Editor's Note:
Dear Friend,
It was the summer of 1983, and my parents wanted to take a vacation. But as a bohemian couple living in Greenwich Village, they had few resources to spare. A friend who was then becoming interested in Judaism suggested they look at Crown Heights. The rent was affordable, and the tree-lined streets seemed rural compared with Manhattan.
That September, my father heard the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—blow the Shofar in a packed 770. It was the first time he had heard a Shofar. My parents' stay in Crown Heights was the first step in a journey that led, eventually, to a fully observant life. Almost 20 years later, I completed the circle and returned to Crown Heights to attend seminary.
My family’s contact with the Rebbe was brief and indirect, yet his presence in our lives seemed to grow stronger as the years passed. Looking at the Jewish world today, I see that our experience was not unique.
Next Tuesday, the 3rd of Tammuz, will mark 20 years since the Rebbe’s passing. All over the world, communities will gather to study his teachings and celebrate his legacy.
Search our event directory for a gathering near you, or attend one of our three online gatherings, and you may well discover the Rebbe's presence in your life.
Sarah Ogince
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
Daily Thought:
Conviction
All the elaborate proofs, all the philosophical machinations, none of that will ever stand you firmly on your feet. There’s only one thing that can give you that, and that’s your own inherent conviction.
For even as your own mind flounders, you yourself know that this is so, and know that you believe it to be so. It is a conviction all the winds of the earth cannot uproot that has carried us to this point in time, that has rendered us indestructible and timeless.
For it comes from within and from the heritage of your ancestors who believed as well, back to the invincible conviction of our father, Abraham, a man who took on the entire world.
The doubts, the hesitations, the vacillations, all these come to you from the outside. Your challenge is but to allow your inner knowledge to shine through and be your guide.
Inside is boundless power.
This Week's Features:
Emerging Unscathed
Understanding and learning from the “Song of the Well”
By Rochel Holzkenner
Have you ever read a verse from the Torah that left you very confused? You read it and reread it, but you still can’t make heads or tails of it. Some parts of the Torah read like a code, intriguing but difficult to decipher. For example, in the narrative describing the Jews’ attempt to enter Canaan via the land of the Emorites, the Torah says the following:
Concerning this will be told in the Book of the Wars of G‑d: He gave at the Reed Sea and the valleys of Arnon. And the spillage in the valleys when it turned to dwell at Ar and then leaned on the border of Moab. From there to the well; this is the well of which G‑d said to Moses, “Gather the people and I will give them water.” It was then that Israel sang this song: “Arise, O well, sing to it.”1
Now, I ask you, do you understand that?
Let me give you some context to these verses: The Jewish people were traveling for nearly forty years through the Sinai Desert, They were desperate to finally enter into the land of Canaanand they were desperate to finally enter into the land of Canaan. But the neighboring countries blockaded the eastern border, making it clear that any trespassing would be met with violence.
So the Jews decided to ask the Emorite king for passage into the land of Canaan. They planned to travel through the Arnon valley, a deep, narrow passageway between the lands of the Emorites and of Moab.
Okay, now read the verses again. What story do they tell? What is the Book of the Wars of G‑d? What does the Reed Sea have to do with the valleys of Arnon? What was the spillage? What leaned on the border? Why did the people sing to the well?
As with all of the Written Torah, we can decode these verses only through the Oral Torah, the oral tradition that was transmitted to Moses at Mount Sinai. Here’s how the Midrash, part of the Oral Torah, fleshes out the story. (The words explicitly stated in the Written Torah are in bold.)
Concerning this it will be told, when the Jews retell the Wars of G‑d (the miracles that happened to our ancestors): They will tell the miracles of the splitting of the Reed Sea and the valleys of Arnon. The Emorites hid in the cliffside caves above the Arnon valley, planning to ambush and kill the Jews when they passed through. But the blood of the Emorites spilled in the valleys before they had a chance to attack the Jews.
For G‑d caused the Emorite mountain to turn to dwell at Ar, a Moabite city, and then lean on the border of Moab. Outcroppings of rock on the Moabite mountainside pushed into the caves on the Emorite side, like pieces of a puzzle fitting together, crushing the Emorites who were hiding in the caves. Then the mountains returned to their places, and the Jews peacefully passed through the valley of Arnon, oblivious to the potential danger that they miraculously avoided.
Later, when the Jews saw the blood of the Emorites that flowed from there to the well of Miriam, they realized they had been saved from terrible danger. With gratitude to G‑d, Israel sang this song: “Arise, O well, sing to it.”2
Thanks to the Midrash, These cryptic verses convey one of the most dramatic miracleswe now understand that these cryptic verses convey one of the most dramatic miracles that the Jews experienced in the desert.
Did you notice the one ambiguous phrase that seems quite irrelevant to the story? “He gave at the Reeds Sea and the valleys of Arnon.” What does the Reed Sea have anything to do with this? The Midrash explains, “Just like you retell the miracle of the splitting of the Reed Sea, you should retell the miracle of the Arnon valley.” But why are these two specific miracles lumped together, to the exclusion of the many other miraculous events that happened to the Jews in the desert?
There is one similarity between the splitting of the Sea and the moving mountains of the Arnon valley. After the sea split, the Jews sang, “I will sing to G‑d, for He is most exalted; the horse with its rider He cast into the sea.”3 And forty years later, after they crossed through the Arnon valley, they sang, “Arise, O well, sing to it.”
What was so unique about these two events that they evoked songs of appreciation? When the Jews reached the Reed Sea, with Pharaoh’s army chasing behind them, they were stuck between a rock and a wet place. Moses said, “The L‑rd will fight for you, but you shall remain silent.”4 And in the Arnon valley, the Jews didn’t even know that they were under threat of attack until it was all over.
The Jews had fought and won multiple wars. But when G‑d fought their battles on His own, the songs of gratitude flowed from their mouths.
This teaching of the Rebbe has given me a fresh perspective on human suffering. It’s so painful to see someone suffer. And along with compassion for them comes a sense of my own helplessness: “This could easily happen to me. Maybe it will. Maybe I’m next (G‑d forbid).” And then that thought is often followed by a secondary defensive thought: “That couldn’t happen to me because . . . I’m a careful driver, I’m careful about what I eat, I have better genes, I make better choices, I wouldn’t stand for that abuse, I have a better relationship.” All these excuses can effectively distance ourselves from personalizing the pain.Thank You, G‑d, for the battles that I’m not fighting
But perhaps, along with the sincere compassion for another person’s pain comes the sense of gratitude for not having that particular struggle in my life: “Thank You, G‑d, for the battles that I’m not fighting. You’ve chosen to remove them from my path for now and, hopefully, forever. Thank You, G‑d, for the financial crisis I’m not experiencing, the health issues I can’t relate to, the broken relationship I’m not in.” Contrary to my inner voice, I’m not immune to those challenges, and I’m not responsible for avoiding them. I’m just thankful that G‑d has spared me from them.
So the next time you pass by a car accident on the side of the road, you can say a chapter of Psalms for the wellbeing of the people involved. And then roll down your window and sing, “G‑d, thank You for an uneventful ride home.”
(Based on Likkutei Sichot, vol. 23, p. 148.)
FOOTNOTES
1.Numbers 21:14–17.
2.Tanchuma 20.
3.Exodus 15:1–18.
4.Exodus 14:14.
PARSHAH
Hidden Good
How does the agent of destruction become the agent of healing? By Chaya Shuchat
The venom of the African black mamba snake is one of the deadliest poisons known to man. The bite feels at first like a slight sting, then a tingling. Within minutes the central nervous system begins to shut down, culminating in paralysis, convulsions and a suffocating death.
Researchers have recently discovered that this deadly venom also contains two potent painkillers, known as mambalgins, which are as effective as morphine. Moreover, unlike morphine, One of the deadliest poisons known to manmambalgins do not lead to tolerance or addiction, and have no dangerous side effects. The same snake that causes horrible death also holds the key to incredible relief.
Similarly, in this week’s Torah portion, when the Jewish people were struck by poisonous snakes, G‑d told Moses to fashion a snake out of copper and display it in the camp. All those who looked upon the snake would be healed. (This is the source of the well-known medical sign of a snake on a pole.)
How does the agent of destruction become the agent of healing?
Because there is no absolute evil. Every evil has hidden within it the potential for good. A prime example of this is that the gematria (numerical value) of the Hebrew word for “snake,” nachash, is equivalent to the value of the word Moshiach. Moshiach will bring an end to exile and repair the damage done to the world through the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, which was caused by a snake.
“That’s nice,” you may say, “but I don’t see it. I see a world filled with evil and pain. Why would G‑d create evil just for the potential for good?”
I could argue that suffering ennobles us, I could argue that suffering ennobles usmakes us more compassionate and sensitive to the suffering of others. I could contend that suffering provides the contrast which allows us to appreciate the good. I could maintain that we need to go down in order to go up. And I could even assert that suffering is actually a sublime, hidden form of good.
But you wouldn’t be satisfied. “G‑d is the master of the universe,” you’d say. “He designed this world and everything in it. He could have allowed us to achieve the ascent without the descent, the refinement without the suffering, the redemption without the exile. It was His choice to create evil, or at least that which we perceive as evil. He created the venom, and He created the antidote.”
And I could not answer you.
When the the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory, discussed this concept during a chassidic gathering, his voice choked up with tears: “Why must we have this distress . . . the Shechinah in exile . . . Moshiach in exile . . . every single Jew in exile, with no end in sight?”
The Rebbe concluded that we cannot understand pain because G‑d does not want us to understand it. He does not want us in any way to accept, justify or rationalize it. He wants us to protest against it and work to put an end to it. And if we were to understand pain, even in the slightest way, it would reduce our motivation to eliminate it.
It is written in the book of Isaiah that when Moshiach comes we will say, “Thank You, G‑d, for You have been angry with me.”1 In other words, we will realize then that the painful events we have experienced, the manifestations of G‑d’s anger, were actually supreme good.
But it is too early now for It is too early now for appreciationappreciation. As long as the suffering is ongoing, as long as there is any creature alive in pain or in exile, we are not ready to thank G‑d for the pain. Only when the exile is over will we have the luxury to look back and thank G‑d for all the hidden blessings. For now, we can only demand of G‑d to fulfill His promise to “swallow up death forever, and wipe away the tears off every face.”2
(Based on a talk of the Rebbe, Hoshana Rabbah 5744.)
FOOTNOTES
1.Isaiah 12:1.
2.Isaiah 25:8.
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More in Parshah:
• Meet the Red Heifer (By Mendy Kaminker)
One of the most enigmatic mitzvahs in the Torah is the parah adumah, the red heifer, which was used for ritual purification. There have been only nine such heifers in history, and our tradition tells us that there will be one more in the future. Here is an overview of the mysterious red heifer, which left even King Solomon, the wisest of all men, scratching his head in wonderment.What Was It Needed For?
Before we can discuss the actual red heifer, we need a bit of background information on the biblical laws of ritual purity. There is a common misconception that the biblical notion of impurity implies filth or susceptibility to infection. Maimonides writes, however, that it’s a gezeirat ha-katuv, a supra-rational mandate of the Torah—it has no rationale that we can comprehend.1
One form of impurity is contracted by touching, or being under the same roof as, a corpse. Once defiled, one could not enter the Holy Temple or partake of the sacrificial offerings or other sacred foods. In order to be purified, one had to be sprinkled with a special mixture of spring water and ashes from the burned remains of the red heifer.
The Ritual
The laws of the red heifer are presented at the very beginning of the Torah portion of Chukat:
This is the statute of the Torah which the L‑rd commanded, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel and have them take for you a perfectly red unblemished cow, upon which no yoke was laid.”2
The sages infer that the red heifer must be completely red—even two black hairs would render it invalid. And it must not have done any work in its lifetime—even having a yoke placed on its back, or having mated, would disqualify it.
Once a candidate was found, and there was need for more purifying ash water, the cow would be slaughtered and burned on a pyre, along with a cedar branch, hyssop sprig and crimson wool. The ceremony took place on the Mount of Olives, opposite the Temple Mount.
The ashes would then be mixed with carefully guarded water drawn from the Shiloach spring. Those who came in contact with the dead would be sprinkled with the ash water on the third and seventh days after their defilement. On the seventh day, they would immerse in a mikvah, and that night they would revert to their original pure status.
Since there is no longer a Temple in Jerusalem, the rituals of the red heifer—as well as most of the laws surrounding ritual purity—will be applicable only in the messianic era.
Does It Make Sense?
When introducing this mitzvah, the Torah states, “This is the statute of the Torah.” The word “statute,” chok, denotes a law that defies reason.3 Since the Torah prefaces the mitzvah by calling it “the chok of the Torah,” it appears that this mitzvah must somehow be more mysterious and supra-rational than any other law.
Rashi elaborates: “Because Satan and the nations of the world taunt Israel, saying, ‘What is this commandment, and what purpose does it have?’ therefore the Torah uses the term ‘statute.’ ‘I have decreed it; you have no right to challenge it.’”4
In reference to the red heifer, King Solomon famously stated, “I had said I would become wise—but it is far from me.”5 The Midrash expounds, “With all other [laws of the Torah] I held my footing, but when it comes to the teaching of the heifer, I analyzed, I asked and I researched [without understanding].”6
There are other laws in the Torah that do not have a comprehensible rationale. What is so strange about this particular law?
The red heifer presents a great paradox: the priest who is involved in the preparation of the heifer himself becomes impure through the process. Strange indeed.
But that leads us to a greater puzzle. Why would G‑d give us a law that no one can understand? Would it spoil some vast eternal plan if He would give us a mitzvah that resonates with our mortal minds, so that we could fulfill it with deep appreciation?
Chassidic philosophy answers thusly: We do the mitzvahs not because we understand them, but because they are His will. And this also extends to the mitzvahs we think we understand: we need to do these mitzvahs simply because they are G‑d’s will, not because they make sense to us.
Conversely, the Midrash also tells us that G‑d did reveal the secret of the red heifer to Moses.7 Why? Because we are intelligent beings who crave understanding. The very knowledge that someone out there understood these laws makes them more palatable to us and allows us to appreciate them as much the mitzvahs we ourselves understand.
The Quest for the Red Heifer
It appears that finding an appropriate heifer was quite challenging. For example, the Talmud tells the story of a gentile named Dama who dealt in precious gems. At one point, the sages of Israel approached him to purchase a replacement gem for the breastplate of the high priest. Since in order to retrieve the stone Dama would need to wake his sleeping father, he refused to show them the stone. Even when the sages raised the price, he did not budge. Eventually, his father woke up, and Dama made the sale (insisting on the original, lower price). As a reward for the exemplary lengths he went to honor his father, Dama merited to have a red heifer born in his herd, which again fetched him a pretty penny from the Temple treasury.
Even today, one occasionally hears of the birth of a perfectly red cow, and speculation is raised as to whether it is a harbinger of the messianic era. After all, Maimonides himself codifies the following as Jewish law:
Nine red heifers were offered from the time that they were commanded to fulfill this mitzvah until the time when the Temple was destroyed a second time. The first was brought by Moses our teacher. The second was brought by Ezra. Seven others were offered until the destruction of the Second Temple. And the tenth will be brought by the King Moshiach; may he speedily be revealed. Amen, so may it be G‑d’s will.8
Further Research
Okay, now that we’ve sparked your interest, you may want to learn more about this mysterious mitzvah. Here are some places for further research:
The Torah portion that discusses this mitzvah can be found here.
Maimonides codifies the laws of impurity imparted by the dead here, and those of the red heifer here.
And if you want to read more about the mysteries of the red heifer, we’ve got a wealth of good stuff indexed here.
FOOTNOTES
1.Mishneh Torah, Laws of Mikvaot 11:12.
2.Numbers 19:2.
3.The Torah’s laws are generally divided into three categories: eidot, the laws that evoke events of the past, such as the holiday of Passover; mishpatim, logical interpersonal laws; and chukim (plural for chok), the laws that we cannot fathom but which we fulfill because G‑d commanded us to.
4.Rashi loc. cit., quoting Talmud, Yoma 67b.
5.Ecclesiastes 7:23.
6.Tanchuma, Chukat 6.
7.Bamidbar Rabbah 19:6.
8.Mishneh Torah, Laws of Parah Adumah 3:5.
• Chukat in a Nutshell
Moses is taught the laws of the red heifer, whose ashes purify a person who has been contaminated by contact with a dead body.
Aaron dies at Hor Hahar and is succeeded in the high priesthood by his son Elazar. Venomous snakes attack the Israelite camp after yet another eruption of discontent in which the people “speak against G‑d and Moses”; G‑d tells Moses to place a brass serpent upon a high pole, and all who will gaze heavenward will be healed. The people sing a song in honor of the miraculous well that provided them water in the desert.
Moses leads the people in battles against the Emorite kings Sichon and Og (who seek to prevent Israel’s passage through their territory) and conquers their lands, which lie east of the Jordan.
VIDEO
Rocket Science
On the importance of constantly seeking to outgrow the notions of religion and Jewish ritual we are left with from our childhood, and upgrade our understanding of faith and practice as we grow older and more mature in our journey through life. By Mendel Kalmenson
Watch (4:06)
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More in Video:
• The Month of Tammuz (By Shimona Tzukernik)
<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="http://embed.chabad.org/multimedia/mediaplayer/embedded/embed.js.asp?aid=2243710&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>
• How to Bring the Rebbe’s Message into Our Daily Lives - A Farbrengen in Preparation of the Rebbe’s 20th Yahrtzeit with Rabbi Mendel Lipskier (By Mendel Lipskier)
<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="http://embed.chabad.org/multimedia/mediaplayer/embedded/embed.js.asp?aid=2599275&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>
WOMEN
Reviving the Dead
G-d is always there to breathe life into my soul and to help revive my connection to Him and our Torah. By Sara Tzafona
I have always loved walking, but recently I have embraced it with enthusiasm. Most days I try to walk two or, hopefully, three times, racking up the miles on my pedometer. It often occurs to me that all this walking has become an addiction. But it’s a good addiction. And it might just be a mitzvah. My pounding the pavement guards my health both physically and emotionally, cushioning the stress that permeates my life.It’s a good addiction
I must admit, though, that there are times when I simply don’t want to walk. Either I’m too tired, or it’s too foggy, rainy or cold. But I do it anyway, forcing one foot in front of another. I do this because I realize that I will feel better, that the lethargy will vanish, the achy muscles will disappear and the sun might just break through, if not in my physical world, then hopefully in my emotional world.
Just like walking, there are other mitzvahs that I’ve embraced with enthusiasm, only to have the passion fade into the background of my daily life. There are periods when the blessings I make are nothing more than the simple mouthing of words, or the rituals are performed without thought. There are also times when I feel overwhelmed by my situation, or I am too tired, or even too lazy or busy, to even want to do them. It’s like I’ve gone dead inside, like I have been thrown from the mountaintop to which doing the mitzvahs has often led me in the past. But like walking, I do them anyway, even if I don’t feel like it, even if the words come out flat and the actions are perfunctory. I do them because our mitzvahs are part of what makes us Jews. They are an opportunity to connect with G‑d. They’re about elevating the world in general, as well as our own corner of the earth that includes our home. They are a part of the marriage contract that we agreed to with G‑d at Sinai, and like any marriage, the everyday stuff takes work.
It goes without saying that the work isn’t easy. But let’s face it: nothing is easy, except perhaps giving up. Our mitzvahs take concentration and a will to do them, and it takes the realization that it is worthwhile, even if our emotional world has been numbed by life’s experiences.
At times I panicked, afraid that I would never reclaim the enthusiasm that I’ve had for Judaism and mitzvahs. But then one day while saying the Amidah prayer, something clicked when saying the second blessing, “G‑d revives the dead.” And the words took on new meaning. Suddenly Will this renewed enthusiasm continue?they weren’t just a promise for the future, but a promise for the present as well. G‑d would revive the dead in spirit; I had only to do my part. Just like walking, I have to continue with the mitzvahs, doing them one at a time, concentrating as I do so; then the promise will be fulfilled. And after a while, it worked.
Will this renewed enthusiasm continue? That’s up to me. G‑d is always there to breathe life into my soul and to help revive my connection to Him and our Torah. I just have to be willing to do my part. And I do it one step at a time, one mitzvah at a time.
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More in Women:
• Strive High (By Rachel Pearlman)
It’s 11 AM. I’m perched upon my packed-to-the-hilt suitcase outside the Brussels airport, waiting for a bus to transport me to Paris.My beloved friend’s son is getting married tomorrow night in Paris—a milestone I am thrilled to personally partake in, G‑d willing.
How exactly do I find myself on said suitcase, waiting for a bus in Belgium—to attend a Paris wedding? Apparently there was some strike in the Paris airport, so rather than cancel my trip, I’ve made it to Europe. It’s all goodI’ve opted to make my way to France via Belgium.
An announcement in stilted English broadcasts: We. Must. Wait. For. Bus. Another. Forty-five. Minutes.
It is drizzling and windy. I wrap a cardigan around my pounding head. We are herded to an enclosed, seatless area. A chorus of grumbling ensues.
Big deal. I’ve made it to Europe. It’s all good.
Yet I do experience that creeping feeling of “disconnection.” Unless I want to pay an emperor’s ransom in roaming fees, I’d be wise to keep my BlackBerry tucked away. But I, lady of text, BBM, e‑mail and, most recently, WhatsApp, am never not in touch.
I ask about Wi-Fi, and I am informed of the charge for airport-provided Wi-Fi . . . Waaah!
But I do not truly need Wi-Fi. Intriguing events are unfolding in real time. An adorable red-haired baby yawns. We all yawn together with him. Concerned Grandma is looking for warm water to prepare a bottle. Three yellow-clad employees dole out drinks and waffles to our weary Air Canada contingent. One ambitious traveler stealthily mentions underground transportation. It’s an Alice-in-Wonderland-without-Wi-Fi moment.
My spiritual voice intones, No-Wi-Fi moments call for a deeper realm of connectivity. Let’s call it Strive High. Use this time to connect with yourself. To connect with G‑d.
But I’m shivering and tired. Oy. Let me begin with a little list of goals and aspirations.
I pull out my Wi-Fi-deprived BlackBerry and begin typing. Behold. A handful of revelations spring forward from my fingers.
I want to switch off the “I need to respond to everyone and everything” switch.
I want my family and friends to feel loved and appreciated by me. I want them to appreciate themselves as well.
I want a blueberry muffin and iced coffee.
I want to make the most of my time.
I want to continually recognize the hand of G‑d—even in dark corners. Especially in dark corners.
I want to help develop the incredible potential of my children.I want to make the most of my time
I want deeper knowledge of Tanach, Jewish history, science and geography.
I want to participate in writing retreats. Now as a student, one day as a teacher.
I want to inspire others. Therefore, I need to feed my inspiration.
I want to do my best.
I want to recognize when to persevere and when to leave things alone.
I want an enchanted getaway cabin in the woods. With Wi-Fi.
I want stick-to-it-ness in the face of stickiness. I want to model that to my children.
I want to learn how to rollerblade and tap dance.
I want to learn how to play guitar.
I want to get on that bus already.
I want to thank You, G‑d, for this day and for every day.
It’s 1:30 PM. We’ve finally boarded the bus and are rolling along to Paris. Mazel tov!
Before I take a much-needed nap, I’d like to ask an important question of you: What might you do in a Strive High moment? Here are just a few suggestions: a mitzvah or three, prayer, reflection, introspective journal writing . . . no doubt you’ve got some great ideas yourself.
There are endless Strive High moments waiting patiently for our attention. Find them. Cherish them. Grow from them. You don’t have to be perched atop a suitcase in Brussels to tap into such moments (but, I admit, it sure does help).
SPIRITUALITY
Darkness Speaks
From the soon-to-be-released book, “Wisdom to Fix the Earth”At the outset of Creation, He removed all light. And that is the source of all that ever goes wrong.
By Tzvi Freeman
At the outset of Creation, He removed all light. And that is the source of all that ever goes wrong.
Why did He remove the light? Why did He choose that things could go wrong?
Sometimes we say He wanted darkness as a background, like the black velvet upon which a diamond is displayed, a clouded sky through which the sunshine bursts. After all, who will appreciate the light if there is no darkness? Pain exists to make room for healing. But that could not be the entire answer. Who will appreciate acts of beauty and kindness if there are no deeds of ugliness and selfishness?
So the darkness is there for the sake of light. Evil exists so that good might also be. Pain exists to make room for healing.
But this could not be the entire answer.
Why? Because if it were the entire answer, the darkness would not be as thorough as it is. It would be a darkness that would provide some hint of light, some glimmer of hope, some weakness by which it could be pierced. But when He removed the light, the resulting darkness allowed not even a possibility of light. It was absolute, a void, an emptiness, the diametric opposite of the Infinite Light that preceded it—so that we find evil in our world that has no explanation, no answer, no light to shine.
The answer must be that in light alone, G‑d cannot be found. For He is beyond dark and light, presence and absence, being and not being. And so, just as darkness is there for the sake of light, so light is there for the sake of darkness—to reveal the true purpose of that darkness: To allow knowledge of a wholly transcendent G‑d to enter His world.
A time will come when the very darkness, otherness, coarseness of this physical existence will itself speak the most profound truths of its Creator.
Getting There
How do we get the world to this point—that the darkness itself should speak out its truth?
The most vital question still remains. Not a philosophical or a theological question, but one that concerns us here and now: How do we achieve this? How do we get the world to this point—that the darkness itself should speak out its truth?
We can flood the world with more and greater light, but that alone will not achieve the goal. Neither will raising the darkness to a place of greater light. No, we want that this darkness, here, as it is, to shine and speak its own truth.
And it does. Because it challenges us at every turn. It denies everything in which we believe—that there is purpose and meaning, that G‑d is good and He is one. It laughs at our ambitions and scorns our enthusiasm, sets fire to our dreams and pours ice buckets upon our greatest aspirations.
And when it challenges us this way, we defy it, stubbornly, repeatedly, from the immovable essence-core of our souls. We show it that all its efforts are futile and vain, for we are bound up inextricably with the core of truth. And so we too are beyond darkness and light, self and not self, being and not being.
To which the darkness must eventually respond, “Yes. That is all I am here to say.”
Darkness speaks, in silence. We will make it sing.
Sources
Bati L’gani 5731; V’nacha Alav 5725
JEWISH HISTORY
The Story of the Serpa Pinto
Neutral Portugal seemed like an oasis, far away from bloody battlefields, curfews, and air-raid sirens. By Ilan Braun
The Serpa Pinto carried thousands of Jewish refugees from the Holocaust to safety.
When the Portuguese liner Serpa Pinto weighed anchor in Lisbon on June 12, 1941 (Sivan 17, 5701) and set sail across the Atlantic Ocean, who on board could have guessed that one of the most important pages of Jewish history was in the process of being written?
Eleven days later, on June 23, the 28th day of Sivan, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, son-in-law and future successor of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and his wife, Chaya Mushka, disembarked from the ship in Staten Island, New York, together with hundreds of other refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe.
For the Chabad community all over the world, Sivan 28 became a special occasion for rejoicing. Known as yom ha-bahir, “the inspirational day,” it signifies a turning point in the revival of Judaism in the United States and the entire world.
Unfortunately, we have few details about the future Rebbe’s brief stay in Portugal, with the exception of some notes for what may have been a lecture delivered in Lisbon’s Shaare Tikvah synagogue.1 Literally “Gates of Hope,” the synagogue’s name reflected the significance that the Portuguese capital had assumed as the last port open to refugees fleeing Europe. As a neutral country, Portugal—a place where Jews hadn’t settled in hundreds of years—became an unexpected portal to freedom.2
![A page from the Rebbe’s private journal, dated 16 Sivan [1941], Lisbon.](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sqzX5yixxCk-ohu4mOHjB_lVnK9NksYYI3EhouMK57trAKecXaB6d719O0Js7SggHymyxjMcEFzFHai2XJkKNGf_36MtITAAPjJqU3nhNlLm_Ff0tYS1Zz=s0-d)
A page from the Rebbe’s private journal, dated 16 Sivan [1941], Lisbon.
A Safe Haven
Tens of thousands of Jewish and non-Jewish refugees found temporary refuge in Portugal during World War II.3 This was thanks in great part to Aristides de Sousa Mendes,4 the Portuguese consul in Bordeaux, France. Mendes issued thousands of Portuguese visas despite official orders not to allow “foreigners of indefinite or contested nationality, the stateless, or Jews expelled from their countries of origin” to enter the country.5
Approximately 40,000 people crossed the Franco-Spanish border between 1940 and 1941, many of them bound for Portugal.
Neutral Portugal seemed like an oasis, far away from bloody battlefields, curfews and air-raid sirens. “In 1940 Lisbon, happiness was staged so that G‑d could believe it still existed,” wrote the famous French writer (and future fighter pilot) Antoine de Saint-Exupery. 6
At night, cafés in the brightly lit streets greeted crowds of cosmopolitan customers, though the atmosphere of freedom was somewhat tempered by the staggering number of spies.7 Pro-Allied and pro-Axis supporters were active in Lisbon, frequently sparring in public and private. Both distributed propaganda and tried to convert the local population to their ideologies.
An article that appeared in The Argus (Melbourne, Australia), Tuesday, May 6, 1941.
Though the average man on the street supported the Allied forces, got his news from the British Broadcast Corporation (BBC) and wore the Royal Air Force insignia on his lapel, Portuguese state officials, police and military commanders counted many Nazi sympathizers among their ranks.
Under Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, the pro-Nazi elements in the government eventually stemmed the tide of refugees, and anti-Nazi militants, both Jewish and non-Jewish, were arrested and imprisoned by the secret police.8 From 1942 onward, most refugees arriving in Portugal from France did so illegally.9
Fortunately, the future Rebbe and Rebbetzin passed through Lisbon before restrictions grew too great.
Detail: The Rebbe’s name handwritten on a label attached to the wooden trunk which accompanied him from Lisbon to New York.
A History of Hate
Despite its status as a neutral country, domestic and international politics in Portugal had a distinctly anti-Semitic tone. This became increasingly apparent during the 1930s, when propaganda from Europe and the United States fed the anti-Semitic views of a significant bloc of local elites.
Since coming into power in 1933, Salazar had sympathized with the National-Socialist regime in Germany, and he actively supported the nationalist camp during the Spanish Civil War, as well as Mussolini’s Fascist government in Italy. Moreover, encouraged by his German advisers, Salazar allowed regular publication of anti-Semitic articles and cartoons in the national press.
Salazar feared that “Jewish communists” could generate social and political unrest.10 Eventually he ordered the evacuation of most of the refugees to cities of “fixed residence” (residencias fixas), located on the Atlantic coast, where the Police of Vigilance and Defense of the State (PVDE) could easily control their activities.
A group of children and adults prepare to set sail in 1943. To the right is Samuel Sequerra, a Portuguese Jew who helped Jewish refugees in both Spain and Portugal.
Desperate to Escape
Leaving Europe during World War II required tremendous effort, and resources that most would-be emigrants did not possess.
Some well-to-do refugees were able to afford expensive seats aboard Clippers, the “flying ships” of Pan American Airways, which linked America to Europe twice a week.11 But the majority of refugees in Lisbon had only one option: to obtain the necessary visas and secure passage on board one of the Portuguese liners continuously crossing the Atlantic. Havana, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York and Rio de Janeiro were among the most desired destinations.
In the Portuguese capital, exhausted refugees scrambled to gather the long list of materials necessary to emigrate. They visited understaffed consulates, crowded travel agencies, and waited for long hours in queues to obtain financial and administrative assistance from relief organizations.12
Despite their network of connections, the future Rebbe and Rebbetzin were not exempt from the trials of this process. Before they arrived in Lisbon, they spent a tense period in Nice awaiting special visas that would allow them to leave Europe and come to America.
Finally, on the 20th of Nissan, after intense lobbying on their behalf, they received visas from the United States consul in Marseille. Chassidim in New York with connections in the Portuguese government secured them transit visas, and they passed legally into Portugal.
Crossing the Ocean
Because travel was expensive and dangerous, few ships undertook transatlantic journeys. The Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), headquartered in Lisbon, purchased in advance all or most of the passenger space on some of the ships owned by the Colonial Shipping Company (CCN), and distributed it to refugees. The JDC posted between $180,000 and $260,000 as a guarantee for each journey, a huge sum at the time.
Refugees aboard the Serpa Pinto in the port of Lisbon in September 1941 (Credit: USHMM, courtesy of Milton Koch).
Founded in 1922 in Angola, a Portuguese colony in Africa, the CCN owned a dozen liners that could each carry several hundred passengers. Some CCN liners were well known by Jewish refugees, such as the Nyassa, or the Guinea, which sailed to Palestine.
But the most famous CCN ship of all was the liner that carried the future Rebbe and Rebbetzin to safety in June 1941: the Serpa Pinto. During the war years, the Serpa Pinto achieved a kind of celebrity as it transported over 110,000 passengers across the Atlantic Ocean, more than any other Portuguese civilian ship.
The ship made her debut during World War I, when she escorted Allied convoys as the armed British RMS Ebro. After the war, a Yugoslavian company acquired the ship and, as the renamed Princeza Olga, she sailed over a period of five years between the ports of Dubrovnik and Haifa.
In 1940, a few weeks before the Nazis invaded the Balkans, the ship was resold to the CCN and renamed the Serpa Pinto (after a famous 19th-century Portuguese explorer of eastern Africa). She immediately began traversing the Atlantic, reaching ports in North and South America.
Even for neutral ships, crossing the Atlantic Ocean was an extremely dangerous affair.13 Nazi submarines mercilessly hunted Allied vessels, sinking them whenever possible.14
Precious Cargo
Once the future Rebbe and Rebbetzin arrived in Lisbon, passage on a transatlantic vessel was all but secured. At the last moment they received tickets on the sold-out Serpa Pinto, scheduled to set sail on June 12, 1941, and though the threat of torpedoes loomed, the ship reached neutral waters safely and landed in New York City eleven days after leaving Europe.15
Today, long after her 1955 dismantling in a Belgian scrapyard, the Serpa Pinto remains dear in the memories of thousands of Jewish and non-Jewish refugees. Known as the navio da amizade, the “friendship ship,” she transported precious cargo across dangerous seas as doors rapidly closed for Jewish refugees from Europe.
FOOTNOTES
1.See The Messiah, the Invalid and the Fish.
2.Jews were expelled from Portugal in 1497, five years after the expulsion of the Jews of Spain, and did not return to Portugal until the 19th century.
3.Avraham Milgram, “Portugal, the Consuls, and the Jewish Refugees, 1938–1941.” Yad Vashem Studies 27 (1999): 123–55. Translated by Anna Shidlo.
4.Although Sousa Mendes was punished by his government, Yad Vashem honored him after his death as a “Righteous Among the Nations.”
5.“Circular 14,” issued by the Portuguese government on November 11, 1939.
6.Many celebrities, artists and writers took refuge in Portugal, among them Bela Bartok, Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, Leon Feuchtwanger, Arthur Koestler, André Maurois and Erich Maria Remarque, as well as Pierre Dreyfus, the son of Alfred Dreyfus. Royal figures were also numerous: the entire Habsburg family, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and the Count of Paris, among others.
7.Intelligence agencies abounded in Lisbon at this time, including the United States’ Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the Russian NKVD, and the Gestapo.
8.As an example, Berthold Jacob Salomon, a German-born Jewish journalist and pacifist and a notorious anti-Nazi militant, was kidnapped in 1941 by Portuguese secret police in Lisbon and later sent to Germany, where he died in jail in February 1944.
9.At the Portuguese borders, fugitives without visas were arrested by the Police of Vigilance and Defense of the State (PVDE), and later incarcerated in the notorious Caxias prison near Lisbon. Their release would take place only after much negotiation between the Portuguese government and foreign organizations.
10.Salazar himself had Jewish origins, which he tried to conceal.
11.The first transatlantic flight between Port Washington, New York, and Lisbon occurred on June 29, 1939. They would fly throughout the entire war.
12.The numerous relief organizations then operating in Lisbon deserve special mention. They did extraordinary work, providing refugees with much-needed supplies and immigration assistance, under extremely difficult conditions. Some of the most active and well-known international relief agencies operating at this time were HICEM (an amalgamation of the American Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and two other Jewish relief organizations), the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the International Red Cross, the Quakers, the War Refugee Board, the Jewish Agency for Palestine, and the COMASSIS (the Portuguese Commission for Assistance to Jewish Refugees, founded before the war by the Lisbon Jewish community).
13.Winston Churchill stated that “the only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-Boat peril.” German submarines endangered the Allied war effort to such an extent that in December 1940, Britain, which depended heavily on overseas sources for food and supplies, was threatened by starvation because of submarine action. To announce their neutrality and protect their passengers, all Portuguese ships had their names emblazoned on both sides of their hulls in enormous letters alongside the Portuguese flag, and were lit at night with powerful floodlights.
14.One of the most tragic events concerning the Serpa Pinto occurred in May 1944. A German U-Boat halted the floodlit Philadelphia–bound ship at midnight, about 600 miles northeast of Bermuda. All 385 passengers and crew were ordered to transfer to the lifeboats, while the Germans radioed headquarters in Berlin: “To torpedo or not to torpedo ship Serpa Pinto?” Finally, after nine hours of drifting on the open sea, the panic-stricken passengers were allowed to re-embark. Unfortunately, three people, including a 16-month-old Jewish baby from Poland, drowned while returning to the ship. All the other passengers made it safely to Philadelphia.
15.Jacobs, Mendel, “Living with the Rebbe: 28 Sivan” (2010).
YOUR QUESTIONS
Must a Convert Honor His Biological Parents?
What is the family relationship of a convert to Judaism to his parents who are not Jewish? By Yisroel Cotlar
Question:
As a potential convert, I wanted to know what Jewish tradition says about the relationship of a convert to his parents who are not Jewish and who are not interested in conversion. Are they still considered his parents after the conversion?Answer:
Our sages say that when someone converts, it is as if he or she becomes a new person, now charged with a Jewish mission. “A convert who converts is similar to a child being born.”1
But while this is the case spiritually, the physical facts must also be taken into consideration. There are biological parents who gave birth to and raised that individual. The fact that someone has the opportunity to convert is due to what those parents did for that child. Practically, according to Jewish law, one should honor his or her biological parents.2
It can be difficult for parents to see their child choose a path so different from their own, and it is important to remain sensitive to their feelings.
Leaving a certain life behind you while still respecting those who got you there can be tricky. Finding the right balance is something to discuss with the rabbi you would be working with on your conversion.
Let me know if this helps.
Yours truly,
Rabbi Yisroel Cotlar
Ask the Rabbi @ Chabad.org
Reply:
Dear Rabbi Cotlar,
It was a pleasure to receive such a prompt response to my question. Moreover, it was wonderful to receive such an enlightened, considerate, well thought out, sensitive opinion. Judaism is a beautiful religion, and the Jewish people comprise a nation of “menschen” because of spiritual leaders such as you.
FOOTNOTES
1.Talmud, Yevamot 22a.
2.See Encyclopedia Talmudit, vol. 6, p. 262.
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More in Your Questions:
• Why the Big Picture of the Rebbe in Your Home? (By Aron Moss)
Question:
Many thanks to you and your wife for Friday night dinner. We had a great time. I just had one question. I noticed you have a huge picture of your Rebbe, Rabbi Schneerson, on the wall. I don’t mean to be rude, but is this type of reverence for a human being appropriate?Answer:
I do revere the Rebbe, but not because he was superhuman. On the contrary.
Here was a man that received up to one thousand letters a day and answered them all; advised concerned parents of unwell children and singles searching for life partners with the same love and attention as he advised presidents and prime ministers on world affairs; had the vision to set up a web of institutions around the globe in order to rebuild Judaism after the war; promoted values and morals for the non-Jewish world; was as comfortable in the sciences as he was in Torah wisdom, and found G‑d in both; healed the sick with his blessings, and answered people’s questions before they even asked them; took the responsibility of the world on his shoulders, but had time for every individual.
These are just a sample of his qualities. But above all this, why I revere him was because he was human. For a superhuman to achieve all the above is no big deal. They don’t have to work hard to become heroes. But for a human being of flesh and blood, it is nothing short of amazing.
That’s why I have a picture of the Rebbe on my wall. It always reminds me of what a human can achieve, and that I can always do more to better the world.
I saw the Rebbe only once. But it is due to his influence that I am today an active and proud Jew. His teachings inspired me to become a rabbi—otherwise, who knows? I might have been a B-grade trapeze artist or a struggling plumber’s assistant. The very fact that I am writing these words and you are reading them is thanks to the Rebbe’s vision.
From the Rebbe’s teachings I have learned what G‑d is. From his life I have learnt what humans can be.
STORY
What Impressed the Angels?
Standing ahead of me was a young fellow, dressed hippie-style in sloppy jeans and sporting an unkempt bush of hair. Standing behind me was a Satmar rabbi. By Levi Bukiet
In the early 1980s, I arrived in Brooklyn to celebrate the final days of Sukkos with the Rebbe. It was the morning of Hoshana Rabbah, the last of the festival’s “intermediate days.” That morning the Rebbe was handing out the traditional lekach (honey cake) in his sukkah, and people were lined up to receive a piece of cake and share a quick moment with the Rebbe. Standing ahead of me in line was a young fellow, dressed hippie-style in sloppy jeans and sporting an unkempt bush of hair. Standing behind me in line was a distinguished Satmar chassid, a rosh yeshivah in the Satmar yeshivah in Williamsburg.As the unkempt fellow approached, the Rebbe asked him, “Where are you going to be tonight for the hakofos?” referring to the traditional dancing with the Torah.
The man answered, “I have no plans to be anywhere for hakofos tonight or any other night.”As the unkempt fellow approached, the Rebbe asked him, “Where are you going to be tonight?”
“It would be my great honor and privilege,” the Rebbe replied, “if you would attend hakofos tonight with me in the synagogue.”
The fellow thanked the Rebbe for his invitation, but remained noncommittal. “I’ll think about it,” he said, and walked away.
I was next in line. I received my lekach from the Rebbe without incident. Just behind me was the Satmar chassid. As he approached the Rebbe, I turned back, and I heard as the Rebbe addressed him: “I see that you’re wondering why I’m pleading with this fellow to come to hakofos tonight. What connection do I have with him?
“The answer is clearly articulated in the book Tehillah L’Moshe.”
The Rebbe paused and added, “Do you know what I’m alluding to in Tehillah L’Moshe?”
The chassid replied that he didn’t know.
The Rebbe smiled. “It was authored by one of your rebbes!”
The chassid, obviously mystified, could only stand there. He shrugged his shoulders, puzzled.“You’re wondering why I’m pleading with this fellow to come tonight. What connection do I have with him?”
And then the Rebbe shared the teaching at length. I tried very hard to hear and understand, and thereafter wrote it down to the best of my recollection.
First, a brief introduction: The book Tehillah L’Moshe was written by Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum, also known as the Yismach Moshe, who lived in the early 1800s. A student of the Chozeh of Lublin, he served as the rabbi of Przemysl and later as the rebbe of Ujhely, Hungary. His descendants became the great chassidic leaders of the communities of Sighet and Satmar. This teaching that the Rebbe imparted comes from his commentary on Psalms, Tehillah L’Moshe.
Now, here’s what I heard the Rebbe telling the Satmar rosh yeshivah, standing at the door of his sukkah:
“The Yismach Moshe writes a wondrous story in great detail. Reb Itzikel of Drohovitch—he was the father of Rabbi Michel of Zlotchov, the renowned disciple of the Baal Shem Tov and the Magid of Mezeritch—once encountered Rashi in the heavens.” Rashi is the renowned commentator on the Torah.
The "Rashi Shul" in Worms, Germany
“Rashi asked Reb Itzikel: ‘Why is there such a commotion On High about the greatness of your son?’ How did Reb Michel merit such praise, Rashi wanted to know.
“Reb Itzikel replied that his son studies Torah purely for the sake of Heaven.
“‘But aren’t there many who do the same?’ Rashi responded, unsatisfied.
“‘My son fasts and deprives his body of worldly pleasures,’ replied Reb Itzikel.
“‘But aren’t there many who do the same?’
“‘My son gives away huge sums of money to the poor,’ replied Reb Itzikel. But Rashi was still unsatisfied. ‘Aren’t there many who do the same?’ he asked.
“Finally, Reb Itzikel replied, ‘My son has made many baalei teshuvah across the world. He returned many from the path of sin to their Father in Heaven.”The next morning, I suddenly saw the young fellow whom the Rebbe had personally invited the previous afternoon
“When Rashi heard this response, he was finally satisfied. He understood clearly why the heavenly angels are so excited about the greatness of Reb Michel.”
Throughout the time the Rebbe was speaking—it must have taken a least a couple of minutes—the Satmar chassid stood listening with great respect. When he finished, the chassid thanked the Rebbe and said softly, “Ich hob git farshtanen. I understood very well.”
As the chassid began to walk away, the Rebbe smiled and said, “Have a good Yom Tov.”
There’s a little postscript to this story. After the formal hakofos in 770 would finish and the Rebbe had left the synagogue, many of the more hearty chassidim would stay on until the until the next morning, dancing, singing, and celebrating the joyous festival as only chassidim can. Early the next morning, amongst the dancers, I suddenly saw the young fellow whom the Rebbe had personally invited the previous afternoon.
I guess he couldn’t resist that invitation after all.
LIFESTYLES
Gluten Free Pepper Pizza
An easy gluten free pizza crust, with which you can use the toppings of your choice. By Miriam Szokovski
For all you gluten free folks who couldn't enjoy the thin crust crispy pizza I posted a few weeks ago, this one is for you.
You can, of course, use whichever toppings you prefer, or even leave it plain. I used peppers and purple onion on this one.
First, proof the yeast. Pour the yeast, warm water and sugar in a small bowl. Let sit about 10 minutes until it gets a little bubbly or frothy.
In a separate, slightly larger, bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients, except the olive oil. Give it a quick mix with a spoon or fork, then pour in the yeast mixture and olive oil. Mix with a strong spoon until dough comes together to form a ball.
Decide what size pizza you want to make. This amount of dough yields 2 pies, or 5-6 individual pies. Grease the pizza pan and press the dough down until pan is covered and dough is thin. Use a little flour or starch on your hands if the dough is sticky. You want the dough pretty thin. Bake the pizza base for 25-30 minutes. Cracks will form (as pictured) - that's fine.
Spread the base with sauce, top with cheese and your choice of veggies, and bake for about 15 minutes, until cheese is bubbly.
Remove pizza from the oven, let it sit for about 5 minutes before cutting. Eat and enjoy.
Tip: If you have one gluten free person in your family, you can bake up a bunch of personal size crusts, freeze them in airtight Ziploc bags, and then whenever you need a quick gluten free meal you can pull one crust from the freezer, top and bake.
Ingredients:
1 cup brown rice flour or oat flour
1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup tapioca or potato starch
1/2 tsp. xantham gum
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 tbsp. olive oil
pizza sauce
toppings of your choice - I used diced peppers and purple onion
Directions:
Put the yeast, sugar and warm water in a bowl. Let sit for about 10 minutes until bubbled.
Whisk dry ingredients together in a larger bowl. Pour in yeast mixture and olive oil. Mix with a strong spoon until dough comes together in a ball.
For larger pies, divide dough into two balls. For individual pies, divide dough into 5-6 balls. Grease the pan and press the dough down with your fingers, gently spreading it until pan is covered. Dough should be very thin.
Bake the crust on 350 until it appears dry and has cracks in it - about 25 minutes.
Remove crust, top with your favorite sauce, cheese and vegetables and return to the oven until cheese is bubbly - approximately 15 minutes.
Let pizza sit for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
Note: Freezes well at all stages. You can freeze the dough, freeze the cooked base, freeze the base with the sauce and toppings or freeze the fully baked pizza.
Are you gluten free or cooking for someone who is? Which other gluten free recipes would you like to see here?
________________________________________
More in Lifestyles:
• Old Poland Shtetl (By Eduard Gurevich)
Artist’s Statement: Market Day in Shtetl Zabludoff in old Poland, based on the stories of Sholom Aleichem and Isaac Bashevis Singer.
In memory of the burned, destroyed Jewish shtetls that give me no rest . . .
JEWISH NEWS
Parents of Kidnapped Students Heartened by ‘Book of Mitzvot’
The parents of three yeshivah students kidnapped by terrorists in Israel said they were “deeply heartened” when presented with books containing more than 3,000 pledges of acts of kindness and prayer that have been received on a special web page created by Chabad.org. Chabad.org Staff
The parents of three yeshivah students kidnapped by terrorists in Israel said they were “deeply heartened” when they were presented with books containing more than 3,000 pledges of acts of kindness and prayer that have been received on a special web page created by Chabad.org
It was an extremely moving visit for the parents of Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Shaar, as well for as the rabbis who visited them. Over the past week, more than 4,200 pledges have been received, and on Sunday, books containing some 3,000 of those pledges compiled late last week were delivered to the boys’ families by a delegation of rabbis organized by Chabad Terror Victims Project, an initiative of the Lubavitch Youth Organization in Israel that helps terror victims and their families.
“This is the most moving thing that we have received until now,” said Avi Frenkel, whose wife, Rachel, added that “this is exactly what we wanted, for people to increase mitzvot in their merit.” Bat Galim Shaar noted that “receiving this book was the most important thing for us.”
“Needless to say, they were all very emotional visits,” said Rabbi Menachem Kutner, director of the project. “But the families are strong and are giving off a very positive attitude, and actually are giving strength to everyone around them.”
Cover page of the book containing more than 3,000 pledges.
“It was very powerful to see their reaction to the books, especially when we showed them that the mitzvot came from all over the world,” added Rabbi Yossi Swerdlow, who along with Kutner was joined by Rabbi Aharon Prus of Tzerei Agudat Chabad Headquarters Israel; Rabbi Eliezer Shemtov, director of Chabad of Uruguay; and Rabbi Yankel Kagen, director of Chabad of Contra Costa, Calif. “The parents were all visibly moved and extremely grateful,” said Swerdlow. ”All of them said how important it is for people to continue to do mitzvot in honor of the students.”
Iris Yiftach noted that of all the intelligence she is receiving from the defense establishment, she knows that “the true solution and the true ‘intelligence’ ” is to be found in the book of mitzvot that she received. “This is a book that pleads directly to Hashem. We will keep it with Eyal’s things and show it to him when he returns, with G‑d’s help.”
Readers can continue to “pledge a mitzvah” on the students’ behalf here.
When doing a good deed, please have in mind their names:
Yaakov Naftali ben Rachel Devorah
Gilad Michael ben Bat Galim
Eyal ben Iris Teshura
________________________________________
More in Jewish News:
• 20 Couples to Serve as New Leaders for Jewish Youth the World Over (By Menachem Posner)
Some of the new emissaries will focus on young adults, like those at this gathering hosted by Chabad for Young Professionals in New York City. (Photo: Chabad for Young Professionals)
Twenty Chabad couples will soon be dispatched to serve as leaders for youth and young adults in Jewish communities all across the globe.
The new couples are being recruited, trained, placed and funded as part of the Global Jewish Youth Initiative that was launched in November at the annual International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries in New York. Unlike most of the thousands of emissaries currently in the field, these couples will focus exclusively on teens and young professionals.
“The Rebbe emphasized many times that the key to creating widespread change in Jewish life is through youth,” says Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, director of the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries and vice chairman of Merkos L’lnyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. “Through engaging them with consistent, meaningful Jewish experiences that continue throughout their teenage years and into adulthood, we are confident that the next generation of Jewish people will be even stronger, more committed and more learned than ever before.”
The initiative is the product of a brainstorming session attended by 50 Chabad emissaries last summer. Kotlarsky says the grants have been underwritten by a young donor who himself benefited from Chabad programming for young people and wished to share the experience with Jewish youth the world over.
In the few hours since the grant was announced on Thursday, Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, executive director of Merkos Suite 302 and coordinator of the project, says he has received several dozen of applications.
‘An Amazing Interest’
“It’s heartening to see that there is such an amazing interest in expanding into this area,” he proclaimed. “We are hoping that this will create a snowball effect and bring even more donors on board, so that even more communities will be able to benefit.”
The grant sizes will be determined according to living expenses, community size and other factors.
“The concept,” continues Kotlarsky, “is that there should be a seamless connection from preschool through campus and all the way through adulthood, with quality programming and the personal touch that typifies the Chabad approach.”
The 20 grants are a tribute to the upcoming 20th anniversary of the passing of the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory.
“Even as we are mindful of the past,” says Kotlarsky, “we have our eyes facing toward the future—and youth are in the center of that vision.”
• Utah Rabbi Warrants Minuteman Award for Work With At-Risk Kids (By Karen Schwartz)
 |
| Rabbi Benny Zippel, co-director of Chabad Lubavitch of Utah, with Lt. Gov. of Utah Spencer J. Cox on his left, and to his right, Maj. Gen. Jefferson S. Burton, the Adjutant General of Utah. |
So on June 11, he and his wife, Sharonne—co-directors of Chabad Lubavitch of Utah—joined seven other honorees and supporters at a black-tie event at the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City. There, they were recognized as part of the 53rd Annual Bronze Minuteman Awards.
Lt. Gov. of Utah Spencer J. Cox spoke about the award’s significance and how it is given each year to individuals who go out of their way to give back to the community. Then Cox—along with Maj. Gen. Jefferson S. Burton, the Adjutant General of Utah, and Brig. Gen. (Ret.) E.J. “Jake” Garn, former U.S. senator of Utah—presented Zippel with the award.
Zippel, founder of Project H.E.A.R.T (Hebrew Education for At-Risk Teens), met a lot of people that night. They wanted to know about his work with teenagers at residential treatment centers in Utah. The rabbi, who explains that he focuses on the emotional, psychological and spiritual stability of those he assists, says “people were very appreciative and very grateful.”
He was awarded a certificate and a statue of a minuteman holding a rifle, with a plaque at the bottom.
The rabbi with his framed certificate and statue
As far as those at the dinner attested, this was the first time that a Jewish person in Utah was given the award—much less a rabbi. “I actually felt very humbled by being there,” says Zippel, adding he believed that his presence contributed to the broader community, while at the same time served to pay respect to the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory.
Zippel’s entire approach is based on the Rebbe’s work and teachings, he says, and resonates with a similar theme. “I shared with people about what the Rebbe saw in every person—the Divine spark found within them. He gave each individual, no matter what background or affiliation, the chance to tap into that Divine spark, and use it as a catalyst for individual self-improvement and self-actualization.”
Another captivating topic of conversation wound up being the Zippels’ dinner; they had been provided with pre-packaged kosher meals.
“People thought it was amazing—they thought it was the greatest thing ever,” remarks Zippel, who says he used the opportunity to talk with other attendees about the laws of keeping kosher. “They were just staring at my plastic container, at my plastic cutlery and plastic cup and bottle of water, and they were in awe that in the middle of Utah, there’s someone who remains so committed to our religious obligation.”
Zippel, seated at far left, and seven other honorees were recognized as part of the 53rd Annual Bronze Minuteman Awards in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Meanwhile, the event also gave him the chance and the platform to raise awareness about Project H.E.A.R.T., which he founded in 1992.
“I want people to know that Project H.E.A.R.T. exists, and I want people to know that help is available," he stresses. “And I want them to know that it is my goal to transform every at-risk teen into the gem that he or she truly is.”
• New Jersey Annual Dinner Puts a Spotlight on Campus Activities - Students attest to the work of Chabad at the university level, and the families who make them feel at home (By Karen Schwartz, Chabad.edu)
A marching band kicked off the 10th Annual Chabad Founders Dinner of Chabad Lubavitch of Camden & Burlington Counties in New Jersey on June 11. (Photos: Rina Shochat)
Megaphones served as centerpieces and pom-poms dotted the room, as if imploring a passer-by to pick one up and sound out a cheer, encouraged by pennants from different schools adorning the walls. If this weren’t enough to put attendees in the university spirit, a marching band kicked off the evening’s program with pomp and circumstance—and some very resplendent trumpets.
The 350 people who attended the 10th Annual Chabad Founders Dinner of Chabad Lubavitch of Camden & Burlington Counties in New Jersey on June 11 got a real taste of student spirit at an event that put a spotlight on Chabad’s efforts on 10 different college campuses.
Participants celebrated the accomplishments of their local Chabad Houses and, by extension, Chabad Houses everywhere, honoring the vision of the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory.
The program recognized several community members and also included speeches from two students who have been significantly affected by Chabad on Campus. A Sinai Scholars Society video was also shown about the coursework program that seeks to engage college students with their Judaism.
This year's focus was on Chabad’s efforts on college campuses.
Honorees Donny and Etti Oettinger, and Ari and Natalie Ohnona have been active with Chabad since Rabbi Mendel Mangel and his wife, Dinie, started the center 20 years ago. Michael and Tamara Kline, the third couple to be honored, became more recently involved over the last few years.In that time, the Chabad center has grown from a little storefront to a facility now bursting at the seams in its current space, said Mangel. Its next project aims to double its size from its current 12,000 square feet.
Among other offerings, it is home to a successful Hebrew school, summer camp, teen programs, adult-education classes and a synagogue that brings a minyan together three times a day, seven days a week, and draws an average of 150 people each Shabbat. Jewish residents and guests can also make the most of a brand-new mikvah—Mikvah Mei Shifta—with separate facilities for men and women.
All of this gets done with the help of fellow Chabad emissaries Rabbi Yitzchok and Baily Kahan, and Rabbi Mendy and Shterna Kaminker.
Shterna Kaminker, left, and Baily Kahan, local Chabad emissaries with their husbands, Rabbi Mendy Kaminker and Rabbi Yitzchok Kahan.
While the guests showed up to support their local Chabad, Mangel said he hopes they came away with an even broader perspective on Chabad’s work. “I want them to appreciate the Rebbe’s love and concern for every Jew,” he said. “And the best way is for them to see the impact of Chabad Centers around the world.”
‘Changed My Life’
Ashley Reich, a recent college graduate from Marlton, N.J., spoke about her experiences at West Virginia University and then Stockton College. During her first semester at West Virginia University, she said she received a message from Rabbi Zalman Gurevitz, inviting her to Shabbat dinner. She passed on that, but given his persistence, decided to go a different week.
“That first Shabbat dinner forever changed my life,” she said. She told the crowd about lighting Shabbat candles for the first time and “talking for hours” with the rabbi’s wife, Hindy. “From that moment on, I was completely hooked.”
Ashley Reich, a recent college graduate from Marlton, N.J., said Chabad changed her life.
Reich grew in her involvement until she became student president of Chabad on Campus at West Virginia. She also helped out with the Hebrew school, though she had never attended one herself.
Her observance eventually became a family affair. Her sister now attends Chabad’s Hebrew school in Cherry Hill, and her family goes to holidays and Shabbat dinners at Chabad. “Chabad has brought a newfound sense of Judaism into my family’s home,” said Reich.
Drexel University sophomore Lyssia Katan then took to the stage to speak about her freshman year in Philadelphia, when she happened to meet Rabbi Chaim Goldstein while he was handing out challah one day on Greek Row.
Chabad became her “home away from home,” she said, talking about how the rabbi and his wife, Moussia, along with their 3-year-old daughter (they now also have a baby son), have helped her continue traditions she grew up with, as well as participate in new Jewish experiences.
Drexel University sophomore Lyssia Katan felt that Chabad was a "home away from home."
“L’chaim to a family for you here in Cherry Hill, a family for your children when they’re away at college, and a family anywhere in the world—waiting to embrace you with open arms and loving hearts,” declared Katan.
‘It’s Right There’
Randi Stoopler, chair of the dinner, explained that the planning started in August, with a group of committee members focused on picking a theme that would provide a different perspective on Chabad’s work. Last year, they focused on its global reach, she said, adding that “most people who came didn’t realize that there were Chabad Houses literally around the world.”
This year, they turned to another aspect of the movement’s attention.
“People don’t realize what Chabad does on campus, so just to have another eye-opening aspect of the critical work they do—not just in our own small community, but beyond”—was important, said Stoopler. “There’s so much work to be done and it pays off, as shown by these two young women we had speak.”
Arnie Staloff, a returning member of the dinner committee, noted that he was impressed by how extensive Chabad has become on college campuses and by how many vital services it offers.
It fits right into their lives, he said: “It’s right there, and students can hit the ground running. From that perspective, at least, they can feel like they never left their home communities.”
Rabbi Mendel Mangel and his wife, Dinie, started the Chabad center 20 years ago.
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