actually merit to enjoy tangible good, as real as the physical honey we eat with the apple. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson explains this on a Kabbalistic level: “Tova” (good) refers to the esoteric divine attribute of kindness, while “mesukah” (sweet) also transforms and sweetens the sublime “severities.”8
Honey's unique qualities. Why do we use honey rather than sugar for the apple-dipping custom? Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi explains: Honey both absorbs and preserves its contents.910 11 Kabbalistically, the supernal “severities” help channel the infinite spiritual energies, so they will be "preserved" and can descend to the lower spheres (as opposed to dissipating on a lofty plane). This concept is known as “severities within kindness.” We thus pray that the severities, too, be transformed to good.12
Raw = life. Some traditions prefer using raw honeycomb, as the Hebrew word for “raw” is “chai," which is also translated as “life,” and our Rosh Hashanah wish is to be inscribed in the Book of Life.13
Beyond the apple. In addition to the apple, we also dip the Rosh Hashanah challah in honey. Some continue this tradition throughout all the Tishrei festivals until Hoshanah Rabbah, which concludes the “Days of Judgment.”
To bee or not to bee? Rabbi Yosef ben Moshe explains why bees’ honey (versus date honey) is used for this custom: Bees have a sting within them, yet their product is sweet. We are hoping that G‑d’s attribute of judgment will be tempered by His attribute of mercy, producing a sweeter result. 14
Honey in Jewish Law
Why is honey kosher? According to halachah, a derivative of an impure animal is considered impure, so the obvious question arises: How can kosher honey be produced by the non-kosher bee?15
Well, honey is actually not produced by a bee’s body. The busy bees transfer the floral nectar through their mouths only as temporary “storage”16 until the sugar levels reach 80 percent, and then they store it in the honeycomb. Bees’ honey indeed represents a unique kashrut phenomenon!
Pastry vs. bread. The Mishnah17 rules that pastry fried in honey (or dough kneaded with honey) does not qualify as halachic “bread,”18 and is thus exempt from the obligation to separate “challah."19
The blessing. As a food that doesn’t grow from the earth or from a tree, the generic “Shehakol”20 blessing is recited before eating honey.21 Mead whiskey made from fermented honey has the same blessing.
Maimonides' health tip. Maimonides seems to be the first in the medical field to caution young children against eating honey, a common health tip for contemporary mothers. 22
Helpful honey. Our sages say that “honey and sweets help restore one’s vision.” 23 The Talmud lists various "aids" for memory, and later commentaries add: “Honey, too, makes one wise.”24
Messages in the Honey
We can derive many life lessons from honey. Here is a sweet sampling:
The sweet-and-sour balance. The Torah restricts what can be offered on the altar: “Do not offer any leavening25 or sweet fruits26 as a fire-offering to G‑d."27 Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch explains this homiletically: Always being sour—or, conversely, being too sweet—is not an acceptable form of service in Judaism. 28
Too much of a good thing. In Psalms, King David praises G‑d's Torah: “Sweet to my palate is Your word, more than honey!” 29 The Eretz HaChaim explains: Proverbs30 cautions us against indulging in too much honey, while “Torah is always satisfying.”31
Selfless bees. The Midrash states, “Just as the bee stores everything it produces for its owner, so do we, the people of Israel, save our mitzvahs for our Father in Heaven.” 32 The commentaries elaborate: Bees cannot consume all the honey that they gather, but they produce it for the owner of the hive. Similarly, Jewish people keep mitzvahs for the sake of heaven, without personal ulterior motives.
Sweetness and stingers. The Lubavitcher Rebbe comments: The bee both stings and produces honey.33 A person’s character, too, is comprised of two extremes, the attribute of kindness (in Kabbalah, the “right side”) and the attribute of severity (the “left side”). The Torah teaches us to “use the right side to attract and draw near, and the left to push away.”34 A bee’s primary function is to produce honey, yet its stinger is a defense to protect its treasure. So, too, our main focus is to “do good,”35 i.e. the positive commandments; secondarily, “abstaining from bad,”36 i.e. the negative commandments, helps protect and safeguard the former. Ideally, we try to combine and incorporate the “left” with the “right.”37
The sweetness of Torah. In King Solomon’s allegorical “Song of Songs,” the verse “Honey and milk under your tongue”38 is interpreted to mean that words of Torah—specifically the inner secrets of Kabbalah—are sweeter than honey. 39 We thus eat milk and honey products on the Shavuot holiday, when we celebrate the Giving of the Torah.40
Two ways to learn. Rabbi Tzvi Farber makes an interesting observation: Bees produce honey by flying many miles to collect nectar from flowers, while milk comes straight from the cow. Similarly, one learns Torah in two ways:
One should gather insights from others, learning from diverse teachers;
One can also be creative and original, developing his own Torah insights. 41
Additional Customs
Begging for honey cake. On the eve of Yom Kippur, the sexton or rabbi distributes honey cake to the congregation for a sweet year. It is customary to “beg” for a piece, as we hope that this will be the last time we‘ll have to beg, and that we’ll be self-sufficient and independent in the upcoming year.
More apple in honey. Later in the festive Tishrei month, on the day of Hoshanah Rabbah (the last day of Sukkot), many recite Psalms all night, fervently praying for a sweet year. In 1984, the Rebbe revived the custom of concluding the recital of Psalms with an apple dipped in honey.
A sweet tooth. When a three-year-old child starts learning Torah in cheder (school) for the first time, it is customary42 to place a little honey on the letters of the alef-bet, which the child then licks happily, so the child learns to associate Torah with delight and good taste.43 The chassidic master Rabbi Mendel of Kotzk would expound the verse “Do not offer any leavening or sweet fruits as a fire-offering to G‑d”: The Hebrew word for “do not” is “lo,” which, with a slightly different spelling, can mean “for him.” He used this as a Biblical source for the various sweet treats brought for “him”—the child—during his cheder introduction.
This year, when you’re dipping your apple into honey, you’ll have a taste of its significance. May you have a good, sweet new year!
FOOTNOTES
1. Deuteronomy 31:20, one of many similar Torah phrases.
2. See A Land of Wheat…and Date Honey.
3. Exodus 16:31.
4. Judges 14.
5. An important difference between the two honeys, of course, is the blessing we recite over them. The blessing over dates is "Borei Pri Ha'Etz," whereas the blessing for bees' honey is “Shehakol.”
6. The Biblical word “devash” actually refers to date palm honey, while honey in Rabbinic literature is usually bees’ honey.
7. See Why an Apple in Honey? as to why the apple is specifically used.
8. Likkutei Levi Yitzchak, Igrot, p. 311.
9. See Tur and Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah, sec. 81. Also see Rashba (Responsa, sec. 80) and Rabbeinu Yonah (cited in Rosh to Brachot, ch. 6) for differing views regarding these two opposing qualities in a halachic query.
10. The Talmud (Bava Batra 3b) relates that King Herod preserved a girl’s corpse for 7 years in honey.
11. Additionally, honey is one of the seven liquids that cause susceptibility to impurity, although that is more applicable to Temple times than it is today. See Mishnah, Machshirin 6:4.
12. Torah Ohr, Shemot, p. 212.
13. Hagahot Ashri (14th century) glosses on the Rosh. Those who subscribe to this custom may want to take precaution not to consume beeswax along with the raw honey; there are contemporary halachic opinions who prohibit consumption of beeswax, based on their findings as to how it is produced by the impure bee, more so than honey (see Tzfunot journal, vol. 15, p. 48). However, the overwhelming majority deem it allowed (see Halichos Shlomo, Tishrei, ch. 1, fn. 76). See also Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Orech Chaim 467:15, which discusses eating and drinking raw honey that had been mixed with its wax, without noting any concern about not being allowed to consume the wax.
14. Leket Yosher (14th century).
15. Babylonian Talmud, Brachot 7b.
16. See Brachot ibid. and Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Maachalot Asurot 3:3.
17. Challah 1:4.
18. See our Blessings on Food Guide for the definition of halachic bread.
19. See The Laws of Challah.
20. See our Blessings on Food Guide for this blessing.
21. It is also kosher for Passover, provided no leavened ingredients were included in the process. See Is Honey Kosher for Passover?. Some kashrut agencies do, indeed, require certification for Passover use.
22. Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Deot 4:12.
23. Yoma 83b. See also the story of King Saul’s son Jonathan (I Samuel, ch. 14), whose eyes lit up when he chanced on honey in the field. (Parenthetically, the commentaries there disagree on the definition of the wording in verse 25: Radak maintains the "oozing of nectar" described in the passage was bees' honey flowing from the honeycombs, whereas Rashi maintains it was nectar from sugar cane, a position he similarly holds in defining Song of Songs 5:1.)
24. Horayot 13b.
25. Certain offerings, such as a Korban Todah, have leavened ingredients. But as a whole, leavenings themselves are not offered.
26. In the Hebrew original, the word "devash" (honey) is used. However, the Torah commentaries concur that this refers to "sweet fruits." Yet we include it here, as the lesson can obviously be derived from honey as well.
27. Leviticus 2:11.
28. Sefer HaSichot 5704, p. 151.
29. 119:103. See 19:11 ad loc., where the pleasure of Torah is described as "sweeter than honey from the honey combs."
30. 25:16.
31. Ibid. 5:19.
32. Midrash Rabbah, Devarim 1:6.
33. In another context, Oznayim L'Torah on Deuteronomy 1:44 elaborates how the actions of those who desired to prematurely possess the Land of Israel were similar to those of bees (“as the bees would do”). See there at length.
34. Sotah 47a.
35. Psalms 34:15.
36. Ibid.
37. In an early journal entry, Reshimot, no. 132.
38. 4:11.
39. Chagiga 13a.
40. Dairy products are most familiar, but there are also Shavuot honey specialties. See Nitei Gavriel, Shavuot, p. 110.
41. Cited in Yalkut Divrei Asaf (19th century).
42. See Areinfirinish - A Child's Entry Into Cheder.
43. Machzor Vitri and others.
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• Savoring the
Sweetness: A Baby Boomer’s Rosh Hashanah (By Miriam Karp)
 September. As long as I can remember, my favorite time of year. We kids were bedecked with fresh new school clothes, our sharpened pencils and unbroken crayons lined up in their boxes like soldiers awaiting marching orders. Michigan autumns were marked by crisp blue skies and leaves turning an array of colors—scarlet, gold, yellow, magenta, as intense as the hues of those crayons.
In the midst of all this school hustle and bustle came another beginning—Rosh Hashanah. For those two days, we were pulled away from the schoolyard gang, reminded we were somehow different. We rose early, gotFor two days we were pulled away from the schoolyard gang decked out in our finery, and went to temple, where we sang beautiful, soulful melodies, tunes with a haunting seriousness so different from the sugary, superficial ditties we learned from TV. We dipped fresh, crunchy apples into sticky honey and relished golden, round challahs, purple raisins beckoning.
Autumn and the Yamim Noraim, the High Holidays, seared together in that memory bank of childhood sensations. The dreamy, expansive days of summer had ended—days of lazily lying in a meadow, clouds and butterflies swirling overhead. Hot sun, cool pools, dripping popsicles and scraped-knees-filled days of endless possibility and freedom. But fall brought a more focused mood of anticipation, tempered with a bittersweet sense that winter was just around the corner. Rosh Hashanah’s minor-tuned melodies too carried a message, which even a child could somehow sense. It’s about more than shiny shoes and sweets, those songs whispered. A Jew’s “partying” has a purpose—to inspire us to dig a bit deeper, reach a bit higher; to make our days count.
Fall was a time of measurement and accounting, as well as promise and hope. Our school health form declared just how much we’d grown, two or three inches since last September. And this year we would learn cursive writing and multiplying. And maybe be more popular!
Rosh Hashanah is a time of accounting, too, but with a more subtle set of achievement markers. Were we more patient, kind, this past year? No gold stars are given to award our victories, but we can relish an inner knowing as we slowly climb the ladder of self-refinement and growth. Hope springs eternal—we experience aWere we more patient, kind, this past year? combination of bitter remorse for squandered opportunities, and G‑d’s loving embrace as we’re given yet another chance for a fresh start.
And as much as we kvetched, there was a relief to go back to the rules and structure of school, to submit to the authority of the teacher. We knew we’d learn new skills and grow through that discipline, stretch to levels we might never reach laying around the pool. And during this season, we adults submit to the yoke of Avinu Malkeinu, our Father, our King, who guides us with that perfect blend of endless, loving patience and the structure of mitzvahs that offer infinite growth possibilities, in ways we could never reach left to our own bumbling devices.
My chronological years have increased a bit since kicking the leaves and avoiding the sidewalk cracks on the way home were my primary fall activities. I like to think my understanding of Judaism has increased a bit as well. As one of the much analyzed and probed Baby Boomers, I’ve found some correlations between middle age and the High Holidays.
As we boomers move into the autumn of our fifties and sixties, many have conflicting reactions. Mortality is more than an abstract concept. We’ve sat in shocked silence at funerals of friends, and stood with bowed heads at graves of family. Our bodies are showing signs of limitations; those gray hairs and wrinkles keep appearing. One all-nighter is followed by three days of yawning and irritability. In spite of increased fatigue and forgetfulness, I find this time surprisingly liberating.
I see my friends stepping into their own skin in a deeper way, with a stronger sense of awareness, responsibility and identity. They want to mentor others, speak out, make a difference. It’s suddenly easier to prioritize, let go of the trivialities. Having made more than a few meaty mistakes, I find it easier to see the big picture and focus on the real stuff.
Rosh Hashanah so elegantly provides us Jews with a yearly mid-stream pause. In the middle of our hectic lives, we take time to pull back and reflect. Like the melancholy honk of the geese flying south, we are reminded, through the pensive prayers, melodies and mood, that this life is a precious and time-bound gift. Time for inventory: How well are we measuring up to our ideals? What resolutions can we make to get and stay more on track?
Maimonides likened the penetrating blast of the shofar to an alarm clock: “Wake up you sleepers . . .” Or in more contemporary parlance, “Wake up and smell the coffee!” The summer’s over, snap out of your dreamy dilly-dallying. Go for it—let’s make our lives and world what we want them to be.
My prayers have changed as I’ve aged, ostensibly matured; like my newfound attitude, they are simpler, more focused on the essence. They cut deeper.
Bless me, forgive me, embrace me
“G‑d, please bless me, forgive me, embrace me. Me and mine. My dear husband is graying. Give him strength. My precious children and grandchildren. Those kids, so dear, so young and vulnerable (though of course they don’t think so), those teens and budding young adults. G‑d, please watch over them. I have to let go, trusting You to keep them in Your palm, close by and protected. Protect Your precious children and Your beloved land, each one, each inch. Bring us close to You. Reveal Your light. That’s all.”
Red and gold mark these days—glorious leaves, crisp red apples dipped in golden honey—as we pray to receive and savor blessings of sweetness. To appreciate the aching beauty in quickly passing time, with our growing awareness of its ephemeral quality, and our fleeting chance to use it wisely. The Days of Awe are just that, awe at nature’s flash of beauty throughout the seasons, awe and gratitude for our lives’ possibilities and our Creator’s closeness and majesty.
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 The festival of Rosh Hashanah—the name means “Head of the Year”—is observed for two days beginning on 1 Tishrei, the first day of the Jewish year. It is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, and their first actions toward the realization of mankind’s role in G‑d’s world.
Rosh Hashanah thus emphasizes the special relationship between G‑d and humanity: our dependence upon G‑d as our creator and sustainer, and G‑d’s dependence upon us as the ones who make His presence known and felt in His world. Each year on Rosh Hashanah, “all inhabitants of the world pass before G‑d like a flock of sheep,” and it is decreed in the heavenly court “who shall live, and who shall die . . . who shall be impoverished, and who shall be enriched; who shall fall and who shall rise.” But this is also the day we proclaim G‑d King of the Universe. The Kabbalists teach that the continued existence of the universe is dependent upon the renewal of the divine desire for a world when we accept G‑d’s kingship each year on Rosh Hashanah.
The central observance of Rosh Hashanah is the sounding of the shofar, the ram’s horn, which also represents the trumpet blast of a people’s coronation of their king. The cry of the shofar is also a call to repentance, for Rosh Hashanah is also the anniversary of man’s first sin and his repentance thereof, and serves as the first of the “Ten Days of Repentance” which culminate in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Another significance of the shofar is to recall the Binding of Isaac which also occurred on Rosh Hashanah, in which a ram took Isaac’s place as an offering to G‑d; we evoke Abraham’s readiness to sacrifice his son, and plead that the merit of his deed should stand by us as we pray for a year of life, health and prosperity. Altogether, we listen to one hundred shofar blasts over the course of the Rosh Hashanah services.
Additional Rosh Hashanah observances include: a) Eating a piece of apple dipped in honey, to symbolize our desire for a sweet year, and other special foods symbolic of the new year’s blessings. b) Blessing one another with the words “Leshanah tovah tikateiv veteichateim,” “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.” c) Tashlich, a special prayer said near a body of water (an ocean, river, pond, etc.), in evocation of the verse, “And You shall cast their sins into the depths of the sea.” And as with every major Jewish holiday, after candlelighting and prayers we recite kiddush and make a blessing on the challah.
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Parshah
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It is not by
coincidence that the reading of Haazinu, the portion that is always read in
proximity to the High Holy Days, explains our connection to G‑d as that of
being bound by rope! by Rochel Holzkenner
The prime minister of Israel and the president of the United States are in a meeting in Washington, D.C. The prime minister notices an unusually fancy phone on a side table in the president’s private chambers.
“What is that phone for?” he asks.
“It’s my direct line to G‑d.”
The president insists that the prime minister try it out, and indeed he is connected to G‑d. The prime minister holds a lengthy discussion with Him.
AfterI think of G‑d as within earshot’s distance of my whispering lips hanging up, the prime minister says, “Thank you very much. I want to pay for my phone charges.” The president, of course, refuses. The prime minister is steadfast, and finally the president gives in. He checks the counter on the phone and says: “All right, the charges are $100,000.” The prime minister gladly signs a check.
A few months later, the president is in Jerusalem on an official visit. In the prime minister’s chambers he sees a phone identical to his, and learns it also is a direct line to G‑d. The president remembers he has an urgent matter, and asks if he can use the phone. The prime minister gladly agrees, hands him the phone, and the president chats away.
After hanging up, the president offers to pay for the phone charges. The prime minister looks at the phone counter and says: “One shekel.” The president looks surprised: “Why so cheap?”
The prime minister smiles: “Local call.”
On Rosh Hashanah, I think of G‑d as within earshot’s distance of my whispering lips. These thoughts help elicit a more authentic prayer from me.
It is not by coincidence that the reading of Haazinu, the portion that is always read in proximity to the High Holy Days, explains our connection to G‑d as that of being bound by rope! Deutoronomy 32:9 reads: “Because G‑d’s portion is His people; Jacob is the rope of His inheritance.”
The analogy of a rope, whose upper end is bound above and the lower below, is compared to the soul, where the upper end is bound above and the lower end is enclothed in the body, explains Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi in the Tanya.
There are many profound implications, and lessons, of the rope imagery described in Haazinu:
a) Just as a rope is comprised of many strands, our relationship with G‑d is multifaceted, multisensory, and its complexity is what gives it strength.
b) Each Everything I do affects G‑dof the 613 mitzvot is a thread of a greater rope that keeps us intensely connected to G‑d. Unfortunately, neglecting a mitzvah causes some strands to disconnect and the entire rope to weaken.
c) A tug on the bottom of a rope will bring down the top of the rope, too. The implication is that everything I do affects G‑d Himself. He is the other end of my rope. When I fall, I drag Him down.
Now, that last note is a frightening thought. It makes G‑d seem vulnerable. But according to Kabbalah, G‑d apportioned some of His creative life force to holy creations, called kedushah; and some of those powers he “threw down over His back” to vitalize the currents that run antithetical to Him, the sitra achara. When I use my G‑d-given energy to behave inappropriately, I am actually re-appropriating G‑d’s life force by transferring the holy energy invested in me to the realm of sitra achara.
And finally:
d) G‑d is with us even when we have fallen. The rope ensures that we are never in crisis alone. Just like a parent who sits compassionately with a filthy child, G‑d is pained by our struggles and eagerly awaits our return to Him.
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 The greater part of the Torah reading of Haazinu (“Listen In”) consists of a 70-line “song” delivered by Moses to the people of Israel on the last day of his earthly life.
Calling heaven and earth as witnesses, Moses exhorts the people, “Remember the days of old / Consider the years of many generations / Ask your father, and he will recount it to you / Your elders, and they will tell you” how G‑d “found them in a desert land,” made them a people, chose them as His own, and bequeathed them a bountiful land. The song also warns against the pitfalls of plenty—“Yeshurun grew fat and kicked / You have grown fat, thick and rotund / He forsook G‑d who made him / And spurned the Rock of his salvation”—and the terrible calamities that would result, which Moses describes as G‑d “hiding His face.” Yet in the end, he promises, G‑d will avenge the blood of His servants, and be reconciled with His people and land.
The Parshah concludes with G‑d’s instruction to Moses to ascend the summit of Mount Nebo, from which he will behold the Promised Land before dying on the mountain. “For you shall see the land opposite you; but you shall not go there, into the land which I give to the children of Israel.”
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Video
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The story of how a
nice Jewish boy from Kansas ends up as a rice farmer in Thailand who
celebrates his heritage
 Watch (14:05)
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• Beyond an ALS
Ice Bucket Challenge (By Lifshy Ajzenszmidt)
<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="http://embed.chabad.org/multimedia/mediaplayer/embedded/embed.js.asp?aid=2688609&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>
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Women
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As her daughter was
suffering through the chemo treatments, her hair fell out and she wore a wig,
like so many cancer patients. by Chana Weisberg
Dear reader,
At a recent wedding, I met up with an old friend. As we were catching up on the last couple of decades, her daughter passed by, and she introduced her to me.
A few years earlier this daughter had suffered from Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a treatable cancer of the immune system. She described the terrible anxiety, the indecision and the fears.
Her daughter had suffered through surgery and chemotherapy treatments, and had recovered, thank G‑d. In her early twenties, she was now a survivor for four years and her prognosis was excellent. Despite being worried about the unknown, G‑d had been kind to them, my friend said, and her daughter had in the interim married and given birth to two beautiful children.
“G‑d alone runs the world,” she said, “and He decides if and when we marry and if and when we have children—even after undergoing a battery of chemo treatments.”
My friend’s faith was inspiring. She also shared a story that truly touched me.
As her daughter was suffering through the chemo treatments, her hair fell out and she wore a wig, like so many cancer patients.
One day, her daughter met an acquaintance who had no idea what she was going through. Though my friend’s daughter was quite young at the time, the acquaintance assumed that, like other Orthodox women, she was wearing a wig because she was married.
“I didn’t know that you had married,” the woman enthused while eyeing her wig.
“I’m not married,” my friend’s daughter responded simply.
She related the event later to her mother, who asked her if she had been very uncomfortable by the exchange.
“Well, yes,” her daughter replied. “I wasn’t embarrassed for myself; I just kept thinking how mortified that woman must have been after she realized. I felt so bad for her, and I was so sorry that I had inadvertently caused her such embarrassment.”
Not only was my friend’s daughter not personally offended or slighted by a thoughtless (though innocent) remark, but she had apparently so honed her sensitivity towards the plight of others that she was only concerned for this woman’s feelings.
We all go through challenges in our lives. We cannot control what suffering we will have to endure. But our perspective on how we choose to emerge from our situations is our own choice.
What a lesson as we embark on a new year.
In just a few days, on Rosh Hashanah, we will stand united before our Maker, awaiting judgment for the coming year. We pray, “Borcheinu avinu kulanu ke’echad,” “Bless us, our Father, all of us as one united whole.” Let us resolve to forgive those who may have wronged us, innocently or purposely, just as we beseech our Maker to forgive us for our own shortcomings.
Wishing each and every one of you a year full of blessing and goodness, health, happiness and prosperity.
Chana Weisberg,
Editor, TJW
P.S. Please help us light up our world by joining and inviting your friends to join TJW's Facebook Shabbat and Holiday Candlelighting event here. As we begin the Jewish New Year, let's bring more light, blessings, clarity and spiritual protection to our world!
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• A Recipe for
Life (By Chana Scop)
 I was having a tough day. My to-do list was endless.
I surveyed the scene—the 150 boxes lined up on my dining room table that I needed to prepare for the holidays, the chores that needed to be done, the laundry, the dishes . . .
But then there were these little eyes looking at me. Eyes that speak.
It happened to be a rare moment when just Chaim Boruch and I were home alone.
And then I saw it.
The recipe.
I smiled at Chaim Boruch and asked him if he would like to bake cookies with Mommy for Shabbat.
He nodded yes. His nod really speaks volumes. You can see as his eyes shine bright and his smile emerges, that yes . . . indeed . . . this was a good thing to do!
Well. I’m not sure I ever baked cookies the way I did yesterday. There was something different about this recipe, something that I haven’t noticed before.
The flour was “dumped” into the mixer with his little uncoordinated hands, gently braced by mine.
The eggs he was interested in rolling on the countertop were gently steered to safer surfaces, and the teaspoons of vanilla were measured shakily . . . but only after we took time to inhale the calming aroma.
Yes. There was something different about this recipe. A recipe that blocked out its surroundings. A recipe that focused on every ingredient, every spoon, every measuring cup . . . every step. A recipe that included ingredients I had not seen before.
We giggled. We laughed. We had flour on our face. Indeed, a new recipe emerged.
A recipe for love. A recipe for patience. A recipe for determination. A recipe for devotion. A recipe for dedication. A recipe for trust. A recipe for belief.
A secret recipe from the cookbook of life.
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Lifestyle
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In this Pavlova,
three of the traditional Rosh Hashanah foods come together in a way that is
sure to impress. The airy meringue shell is filled with honey-vanilla cream,
topped with green apples and drizzled with pomegranate coulis. by Miriam Szokovski
In this Pavlova, three of the traditional Rosh Hashanah foods come together in a way that is sure to impress. The airy meringue shell is filled with honey-vanilla cream, topped with green apples and drizzled with pomegranate coulis.
Even better, there’s no need to hold the brisket! You can easily make this a non-dairy dessert.
Meringue Ingredients:
Meringue Directions:
Filling Ingredients:
Filling Directions:
Pomegranate Coulis Ingredients:
Pomegranate Coulis Directions:
To Assemble:
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• Individual
Honey Bowls (By Linda Lebovic)
Treat your family and guests to these individual honey bowls, made from hollowed-out apples.
You will need:
One apple per person, preferably on the smaller side
Cookie dough baller
Knife
Lemon
Honey
Instructions:
Cut the top off the apple and set aside. With the cookie dough baller, delicately scoop out the inside of the apple without breaking the skin.
Place the apple on a plate. If the apple is wobbly, carefully slice a thin piece off the bottom of the apple to make it sit straight on the plate.
Fill the apple with honey, and gently rub a lemon over the rim of the apple to prevent browning. Replace the top on the apple.
Each guest now has an individual honey bowl.
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• Holiday Recipe
Roundup (By Miriam Szokovski)
With Rosh Hashanah almost here and Sukkot shortly after, you may be looking for some menu inspiration. Here are some suggestions:
Challah Fish Soup Salad Sides Meat Chicken Desserts Healthy Desserts
Apple Pear Strawberry Compote (Smooth, chunky and a fantastic drink)
Yom Kippur
Of course, on Yom Kippur itself we do not eat or drink, but here are some recipes for the pre-fast meal.
Honey Cake (Coming shortly)
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Jewish
News
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Rabbi Pinchas
Vishedski, chief rabbi of Donetsk, Ukraine,and his wife Dina struggle to
organize Rosh Hashanah in Kiev for a beleaguered community that has fled the
fighting in the east. by Dovid Margolin
KIEV, Ukraine—The back doors of the black mini-bus open wide to reveal boxes and bags piled high. Each is neatly labeled in Russian, describing the religious, as well as the mundane objects it contains—Machzor prayerbooks for Rosh Hashanah, siddurs for Shabbat, tallises. But there was also kosher wine, dishes, winter clothing, a computer. All of the items—from a giant hot-water machine to a bag of fuzzy blankets—have been retrieved from the embattled eastern city of Donetsk, Ukraine.
In the flickering light of a synagogue courtyard, volunteers begin helping RabbiPinchas Vishedski, chief rabbi of Donetsk, and his wife Dina—co-directors ofChabad-Lubavitch of Donetsk—unload the big van’s contents. The vehicle has just traveled nine hours from Donetsk to Kiev, and the boxes contain the very life of the Donetsk Jewish community—a life that was active and secure just six months ago, but is now on the run and spread throughout Ukraine.
With, by all accounts, Donetsk experiencing sustained battles between pro-Russian Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) separatists and the Ukrainian army, despite a Sept. 5 ceasefire, the city remains far too dangerous a place to return to for the thousands of refugees who call it home.
As Rosh Hashanah approaches on the evening of Sept. 24, the couple is working to ensure that their community is once again able to celebrate the Jewish New Year together, renting space in two hotels for the hundreds of people expected, and preparing meals for the two days of the holiday and the Shabbat that immediately follows.Today, hundreds of Jewish community members are living in rented or loaned apartments all over Kiev, including the rabbi and his family, with the Vishedskis working frantically to arrange activities for what amounts to a community in exile. Using borrowed space at the Midreshet Zion synagogue in central Kiev, last week the community held its first Shabbat services, drawing more than 30 Donetsk natives.
‘Making Progress’
“We are making progress here, thank G‑d, but still, it’s not our home,” explains Rabbi Vishedski. “In the past, we made two large weddings for our daughters in Donetsk. Each had hundreds of people, and we had to arrange hotels and buses and food for many guests, but even that was easier than this. Everything is much simpler and smoother when it’s in your own city.”
Dina Vishedski, co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Donetsk now settled in Kiev, holds a Torah-scroll cover from her home town. (Photo:Dovid Margolin)
As Dina Vishedski weeds through the variously packed bundles—some of them just bed sheets filled with necessities and tied in a knot at the corners—she reflects: “Imagine you have to send people into your home to pack a few of your things for you? Grabbing whatever they can, whatever will fit? It’s terrible. It’s so terrible and sad.”
Pulling in late Wednesday night, the mini-bus supplies were much appreciated, but underwhelming in the larger scheme of things. It had passed by numerous separatist DPR and opposing Ukrainian army positions, and its driver responds matter-of-factly when questioned about road conditions:
“If fighting begins while you’re on the road,” he reports, “it’s better just to drive through it faster, rather than sit around and wait to get blown up.”
Finishing his cigarette, the driver climbs back into his seat to make the return trip home.
‘Must Remain Safe’
Those who live throughout the former Soviet Union are typically cynical about everything, especially government.
That’s why when a ceasefire agreement was signed in Minsk, Belarus, between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin and DPR representatives, few believed it would last. Relative quiet did descend on the east during the first three days, before ultimately being broken by both sides. Now, the situation remains calmer than it was prior to the ceasefire, but not by much, and no one knows for how long.
Still, even during that short time of quiet, some refugees managed to return to Donetsk, hoping that the peace would somehow actually last.
“I know a number of people who went back there,” says Marina, 36, a Donetsk Jewish community member who now lives with her three sons, sister, brother-in-law and their two children in a two-room apartment in outer Kiev.
Marina’s husband remains in Donetsk, running the small store they own and sending whatever money he makes to his wife. “I wanted to go back, too. I told my husband and he said, ‘Under no circumstances! You and the children must remain safe. There’s still shelling going on here.’
“I don’t think I ever really believed in the ceasefire,” she says softly. “I just wanted to believe in it.”
Volunteers bring the newly arrived supplies into the community's temporary synagogue space in Kiev. (Photo: Dovid Margolin)
In preparing for Rosh Hashanah, the Vishedskis are now gearing up for two sets of holiday services—one in Kiev for refugees, the other in Donetsk for those who never left and those who have since returned. When Machzors arrived in Kiev, it was only half of the community’s supply, the other half remaining for use in Donetsk. Depending on reports from the city, two Chabad emissaries may even be sent to lead the services and blow shofar for Rosh Hashanah.
‘We Just Want to Go Home’
Sitting around their small kitchen table, which, together with a few chairs and mismatched mattresses makes up all of the furniture in their tiny apartment, Marina’s sister, Galia, tells of how she left Donetsk at the end of June, traveling with her children to vacation by the sea in Mariupol, all the while hoping her home city would soon quiet down.
Rabbi Pinchas Vishedski, co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Donetsk, has been working in a temporary office in central Kiev. (Photo: Dovid Margolin)
“When we left, there was already fighting, but it was mostly flying over our heads, not actually into our neighborhood,” Galia explains. “There was shooting, but we thought it would still get better. We were in Mariupol with only some vacation clothes and a few other small things; when my husband told me we couldn’t go back to Donetsk, not even for our clothing, I started crying.”
Since moving to Kiev at the end of August, Galia and her husband have struggled to gain a financial footing. Still, they are trying to acclimate, and with their son Mark, 12, happily registered at the Simcha School in Kiev, they plan on remaining in the city until at least the end of the school year.
“The children are happy here, thank G‑d,” says Galia. “But it’s not like they don’t know what’s going on over there. My 3-year-old daughter was on the phone with her grandmother [who lives in a village in the middle of the war zone] and she asks her, ‘Babushka, I want to come visit you. Are the guys still shooting?’ ”
These boxes read "Rosh Hashanah" and "Yom Kippur," and include items for the upcoming High Holidays. (Photo: Dovid Margolin)
Both Galia and Marina describe the joy they had when they learned that the Donetsk community was reorganizing in Kiev, and say that more than anything they were happy to see the familiar faces of the Vishedskis, in addition to friends and neighbors.
“We had a wonderful community, with an amazing Jewish school for our children, and a center where we could go for Shabbat and holidays,” says Galia, “and now it’s gone. We miss Donetsk very much; we just want to go home.”
Yet despite all they’ve gone through, Galia remains positive, saying that compared to others in Donetsk who have lost homes and loved ones, she considers herself to be among the lucky ones. “A classmate that I grew up with was in his home a few months ago when a shell landed and blew the whole thing up. His wife and children weren’t in the house, but he’s gone. Everybody in Donetsk knows someone who is now either dead or missing limbs.
“So we’re blessed here, all together in one piece,” she says. “My stove broke this morning, and I remembered what Dina told us just this Shabbos in synagogue—that we have to keep smiling and remain happy. When I spoke to her on the phone this morning and I told her what happened to the stove, she asked me, ‘Why are you so happy?’ So I answered, ‘That’s what you taught us!’ ”
Former Donetsk resident Shaul Melamed has moved to Kiev to be safe, along with so many other Jewish individuals and families. (Photo: Dovid Margolin)
With no end to the turmoil in site, the future of Donetsk’s Jewish community, along with those of Lugansk and the teetering Mariupol, remains uncertain.
“We sit together and talk,” says Dina about the women of her community, “and everyone just has questions; nobody has any answers. People have homes, apartments, businesses in Donetsk; no one wants to just give it all up and run away.”
When asked what conditions are needed for him to return to Donetsk, Rabbi Vishedski says that in his eyes, it’s a matter of continuing his mission to work for the Jewish community of Donetsk, no matter what the circumstances.
“I see my shlichus here constantly changing,” he explains, as he and his wife finally end their day well past midnight. “When things started to get tense, my job was to try to calm people down, encourage them to do learn more Torah and do more mitzvot, to strengthen the community. When things got worse, I saw that I needed to encourage people to leave. It’s very difficult for a man to pick himself up and just go. To where? With what money? And that’s why I stayed there, to try to guide and help them make these difficult decisions.
“I was the chief rabbi of a large community—with 10 emissary families working in our organization—and now we are refugees. But each day brings with it its own task, and we must meet each challenge head on.”
Two different families with children—a total of eight people—live in this two-room apartment with little furniture. Here, former Donetsk resident Marina's sons Anver, Rinat and Yosef try to occupy their time. (Photo: Dovid Margolin)
Far from the familiarity of their home and schools, the children make due in close quarters without much of their personal belongings. (Photo: Dovid Margolin)
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• Facebook
Campaign Inspires Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat Candle-Lighting
(Chabad.org Staff)
Invitations from TheJewishWoman.org are going out this week to women and girls around the world to attend a special Facebook “event”, urging them to light candles on Wednesday, Sept. 24, and Thursday, Sept. 25, in honor of Rosh Hashanah, and on Friday, Sept. 26, in honor of Shabbat.
For the past four decades, Jewish women and girls around the world have been educated and inspired in every venue imaginable—in classes, in person, in shopping malls, when stopped outside on the street and through mass media—to light candles at the onset of the Jewish Sabbath and holidays.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of that ongoing worldwide campaign by the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—as well as building on the most recent chapter in that effort—using social media to spread the word.
Invitations from TheJewishWoman.org are going out this week to women and girls around the world to attend a special Facebook “event”, urging them to light candles on Wednesday, Sept. 24,and Thursday, Sept. 25, in honor of Rosh Hashanah, and on Friday, Sept. 26, in honor of Shabbat.
(For instructions on candle lighting visit the Chabad.org page here. To find the candle-lighting times for your location, visit here.)
“Every mitzvah introduces light into the world, but with certain mitzvahs, the light we generate can actually be seen,” says Chana Weisberg, editor of TheJewishWoman.org. “The Shabbat and holiday candles usher in a day of peace and holiness, and bring peace, light and spiritual protection to our land, to our people and to our world. There is no better way for us to bring blessings to our world than to increase in light, clarity and spiritual protection.”
In the spirit of “passing it on,” women and girls are encouraged to invite their Facebook friends to the “event,” reminding them of the importance of this precious mitzvah, which will result in even greater observance and a marked increase of light throughout the world.
On the 24th day of the Hebrew month of Elul, 5774, corresponding to Sept. 11, 1974, the Rebbe introduced this special mivtzah (campaign) for all Jewish woman and girls. Known as Mivtza Neshek (Neirot Shabbat Kodesh, the lights of the holy Shabbat) the Rebbe also revitalized the time-honored Jewish custom that as soon as a Jewish girl reaches the age of education and understanding, she should light her own candle.
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• A Treacherous
1,200 Mile Drive to Deliver Hurricane Relief Supplies to Cabo (By
Menachem Posner)
Police blockades, armed bandits, flooded roads and even a cracked axle couldn’t deter volunteers of Chabad Without Borders from bringing a truck of much-needed emergency supplies to the beleaguered Jewish community in hurricane-ravaged Cabo San Lucas, on the southernmost tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula.
“As soon as we found out that Cabo was affected so severely, I decided to send my truck with supplies,” says Rabbi Mendel Polichenco of Chabad Without Borders, which works to serve Jewish communities straddling the U.S.-Mexican border, specifically those in Tijuana, Mexico, and Chula Vista, Calif. “We were actually in the midst of moving to a new home just in time for Rosh Hashanah, but we put everything on hold.”
While Rabbi Yonah Fradkin, director of Chabad S. Diego Headquarters, procured large amounts of kosher chicken, meat, canned goods and other staples, Polichenco went to Costco to purchase water, solar chargers and other necessities. All the while, the rabbi says he was unable to communicate with those in Cabo, but “I used my common sense, and I was able to guess what I thought they would need.”
Faith They’d Pull ThroughOnce the relief goods—$5,000 worth of them—were in hand, the next challenge was to get them across the border. Since a limit exists on the amount of items a person may bring through, they crossed using three different vehicles—one driven by Rabbi Polichenco; one driven by his wife, Nechama Dina; and one driven by a community member.
Upon arriving at the Chabad center in Tijuana, the supplies were packed tightly onto Polichenco’s 4x4 pickup, which had been outfitted with jerry cans for gas. Two volunteer drivers—Larry Barnes and John Krasner—began the trip lateTuesday night.
The Chabad center in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, lies at the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula, an almost 1,200-mile drive from Tijuana at the northern border with the U.S. (Map: Google)
Four hours into the almost 1,200-mile ride, the truck slipped off the road and an axel cracked; no one was hurt. Undeterred, Polichenco dispatched another vehicle with a replacement part. In addition, since limited communication had been re-established with Cabo, he was able to add specific supplies that had been requested, including old-fashioned telephones that don’t require electrical power.
By Thursday, the truck was repaired, restocked and ready to continue down the peninsula. All the while, the drivers were meeting people in cars and buses in the opposite direction who told them that the trip was impossible, and that they should turn back.
The Federal Police, which controls the roads, also told them the road was closed, and that they should turn back.
Despite the negative predictions, Polichenco says he urged the drivers to continue going, simply saying: “The families of the Chabad rabbi and rebbitzen in Cabo—Rabbi Benzion and Sonia Hershcovich—kept on asking what was being done, and I had faith that we would pull through.”
Finally, on Friday morning, just before Shabbat, the supply convoy arrived—and not a moment too soon.
The roads along the way to Cabo were practically impassable, and others told the two men to turn around and go back.
Speaking via telephone from his home, which is now connected to a generator, Rabbi Hershcovich insists that Rabbi Polichenco is “really a lifesaver.”
“We were all alone and had no idea if people on the outside even knew what was going on here,” he says. “We’re so touched to know that he’d already sent over a truck with generators, food, water and other supplies even before we asked. When he first told me that he had sent a truck, I started bawling on the phone.
“And Larry and John are simply angels from heaven. They went through sheer terror and hell to get that truck down here. No one else managed to reach us, but they did.”
Rooms for Others Up North
Reporting on the general situation, the rabbi says police and other government workers have been doing an excellent job, righting telephone poles and rewiring them so that electricity can be restored in the next few days.
For his part, Hershcovich is distributing cold water and other snacks to the workers, bringing them some much-appreciated relief. He is also taking food down to the barrios, the city's poorest neighborhoods.
Debris and wrecked buildings were everywhere, adding to the difficulty of the journey.
Many community members, including the rabbi’s wife and three children, have been relocated to La Paz, Mexico, some 100 miles to the north, where Rabbi Alexander and Esther Piekarski, co-directors of Beth Yona-Chabad Jewish Community of La Paz, Mexico, have opened up their home.
“Together with a few others, they have been at our home since late Thursday evening, and even more people from Cabo joined us for the Shabbat meals," says Rabbi Piekarski. “On Rosh Hashanah, we anticipate having a significant Cabo contingent for prayers and festive meals at the Beth Yona Chabad Center.”
Hershcovich plans to join his family there for the holiday and rent rooms so that the remaining community members can be there as well.
And he has another reason to be in La Paz—his wife is expected to give birth to their fourth child any day now.
To assist in the ongoing relief efforts and to help recoup some of the expenses already incurred, click here.
The shul of the Cabo Jewish Center, co-directed by Rabbi Benzion and Sonia Hershcovich, was completely flooded.
With many local stores emptied out by looters, Hershcovich expressed relief and gratitude when the truck finally reached its destination, filled with all kinds of supplies, as well as food and water.
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• Just in Time
for the Holidays, Jamaica Lands Permanent Chabad Presence (By
Menachem Posner)
With nearly 400 years of Jewish settlement, Jamaica is poised to turn a new leaf in the annals of its Jewish history, with the arrival of its first-ever permanentChabad emissary couple.
Chabad’s presence on the island has a long and storied history, dating back to the summer of 1957, when young rabbinical students Yehuda Krinsky and Leibel Raskin had been sent by the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—to bring Jewish publications and awareness to Jamaica, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. In his report to the Rebbe, Raskin described a Jamaican Jewish community that was thirsting for Jewish teaching and services, but lacked kosher food and other basic infrastructure.
Shortly thereafter, Rabbi Krinsky went on to directly serve the Rebbe; today, he is the chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Rabbi Raskin, who passed away in 2004, became the Rebbe’s emissary to Morocco.
Over the decades, Jamaica was served by successive groups of “Roving Rabbis” who visited the island, mostly during the summer months or for Jewish holidays.
Nearly 60 years later, Jamaica has become the ninth Caribbean island to have its own full-time Chabad presence, as Rabbi Yaakov and Mushkee Raskin—married for just a year—prepare to relocate and jump-start Chabad of Jamaica in time for the High Holidays.
Rabbi Yaakov and Mushkee Raskin, co-directors of Chabad of Jamaica
“Our move here was really inspired by my grandfather,” says the 24-year-old Montreal native, a grandson of Rabbi Leibel Raskin. “On his 70th birthday—one year before he passed away—he asked his grandchildren to make the effort to become emissaries of the Rebbe. I knew that this would be the life for me, but I never dreamed I would serve the same place where he once served so many years before.”
One Thing Leads to Another
Following their marriage in August 2013, the Raskins began to consider Jamaica as a place to found a Chabad center of their own. After a discussion with Rabbi MosheKotlarsky, vice chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, and Rabbi Mendel Zarchi, founder and spiritual leader of Chabad in Puerto Rico and the point person for Judaism in the Caribbean, the two planned their first trip together to scout the island out in the spring of 2014, with the guidance of Mushkee's parents, Rabbi Zushe and Esther Wilhelm.
Rabbi Leibel Raskin, left, and Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky in Jamaica in the summer of 1957, where they were sent by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory
Hearing about a Jamaican Jew with ties to Great Britain named Raymond Doweck, who kept kosher while living in Kingston, the couple decided to set up a meeting. When they called his home, they were dismayed to discover that he had a stroke that very morning. Upon arrival in Jamaica, they went directly to his hospital room and were saddened to learn that Doweck did not appear responsive to their conversation. Much to the delight of his family, he did, however, perk up somewhat when the rabbi would strap tefillin upon his arm and head.
Shortly thereafter, they met Doweck’s niece, Debby Flacks, whom it turned out that the rabbi knew, as the two had met at his sister’s Chabad center in Monaco. Flacks and her husband, Michael, attend regularly when they are in Monte Carlo.
Jewish events first took place at the Kingston home of the late Raymond Dowek, a resident who managed to keep kosher on the island.
As the weeks progressed and Doweck’s situation continued to deteriorate, the Raskins maintained steady contact with the family, offering prayers, support and even kosher food for those in Jamaica attending to his needs.
After learning of Doweck’s passing, Raskin decided to attend his funeral in Israel. There, appreciative family members offered to help fund Raskin’s fledgling Chabad center as a tribute to Doweck, whom they say had always wanted a Chabad House on the Island.
As per the family’s wishes, when the Raskins returned to Jamaica this summer for a second visit, they used Doweck’s home as a temporary Chabad House, in which they hosted meals and celebrations.
At the same time, they also held a day camp for half-a-dozen local children, combining education (Torah study) and entertainment for a well-rounded Jewish experience.
The summer also offered them the opportunity to begin supplying kosher food and to locals and tourists alike—a need that has been sorely lacking. And they used the time to search for a home for their Chabad center in Montego Bay.
Right Near the Resorts
While most of the Jewish residents (as well as the community center, United Congregation of Israelites) are concentrated in the capital city of Kingston, the Raskins chose to put down roots in Montego Bay; it’s a haven for tourists and has recently been connected to Kingston with a new highway, cutting down travel time between the two population centers. They plan to make the trip to Kingston every week or two for Torah classes, children’s programs and other Jewish services with the local community.
Rabbi Raskin wraps tefillin with Raymond Doweck's brother, Albert Doweck.
“After a series of false starts, we found a place that is right up the hill from the major resorts,” says Mushkee Raskin, 22, from Brooklyn, N.Y. “And best of all, it’s right next door to a Jewish family we met. We already had them, along with Debbie and Michael [Flacks] over as our first Shabbat guests—something we hope will become a regular occurrence.”
With their new home secured and their household belongings in transit, the Raskins are concentrating on the High Holidays, taking reservations and drumming up interest for services and meals for tourists and locals alike. So far, they have made contact with about 70 Jewish households, and the numbers are climbing steadily.
“Sure, there are fewer Jews here than where we grew up,” the rabbi reflects, “but that just means that we treasure each and every individual, and do our best to make every relationship as rich and meaningful as possible.”
The rabbi brings a Torah to Jamaica, carrying it to the new Chabad center.
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