Editor's Note:
Dear Friend,
This week we commemorate the yahrtzeit of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, of righteous memory. Her life was a legacy of sacrifice and love; all who knew her were deeply impressed by the genuine care and interest she took in others.
Nine years ago, in her honor, we launched TheJewishWoman.org, the women's satellite site of chabad.org, which has become the premier destination on the web for Jewish women.
This week, we invite you to join us in celebrating our amazing growth!
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Chana Weisberg,
Editor, TheJewishWoman.org
Daily Thought:
What is Alef?
What is an Alef?
A point above, a point below, and a line between.
Whatever we may understand of Him
is but an infinitesimal point above.
The only way we can join with Him
is as an infinitesmal point below.
And what empowers us to become this zero-point below
that resonates with the infinite-point above?
Our awe of Him,
a line that connects below to above.
This Week's Features:
Unlike her husband, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka did not practice her dedication to the Jewish people in the public eye, but in the privacy of her own home. By Eli Rubin
On the 22nd of Shevat, 1988, the Rebbe’s wife of sixty years, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson, passed away.1
Unlike her husband, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka did not practice her dedication to the Jewish people in the public eye, but in the privacy of her own home. She never attended her husband’s public talks or communal services in the main synagogue. Even on Rosh Hashanah the Rebbe blew the shofar for her at home, and she always referred to herself as Mrs. Schneerson, never as "Rebbetzin."2
Before her husband accepted the leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch she had not been so retiring. She attended community events and celebrations, and during the public talks of her increasingly frail father, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, she stood at the door to ensure the room did not become overcrowded.3 When her father passed away, and the future of the movement hung in the balance, she told her husband, “If you do not become Rebbe, thirty years of my father’s life will have gone to waste.”4 Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka did not practice her dedication to the Jewish people in the public eye, but in the privacy of her own home.
The strong stance that she took speaks volumes of her courageous commitment to Chabad's CONTINUITY. Her older sister had long anticipated that her own husband, Rabbi Shmaryahu Gourary, would become the next Rebbe. The Rebbetzin had no desire to compete with her sister, but along with the chassidim she understood that only an individual of her husband's visionary stature could continue her father's mission.5 The Rebbetzin's sensitivity towards her sister seems to have been one of the factors that led her to evade any public occasion where she might be honored as the Rebbe’s wife.6
These tensions came to the fore in 1985 when it was discovered that the Gourary’s son, Barry, was sneaking rare books from his grandfather’s library and selling them. When confronted, his mother claimed the books as family property, which her son had every right to sell for profit. Chabad’s central organization contested this claim, arguing that the books were the collective property of the Chabad community.7
Barry Gourary’s lawyers insisted on fighting the case in federal court, and served Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka with a deposition. When asked to whom she thought the books belonged she replied, “I think they belonged to the chassidim, because my father belonged to the chassidim.” Labeled “the most dramatic moment in the whole proceeding” by Chabad’s lawyer, this remark poignantly expressed just how much the Rebbetzin gave up to ensure that chassidim would CONTINUE to have a Rebbe.8
The Rebbetzin had no public profile, but did have a busy social life. She befriended many individuals, from within the Chabad community and from other backgrounds, entertaining them in her home, playing with their children, writing to them and conversing by telephone.9
In 1974 Israeli student Orah Jurawel visited New York and brought a gift for the Rebbetzin from a mutual friend. “When I arrived in New York I called her and she immediately invited me to her home… The Rebbetzin, a small, thin lady, was dressed very elegantly. She escorted me into the dining room where the table was set with refreshments and beautiful tableware. She was very interested in what I was doing, what I was studying, what my aspirations were.”
“You could understand why they were husband and wife. And if the Rebbe had one admirer, one chassid in this world all those years, it was her.”
The Rebbetzin was not simply being polite. This was the beginning of a lasting connection. When Jurawel’s fourth child was diagnosed with Down syndrome and heart complications, the Rebbetzin called to encourage her. “Everyone else asked about the child and the DOCTORS, but the Rebbetzin always asked how I was feeling… Her message was simply that I too am important…”10
Jurawel’s relationship with the Rebbetzin was certainly special, but those who knew the Rebbetzin testify that it typifies the intelligence, enthusiasm, and concern that characterized all her interactions.11
By drawing a sharp line between her private persona and the public realm, the Rebbetzin was able to devote herself unreservedly to her husband. The Rebbe worked unthinkably long hours and never took a day off. But during the time he was at home no one dared intrude. At whatever unearthly hour he arrived, the Rebbetzin was always awake to receive him.12 Visitors to her home often noted the piles of books, newspapers and journals that the Rebbetzin scoured for developments in science, global affairs and politics that the Rebbe might be interested in.13
Dr. Ira Weiss, the Rebbe’s cardiologist, spoke to the Rebbetzin almost daily to receive her report on the Rebbe’s health situation, and was one of the few people to interact with them in the privacy of their home. Weiss testified to the deep love, concern and respect that they each showed towards one another,14 and remarked that she was the one person in the world who the Rebbe could look to for honest critique:
“I was once at dinner with the Rebbetzin and the Rebbe. I had a chance to see them in action together and it was a very good exchange because the Rebbetzin was very smart… Here was a personal conversation, the Rebbe and Rebbetzin talking to each other at the table and having a little bit of intellectual sparring. It was charming and revealing.”15
According to Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, the Rebbe’s longtime secretary, the Rebbetzin’s unique relationship with her husband enabled her to appreciate his qualities in an entirely different way:
“You could understand why they were husband and wife. And if the Rebbe had one admirer, one chassid in this world all those years, it was her.”16
Everyone A Tzaddik: Miracles, Transmission and Ascent
FOOTNOTES
1. A video of the Rebbe attending her funeral is viewable here. Videos of the Rebbe talking about the Rebbetzin and thanking people for their blessings and condolences can be viewed here and here.
2. Interview with Rabbi Shmuel Lew, November 30th 2011. See also The Rebbetzin, a film by JEM Media.
3. Testimony of Mrs. Haddasah Carlebach, Viewable here.
4. Testimony of Rabbi Yosef Wineberg, cited in Telushkin, Rebbe, page 367.
5. For more on the events leading up to the Rebbe's reluctant acceptance of the leadership, despite concern for his brother-in-law's position see The Seventh Generation: A Leader of Leaders.
6. Interview with Rabbi Shmuel Lew, November 30th 2011.
7. For more details about this case see Telushkin, Ibid., pages 385 410.
8. See the testimony of attorney Nathan Lewin here.
9. See, for example, the testimony of Mrs. Louise Hager here.
10. Testimony of Mrs. Orah Jurawel, viewable here.
11. See, for example, the testimony of Mrs. Danièle Gorlin Lassner, viewable here.
12. Testimony of Carlebach cited above, note 3.
13. Testimony of Mrs. Louise Hager, viewable here. See also source cited above, note 8.
14. Testimony of Dr. Ira Weiss, viewable here.
15. Mrs. Baila Olidort, interview with Weiss, first published on Lubavitch.com.
16. Rabbi David Eliezrie, interview with Rabbi Krinsky, viewable here.
PARSHAH
Used to describe a person or an attitude, NIMBY is an abbreviation for Not In My Back Yard. By Menachem Feldman
Many people have strong opinions on how we should solve society's challenges. They may believe that we have to help the homeless, the disenfranchised, and everyone else—but, often, they want the problem to be solved NIMBY.
Used to describe a person or an attitude, NIMBY is an abbreviation for Not In My Back Yard. A NIMBY might agree that a community or a neighborhood needs a half-way house for convicts transitioning back to society, but doesn't want it placed too close to his or her own home or in the neighborhood. (Urban Dictionary)
The NIMBY attitude is in direct contrast to the Torah’s perspective. The Torah’s philosophy is that if you are going to heal society’s ills, you cannot expect to write a check and have someone else solve the problem in some distant part of the country. Rather, you must roll up your sleeves and “get your hands dirty.” Only then can you expect to create positive change.
NIMBY is an abbreviation for Not In My Back Yard
This idea is crystallized in the Torah law that is perhaps one of the most uncomfortable laws to the modern ear: the law of the Hebrew servant. At first glance, it seems strange that the Torah, the epitome of Divine morality, could condone servitude. Upon close examination, however, this law contains a deep moral lesson.
The Hebrew servant is typically someone who stole and is unable to repay what they stole. Instead of incarcerating the thief—which does little to rehabilitate the criminal (the U.S. Department of Justice writes on its website that “in a 15 State study, over two-thirds of released prisoners were rearrested within three years”)—the Torah puts forth a system of rehabilitation.
The criminal becomes a servant for six years, and the money earned by his work is used to repay the victim of his theft. This service, however, is not performed in some faraway prison camp; rather the thief is sent to the home of an upstanding member of the community. The Torah expects that in the home of the “master,” the thief will find, perhaps for the first time in his life, warmth and compassion.
Now, let’s think about the host family for a moment. Why would they choose to HIRE the six-year servant in a contract that demands a great deal of the master? To quote Maimonides:
A master is obligated to treat any Hebrew servant or maid servant as his equal with regard to food, drink, clothing and living quarters, as implied by Deuteronomy 15:16: "for it is good for him with you." The master should not eat bread made from fine flour while the servant eats bread from coarse flour. The master should not drink aged wine while the servant drinks fresh wine. The master should not sleep on cushions while the servant sleeps on straw. . . . On this basis, our Sages said: "Whoever purchases a Hebrew servant purchases a master for himself." A master must treat his servant with brotherly love, as implied by Leviticus 25:46: "And with regard to your brothers, the children of Israel."
That said, why would anybody want to purchase a servant?
The answer is that the host family that is HIRING the six year servant understands that you can't outsource your obligation to help the disadvantaged. They understand that if you want to help someone, it’s not enough to write a check. You must open up your home and invite the other into your family.
To illustrate this point in a modern context: Steve, my dear friend and study partner, was an officer with the NYPD, serving in the Bronx in the seventies. One day, he was called to a store where the employees caught someone stealing food. Steve approached the suspected thief and asked why he stole. The man responded that he had three children at home and needed to feed them.
Steve went in to speak toWhy would anybody want to purchase a servant? Mr. Hurwitz, the store owner. When Mr. Hurwitz heard what the fellow said, not only did he refuse to press charges but he offered the guy a job on the spot.
What’s most amazing about this story is that within three years the guy moved up from his job stocking the shelves to become a store manager.
This would not have happened had Mr. Hurwitz just wanted to help a lost soul. It happened because Mr. Hurwitz did more than write a check; he opened the door and let the other person in. And he did more than let him into his backyard; he let him into his life.
More in Parshah:• The Criminal, the Litigant, and the Partner (Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe)
And these are the laws which you shall set before them: If you purchase a Hebrew servant... If a man strikes his fellow with a stone or with his fist... If a person's ox gores the ox of his fellow... If a person gives his friend money or utensils to watch over, and they are stolen from the [guardian's] home...Exodus 21-22
The commandments of the Torah are commonly divided into two categories: laws that govern the relationship "between man and G-d," and those that legislate the proper conduct "between man and his fellow." Indeed, the Ten Commandments, which are an encapsulation of the entire Torah, were inscribed on two separate tablets: one containing commandments such as "I am the L-rd your G-d" and "Remember the day of Shabbat," and the other proclaiming laws like "Do not kill" and "Do not steal."
But the two categories are deeply interrelated. The Zohar states that the divine instruction, "I am G-d your G-d... You shall have no other gods before Me," is the essence of all 613 commandments and prohibitions of the Torah. On the other hand, the Talmud tells the famous story of the great sage Hillel, who told a man who asked to be taught the entire Torah while standing on one foot: "What is hateful to yourself, do not do to your fellow. This is the entire Torah -- the rest is commentary."
Ultimately, there is no essential difference between the Torah's "civil" laws and its so-called "religious" laws. A crime against man is also a crime against G-d, and a crime against G-d is a crime against all of His creations. A kindness to a fellow human being is a kindness to Him who created us all and desires that we live in peace and harmony with each other, and a positive "personal" relationship with G-d has a positive effect on His relationship with creation as a whole, and with each and every citizen of His world.
Chassidic teaching takes this a step further, showing how the deeper significance of a mitzvah extends beyond its basic classification as "between man and G-d" or "between man and man" to the other category as well. A mitzvah whose most immediate application is of a "ritualistic" nature is also an instruction in how to behave toward a fellow man, and a mitzvah whose literal meaning places it squarely within the Torah's "civil code" also addresses the internal world of the human soul, and its mission and purpose in life.
The Ox, the Pit, Man, and Fire
Many of the Torah's civil laws are enumerated in the section of Mishpatim(Exodus 21-24), which immediately follows the Torah's description of the revelation at Mount Sinai. This, say our sages, is to emphasize that "just as the previous ones are from Sinai, these, too, are from Sinai"; that in Torah, even the most utilitarian social law is a "mitzvah" -- a divine commandment, a revelation of divine will.
The Talmud, which analyzes the biblical verses and deduces the laws encoded within them, devotes its largest tractate, Nezikin, to the civil laws of Mishpatim. Because of its size, Nezikin is subdivided into three parts, each of which has come to be regarded as a tractate in its own right: Bava Kamma ("First Gate"),Bava Metzia ("Middle Gate"), and Bava Batra ("Final Gate").
Each of the three "Gates" deals with a different category of civil law; together, they describe humanity's progress toward a more peaceful and harmonious existence. The same is true of the spiritual dimension of these legal tracts: each "Gate" represents a different stage in our inner development, as the soul matures toward the ultimate realization of its potential.
A reading of the opening lines of each of the "Gates" will serve to illustrate the types of cases they each deal with. Bava Kamma, the "First Gate," begins:
There are four primary classes of damages: the ox, the pit, man, and fire.
The "First Gate" goes on to discuss a person's responsibility for these four categories of damages:
1) Damages inflicted by one's personal property (e.g., a person's ox goring his neighbor's ox);
2) Damages caused by hazards placed in the public domain (e.g., digging a hole in middle of the street);
3) Damages inflicted directly by the person himself;
4) Failure to prevent damages arising from potentially dangerous actions (e.g., a person starts a fire on his own property which spreads to that of his neighbors).
In addition to defining the four categories of damages and the numerous sub-categories and particular laws they each contain, Bava Kamma also legislates the reparations and penalties for theft and robbery. In other words, the "First Gate" of Torah's civil law deals primarily with criminal, even violent, attacks on a fellow's property and person, addressing the most crass form of disharmony among men.
Finders, Keepers, and Partners
The laws discussed in Bava Metzia, the "Middle Gate," include: laws pertaining to the return of lost objects; disputes arising out of loans, sales, and employment; and the responsibilities of the "Four Guardians" -- the paid and unpaid bailees, the borrower, and the renter -- for the objects entrusted to their care.
Like the first Bava, the "Middle Gate" also deals with disputes between people. But these are, for the most part, more benign conflicts, arising out of honest disagreement rather than malicious or blatantly irresponsible behavior. The first law discussed in this tractate is a case in point:
Two people are holding onto a garment. One says, "I found it," and the other says, "I found it"...
To be sure, the laws of Bava Metzia hardly reflect the ideal in interpersonal relations. The court's verdict inevitably satisfies but one, and at times neither, of the claimants. But unlike the cases discussed in the "First Gate," there are no overtly anti-civil acts involved. Rather, in the course of their normal, day-to-day dealings, two people find themselves in disagreement with each other. In many cases, each party honestly believes himself to be in the right.
On the other hand, the "Final Gate," Bava Batra, includes an entirely different genre of civil law: laws which come not to settle disputes, but to lay the groundwork for a socially just and harmonious existence between man and his fellow. This tractate discusses the laws outlining property rights, neighbor relations and responsibilities, partnership, commerce, inheritance, and charity. A case in point is Bava Batra's first scenario:
Partners [in a courtyard] who wish to divide should build a wall in the middle... In everything they follow the local custom. [When they build] with uncut stones, one gives three handbreadths and the other gives three handbreadths [of space for the wall]... With bricks, one gives one-and-one-half handbreadths and the other gives one-and-one-half handbreadths... Thus... the area and the stones belong equally to both.
This law is typical of the laws that form the backbone of the "Final Gate": its function might be to define and divide, but this is a division desired by both parties and beneficial to them both. Indeed, the very wall which divides them becomes a joint undertaking, linking them and attesting to their mutual desire to live as neighbors who respect each other's rights and privileges.
The Three Gates of History
On the cosmic-historical level, the three gates of Nezikin can be seen as three phases in the social development of man, as a barometer of Torah law's progressive influence upon society.
In the "First Gate," we encounter human society in a base and barbaric state: "law" is an institution whose function is to deal with criminal and violent behavior among its members. In the "Second Gate," we progress from criminal to non-malicious conflict. Finally, the "Final Gate" describes a strife-free society -- one in which the role of the law is not to deal with dispute, but to establish guidelines for a greater cooperation and a deeper unity in the community of man.
The three Bavot tell the story of history itself: the story of mankind's progress toward the perfect and harmonious world of Moshiach. As humanity learns to disarm and unite, beating the swords of war machinery into the plowshares of aid to the needy, we near the day when the "Final Gate" of Torah's civil and civilizing law will forever abolish conflict and animosity from the human experience.
Between Man and G-d
As discussed above, the social mitzvot of the Torah have their counterparts in the life of the soul. Thus, the "three gates" of progress from barbarism to harmonious coexistence on the social level also describe three corresponding stages in our spiritual development and our quest for connection with G-d.
In the "First Gate," we contend with the negative forces that actively undermine our spiritual integrity. These fall under four general categories, corresponding to the "four primary classes of damages": our animal lusts and desires ("the ox"); our propensity for anger and other violent emotions ("fire"); the destructive effect of "passive" vices such as sloth and inertia ("the pit"); and our misleadingly sophisticated vices, which are all the more harmful because they exploit our elevated, distinctly human talents ("man") for spiritually destructive ends.
The "Middle Gate" describes a stage in our spiritual development at which these overtly destructive forces have been overcome, and our internal conflicts are of a more subtle and "civilized" nature. The spiritual Bava Metzia deals with issues such as "finding lost objects," and the responsibilities and privileges of the "Four Guardians."
The Talmud defines a "fool" (shoteh -- a legal term referring to someone who lacks the intelligence and understanding to be held responsible for his actions) as "one who loses everything that is given to him." The Hebrew words for "everything that" -- kol mah -- also translate as "all the what"; "what" (mah) is a Kabbalistic term for the soul's capacity for receptiveness and self-abnegation. On the spiritual level, a "fool" is one who loses all the mah that has been given him -- a person whose self-absorption prevents him from being receptive to all that is greater and loftier than his present comprehension and experience.
This is the "between man and G-d" significance of the laws that deal with the recovery of lost objects. Even after we have cleansed our souls of the blatantly destructive traits enumerated in the "First Gate," we must labor to recover our lost mah and resolve the internal dissonance that occurs when our ego obstructs our spiritual development.
Bava Metzia also includes the laws of the "Four Guardians": the unpaid guardian, the paid guardian, the borrower, and the renter. These laws define the degree of responsibility that each guardian has toward the object entrusted to his care as it relates to the amount of benefit he derives from his guardianship. As applied to our internal lives, the laws of the "Four Guardians" describe four types of spiritual personalities who vary in the degree of "reward" they expect in return for their toil to improve G-d's world and the corresponding degree of "responsibility" they must assume for the hazards of life (see here).
The Partner
Our sages tell us that "in the manner in which man measures himself, so is it meted out to him." In other words, G-d leaves it to us to define our vision of life and our relationship with Him, and then relates to us accordingly. Indeed, there are three general ways in which a person may perceive the labor of life: as a slave, as an employee, or as a partner.
One might see himself as the slave of an autocratic master. I didn't ask to be born, goes this line of thinking, nor was I consulted when the laws of life were formulated. All this was imposed on me. As the Talmud puts it, "Against your will you are born, and against your will you die." My master is all-powerful, so I had best carry out His commands.
Or one might adopt the more involved attitude of the employee. I have a job to do, says this approach, and I'll give it my best effort. And has G-d not promised to reward my toil? A vision of life as a job is expressed by the Talmudic sageRabbi Tarfon in the second chapter of Ethics of the Fathers: "The day is short, the work is much, the workers are lazy, the reward is great, and the Master is pressing... It is not incumbent upon you to finish the task, but neither are you free to absolve yourself from it. If you have learned much Torah, you will be greatly rewarded, and your Employer is trustworthy to pay you the reward of your labors."
Finally, one can experience life as a partnership with G-d. True, we are "slaves" in the sense that we acknowledge G-d's absolute mastery over us, and we are "employees" in the sense that He has defined our life's assignment and has promised to reward our labor. But we have been granted the ability to elevate the toil of life into a partnership with our Creator. In the words of our sages, "A judge who judges a case with complete truthfulness... becomes a partner with G-d in creation"; "One who prays on the eve of Shabbat and recites Vayechulu... becomes a partner with G-d in creation."
As G-d's partners, we develop our self and world in accordance with the divine will not only because we must, nor merely to "do our job," but as an intensely personal enterprise. Life becomes our joint venture with G-d -- a venture conceived and enabled by Him but fueled by our own initiative and ambition.
The spiritual version of the "Final Gate" describes this venture. As in any joint enterprise, there is a need for "walls" that delineate the terms of the partnership; the domain of each partner must be defined, as well as his rights and responsibilities. These walls are of several types: some are wholly divine institutions ("uncut stones"); others are products of man's development of divinely provided resources ("brick").
But while these walls divide and define, they are not divisive walls. There are no saboteurs in this relationship (as in the "First Gate"), nor even benign conflict (as in the more spiritually mature "Second Gate"). Rather, they are uniting walls, whose joint CONSTRUCTION
galvanizes our relationship with G-d and imparts meaning and fulfillment to our lives.1
galvanizes our relationship with G-d and imparts meaning and fulfillment to our lives.1| FOOTNOTES | |
| 1. | Based on Reshimot #31, pp. 5-8; Sefer HaSichot 5752, vol. II, pp. 369-371. |
• What’s the Point of Going Through the Motions? (By Elisha Greenbaum)
Wherever Jews live, you can guarantee that the Lubavitchers will soon be standing around on nearby street corners and wandering into their offices, smiling at the natives and nudging them to do a mitzvah."Excuse me, Sir, have you had the chance to put on tefillin today?"
"Ma'am, may I interest you in a pair ofShabbat candlesticks?"
"Step right up into the mobile sukkahand shake these, please."
In the few decades since the Rebbe sent his troops out to the streets, millions and millions of Jews have snatched a few moments to roll up their sleeves in a worthy cause or to mutter a quick prayer during their lunch break. But why bother? Leave the poor guy alone; he doesn't really care. Most people agree to participate less out of fidelity to faith than to take the path of least resistance. The smooth faced young boy asked so nicely, with such sincerity, that they couldn't bring themselves to refuse. But G‑d? He didn't come into the picture.
What value can there possibly be in such mitzvot? Seemingly empty words and accompanying gestures that are even less sincere. They're not fooling G‑d, so why bother wasting time having people act out a meaningless charade?
We Are All Individuals
Moses asked the same question.
G‑d commanded the Jewish people to each offer a half-shekel coin to the Temple as an act of contrition for sinning with the Golden Calf. No matter one's personal situation, whether individually wealthy or struggling, every single Jew was to line up and hand over an identical coin to the holy coffers.
To demonstrate the exact particulars of the coin in question, G‑d showed Moses a vision of a coin made from fire and insisted that every Jew donate a silver replica.
Moses didn't get it. "Okay," he argued, "I can accept that some physical form of repentance is needed to expiate our sins, but shouldn't we be given the opportunity for individual atonement? No two people think alike, nor do they act identically. Our intentions are unique to self, and surely the path of forgiveness should be tailored to our individual needs!"
Why should each of us be forced to perform the same seemingly meaningless rituals? If you enjoy putting on tefillin, or appreciate the aura of Shabbat candles, you indulge yourself; but why beg me or nudge me to join in when I don't think, feel or believe as you do?
Coins of FireEvery mitzvah we do ignites within us a spark of G‑d
That was precisely the attitude that G‑d came to counter with the coin of fire. To you it might look like a stolid silver coin, emotionally detached and one-size-fits-none, but, from the Divine perspective, flames of purpose and passion blaze out of every action of every Jew. We are all individuals, G‑d speaks to each of us and we respond in kind. We may not know it at the time, we may be too unsophisticated to appreciate the incredible change we undergo; yet we are assured that every mitzvah we do ignites within us a spark of G‑d.
In practical terms, too, meeting those young boys and girls and agreeing to do just one mitzvah more has been the initial spark for hundreds of thousands of Jews to a reawakening to G‑d and Judaism. Those seemingly minor acts of observance resonate within the soul of a Jew like a branding iron of enlightenment and become the driving force towards inspiration.
• Learn the Parshah In Depth Exodus 21:1-24:18
Parshah Summary
A Reasonable Approach to Kosher
Kosher is the diet plan for the soul, in that it contains the foods prescribed by G‑d in the Torah for consumption by the Jewish people. By Pinchas Taylor
She Taught Us to Appreciate the Mainstay of the Home
Louise Hager, who developed a close relationship with the Rebbe’s wife, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, recalls speaking about her for the first time in public, and relates some important lessons the Rebbetzin taught her. (1991)
Watch (4:42)
http://www.chabad.org/therebbe/livingtorah/player_cdo/aid/2823587/jewish/She-Taught-Us-to-Appreciate-the-Mainstay-of-the-Home.htm
More in Video:
• How to Be Best Friends Forever (By Frumma Rosenberg-Gottlieb)
Following the revelation at Sinai, when the people of Israel committed themselves to upholding the Torah and received the Ten Commandments, G-d proceeds to communicate to Moses the rest of the mitzvot ("commandments") of the Torah. The greater part of the parshah of Mishpatim consists of this communication, containing 53 of the 613 mitzvot.
And these are the laws (mishpatim) which you shall set before them...
If you purchase a Hebrew slave, our parshah goes on to instruct, he should work for you no longer than six years; on the seventh, he must be set free. (The Hebrew "slave" would thus be more accurately termed an indentured servant.) If the servant does not wish to go free but prefers to remain in the service of his master,
His master shall bring him to the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost. His master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.
(But even this "forever" is interpreted by the Sages as extending only until the Jubilee, which occurs every 50th year. At this time all Hebrew slaves go free, regardless of their desire to remain indentured.)
The indenture of a slave girl carries additional limitations. She can be kept in service only until she attains maturity, and she may be freed earlier than that, if her master wishes to marry her himself or marry her to his son. (Here the Torah also makes mention of the three basic duties of a husband towards his wife: food, clothing, and conjugal rights.) The slave girl, or her family, also retain the option of "redeeming" her by remitting to her master the value of the remaining years of her indenture (the Hebrew slave also has this right).
Non-Jewish slaves do not have limits on their periods of indenture, but a series of laws protect them against abuse. A slave that has an eye or tooth knocked out by his master must be set free, and a master who causes the death of a slave is liable for the death penalty himself.
Criminal Assault
The penalty for premeditated murder is death. Unintentionally causing a death is penalized with exile. Kidnapping a person and selling him into slavery is a capital crime.
Retribution is exacted also from one who assaults another person: "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot; a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise." According to the traditional interpretation of Torah (handed down by Moses from Sinai together with the "Written Torah") these words are not to be understood in the literal sense, but as a judgment of monetary compensation that must be made by the perpetrator to the victim in five areas: (a) actual damage inflicted on the victim; (b) pain and suffering; (c) medical expenses; (d) lost workdays and productivity; (e) redress for the insult and humiliation involved.
Laws of Damages
A person is also responsible for damage inflicted by his property:
If an ox gores a man or a woman, so that they die, the ox shall be surely stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be acquitted.
-- since he had no way of foreseeing such behavior onthe part of his ox. "But if the ox was wont to gore from yesterday and the day before, and his owner had been warned, yet he had not kept him in, and it killed a man or a woman," the owner verges on forfeiting his own life, and must pay a "ransom" to the heirs of the victim.
If an ox gores another ox fatally, the owner of the goring ox pays half the value of the killed animal; if the goring ox has a history of three past offenses, full damages must be paid.
If a man shall dig a pit... and not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it -- the owner of the pit shall pay; he shall return money to its owner....
If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, having allowed his beast to go forth and feed in another man's field -- of the best of his field, and of the best of his vineyard, shall he make restitution.
If fire breaks out, and catches in thorns, so that the sheaves, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed -- he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.
Laws of Theft
If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it -- he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep...
If the theft be at all found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or donkey, or sheep -- he shall restore double.
But the Torah also legislates laws protecting the life of the thief. What if a person kills an intruder breaking into his home? Is he liable for murder, or is it an act of self-defense? As a rule, the homeowner is justified in seeing his life threatened. But if the circumstances were such that it was clear that the thief in no way posed a threat to the homeowner's life ("if the sun shone upon him," as the verse puts it), the thief's life enjoys the full protection of the law, like any other person.
The Four Guardians
The parshah discusses four types of circumstances in which a person is responsible for the care of another's property, and delineates the extent of responsibility of each type of "guardian."
(a) An unpaid guardian looking after another's property purely as a favor is duty bound to care for the object, but his responsibility in case of mishap is minimal. If the object is damaged or lost as a result of outright negligence on his part, he must pay; but as long as he has provided the reasonable care to which he had obligated himself, and takes an oath to that effect, he is absolved.
(b) A paid guardian assumes a greater degree of responsibility. He must compensate the owner in the case of avoidable damages such as loss or theft, but is absolved (by oath) from payment for unavoidable damages such as armed robbery and natural death.
(c) A borrower is responsible to return what has been given to him intact, or make good on its value, regardless of the degree of his fault or the cause of the damage. He is absolved only if "the owner was with him" at the time of the mishap.
(d) The parshah also mentions a fourth case in which a person is responsible for the property of his fellow -- the renter who pays for its use -- but does not specify the degree of his responsibility. (The Talmud cites two opinions on the status of the renter: Rabbi Judah rules that he is like an unpaid guardian, while Rabbi Meir is of the opinion that his obligations are identical to those of the paid guardian.)
More Laws
A man who seduces a young, unmarried girl must pay a dowry and marry her. If her father refuses to allow the marriage, the seducer must nevertheless pay the customary dowry as a fine.
Witchcraft is a capital offence, as are bestiality and offering sacrifices to alien gods.
You shall neither vex a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If you at all afflict them, and they cry to Me, I will surely hear their cry; and My anger shall be inflamed...
Lending Money
When you lend money to My people, to the poor person [who is] with you, you shall not behave toward him as a creditor; you shall not impose interest upon him.
If you at all take your fellow's garment as a pledge [for a loan], you shall deliver it to him by sundown. For that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin: in what shall he sleep? It shall come to pass, when he cries to me, that I will hear, for I am compassionate.
It is forbidden to revile a judge, or to curse "a ruler of your people."
All firstborn sons must be dedicated to G-d. A newborn animal must remain with its mother for at least the first seven days of its life before it is fit to be offered to G-d.
The meat of an animal that is tereifah -- "torn" in the field by a predator -- may not be eaten, but must be "thrown to the dogs."
Judicial Procedures
"Distance yourself from falsehood." Do not accept false testimony, collaborate with a false witness, accept a bribe (which "blinds the clear-sighted and perverts the words of the just"), or in any way unjustly influence the outcome of a trial, even to convict the most villainous criminal or to favor the most destitute pauper.
Follow the majority opinion; do not, however, "follow a majority to do evil."
It is forbidden to kill a person who has been acquitted by the court, or whom the court was unable to convict, regardless of how convinced you are of his guilt. In such cases, G-d says, leave justice to Me, "for I shall not exonerate the guilty."
Avoiding Prejudice
Exercise your duties toward your fellow man, regardless of your feelings toward him:
If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.
If you see the donkey of your enemy collapsing under its burden, and are inclined to desist from helping him, you shall surely help along with him.
And yet again, the Torah warns:
You shall not oppress a stranger; for you know the feelings of a stranger, since you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
The Sabbatical Year and the Three Pilgrimages
Six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in its fruits; but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave, the beasts of the field shall eat...
Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your ass may rest, and the son of your handmaid and the stranger may be refreshed...
Three times a year you shall celebrate a festival to Me:
You shall keep the Festival of Matzot: for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread as I have commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of springtime, for then you left Egypt...
And the Festival of Harvest [=Shavuot], the first fruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field.
And the Festival of Ingathering [=Sukkot], which is at the end of the year, when you have gathered in your labors out of the field.
[These] three times in the year, all your males shall appear before the Lord G-d.
The "legal section" of Mishpatim concludes with another four mitzvot: not to slaughter the Passover offering while leaven is in one's possession; not to leave an offering overnight; to bring the first fruits of the land to the Holy Temple, and not to "cook a kid in its mother's milk" (the prohibition against mixing meat and milk).
Mishpatim also contains a reference to the mitzvah of prayer: "You shall serve the L-rd your G-d, and He will bless your bread and your water."
The Promise of the Land
Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way, and to bring you to the place which I have prepared... to the [land of] the Emorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I will destroy them...
I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little will I drive them out from before you, until you increase and inherit the land.
I will set your boundaries from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the river... You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.
Moses on the Mountain
In the closing verses of Mishpatim the Torah returns to the revelation at Sinai, to complete its description of G-d's giving of the Torah to the people of Israel.
Moses builds an altar at the foot of Mount Sinai, upon which the people offer sacrifices to G-d. Moses then reads "the book of the covenant" to the people,
and they said: "All that G-d has spoken, we will do, and we will hear."
Moses then takes the blood of the sacrifices and sprinkles half on the altar and half on the people, as a sign of their covenant with G-d.
They saw the G-d of Israel; and under His feet was a kind of paved work of sapphire stone, and like the very essence of heaven for purity.
Following which,
G-d said to Moses: "Come up to Me to the mountain, and be there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, and the Torah, and the commandments which I have written, that you may teach them."
Moses rose up, and his servant Joshua; and Moses went up into the mount of G-d.
To the elders he said: "Wait here for us, until we come back to you. Behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a case, let him come to them."
Moses went up into the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain... The sight of the glory of G-d was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain before the eyes of the children of Israel.
Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and went up onto the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
From Our Sages
And these are the laws which you shall set before them (Exodus 21:1)
The phrase "and these" (ve'eileh) implies that they are a CONTINUATION of what is written before. This is to teach us that just as the laws written above (the Ten Commandments) are from Sinai, these too are from Sinai.
(Mechilta; Rashi)
Since the majority of laws set forth in the parshah of Mishpatim are logical laws, the Torah wishes to emphasize that these, too, are divinely ordained.
(the commentaries)
more
If you purchase a Hebrew slave... (21:2)
There is nothing more difficult for a person than to be subjugated to another person. This is why the parshah begins with the laws on how the Hebrew slave is to be treated.
(Ibn Ezra)
The law that the Hebrew slave must be set free in the seventh year is reminiscent of the Exodus from Egypt referred to in the first of the Ten Commandments. As the Torah says regarding the Hebrew slave: "You shall remember that you were a slave in the Land of Egypt, and G-d redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today" (Deuteronomy 15:15). It is also reminiscent of the work of creation, because, like the Shabbat, the Hebrew slave gains respite from serving his master on the seventh year... All time cycles are ordained as cycles of seven -- to refer to the seven-day cycle of creation. Thus it is fitting that this mitzvah should come first in our parshah.
(Nachmanides)
His master shall bore his ear through with an awl (21:6)
Why the ear? The ear that heard at Mount Sinai, "For the children of Israel are My servants" (Leviticus 25:55) -- yet this person went and acquired a [human] master for himself -- that ear should be pierced.
(Rashi)
If a man did not lie in wait [to kill], but G-d caused it to come to his hand, I will appoint for you a place to which he shall flee (21:13)
Of what case does our verse speak [when it says that "G-d caused it to come to his hand"]? Of the case of two persons who had killed, one in error and another with intent, there being witnesses in neither case [so that neither receives his prescribed penalty from a human court]. G-d appoints them both to meet at the same inn; he who had killed with intent sits under the ladder, and he who had killed in error comes down the ladder, falls, and kills him [in the presence of witnesses]. Thus, the one who had killed with intent is slain, while the one who had killed in error is exiled.
(Talmud, Makkot 10b)
If men strive together, and one strikes another with a stone or with his fist... (21:18)
A person is always liable [for damage he causes], whether inadvertently or willfully, whether awake or asleep: if he blinded his neighbor's eye or broke his articles, full compensation must be made.
(Talmud, Bava Kamma 26a)
He shall pay for the loss of his work, and he shall fully heal him (21:19)
From here is derived that a physician is allowed to heal [and we do not say that since G-d afflicted the person, it is forbidden to cure him].
(Talmud, Bava Kamma 85a)
The young wife of Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch had fallen ill, and the DOCTORS were unanimous in their opinion that there was no hope of her recovery.
When her father-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch, was told of the doctors' verdict, he said: "The Talmud specifically derives from the Torah that 'a physician is allowed to heal.' But nowhere has a DOCTOR been given the right to declare a human being incurable."
more
If an ox gores a man or a woman, so that they die, the ox shall be surely stoned (21:28)
Just like a person can be sentenced to death only by a sanhedrin (tribunal) of 23 judges, so an ox that kills can be condemned to death only by a sanhedrin of twenty-three.
(Mechilta D'Rashbi)
He shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep (21:37)
Said Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai: G-d is considerate of a person's dignity. For an ox, which the thief leads on foot and is not thereby degraded, he pays fivefold. For a sheep, which the thief had to carry on his shoulders, he pays only four times its value, since he was degraded by it.
Said Rabbi Meir: See how valuable work is. For an ox, whose theft deprived the owner of its labor, the thief pays fivefold. For the theft of a sheep, which caused no such loss of labor, he pays but four times.
(Mechilta; Rashi)
If a man... allowed his beast to go forth and feed in another man's field (22:4)
Goring is not normal behavior for an ox, so the owner pays only half-damages, unless this ox has gored three times in the past, in which case he pays full damages. On the other hand, eating and trampling is common behavior for an ox, which the owner should have anticipated; so for damages thus inflicted, he must pay full compensation.
(Talmud, Bava Kamma 2a ff.)
Of the best of his field... shall he make restitution (22:4)
This is to teach us that if he wishes to pay with land for damages he or his animal caused, he must pay with prime land. (A debtor, on the other hand, can settle his debt with land of average quality.)
(Talmud, Bava Kamma 7a)
If a man shall deliver to his fellow money or vessels to keep (22:6)
There are four guardians: the unpaid guardian, the borrower, the paid guardian, and the renter. The unpaid guardian swears on everything [and is absolved]; the borrower pays for everything; and the paid guardian and the renter swear in the case of breakage, robbery, and death, and pay for loss and theft.
(Talmud, Bava Kamma 93a)
"Who is the author of this mishnah, who maintains that there are four guardians?"
Said Rav Nachman: "It is Rabbi Meir."
Said Rava to him: "Why? Does not everyone say that there are four guardians?"
Said Rav Nachman: "This is what I mean: who is the one who holds that a renter pays like a paid guardian? -- this is Rabbi Meir."
"If so, there are not four, but three, classes of guardians!"
Said Rav Nachman: "There are four classes of guardians, but only three sets of laws that apply to them."
(ibid.)
more
When you lend money to any of My people (22:24)
Wherever the Torah says the word im ("if" or "when"), the implication is that we are speaking of an action that is optional, except in three instances, where the spoken action is obligatory; this is one of them. (In other words, a person is obligated to loan money to a fellow in need of a loan.)
(Mechilta; Rashi)
You shall not act toward him as a creditor (22:24)
Do not show yourself constantly to him... Do not press him for payment when you know that he is unable to pay.
(Mechilta; Rashi)
Neither shall you eat any meat that is torn of beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs (22:30)
This is to teach us that G-d does not deprive any creature of its just reward. Because the dogs did not bark at the Israelites when they came out of Egypt (see Exodus 11:7), G-d said: Give them their reward.
(Mechilta)
You shall not hear a false report (23:1)
This is also to warn against hearing a true report in a manner that results in falsehood, such as when a judge agrees to hear one litigant without the other being present.
(Mechilta)
Put not your hand with the wicked to be a corrupt witness (23:1)
Even to retrieve monies that are justly yours.
(Mechilta)
Follow the majority (23:2)
[Rabbi Eliezer and the Sages debated a point of law regarding the ritual purity of a certain type of oven.] Rabbi Eliezer declared it clean, and the Sages declared it unclean...
On that day, Rabbi Eliezer brought forward every imaginable argument, but they did not accept them. Said he to them: "If the law agrees with me, let this carob-tree prove it!" Thereupon the carob-tree was torn a hundred cubits out of its place. (Others say, four hundred cubits.) Said the Sages: "No proof can be brought from a carob-tree."
Again he said to them: "If the law agrees with me, let the stream of water prove it!" Whereupon the stream of water flowed backwards. Said the Sages: "No proof can be brought from a stream of water."
Said Rabbi Eliezer: "If the law agrees with me, let the walls of the study hall prove it!" Whereupon the walls inclined to fall. But Rabbi Joshua rebuked them, saying: "When scholars are engaged in a halachic dispute, what have you to interfere?" Hence they did not fall, in deference to Rabbi Joshua, nor did they resume the upright, in deference to Rabbi Eliezer; and they are still standing thus inclined.
Finally, Rabbi Eliezer said to them: "If the law is as I say, may it be proven from heaven!" There then issued a heavenly voice which proclaimed: "What do you want of Rabbi Eliezer? The law is as he says!"
Rabbi Joshua stood on his feet and said: "The Torah is not in heaven!"... We take no notice of heavenly voices, since You, G-d, have already, at Sinai, written in the Torah to follow the majority.
Rabbi Nathan subsequently met Elijah the Prophet and asked him: "What did G-d do at that moment?" [Elijah] replied: "He smiled and said: My children have triumphed over Me, My children have triumphed over Me."
(Talmud, Bava Metzia 59b)
If you see the donkey of your enemy collapsing under its burden, and are inclined to desist from helping him, you shall surely help along with him (23:5)
The Hebrew for "donkey," chamor, also means "material." Thus, this verse also instructs us as to the proper attitude toward the body and physicality:
"When you will see the chamor of your enemy" -- initially you will see your material self as your enemy, as something that obstructs and hinders your spiritual growth.
"Collapsing under its burden" -- in such a state of animosity between body and soul, that the body resists the Torah and its commandments, making them an unbearable burden for it...
One's first inclination may be "to desist from helping him" -- to shun the body, suppress its instincts, and deny it its wants.
Says the Torah: "you shall surely help along with him." Aid the material self with its "burden," by training it to recognize that the Torah is the vehicle for its own refinement and elevation.
(Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov)
more
If you see the donkey of your enemy collapsing under its burden... you shall surely help along with him (23:5)
If the owner of the animal went and sat down and said to him, "Since the obligation rests upon you, if you desire to unload, unload," he is exempt, because the verse says, "You shall surely help along with him." (If, however, the owner was old or infirm, one is bound to do it himself.)
Talmud, Bava Metzia 32a)
Do not take a bribe (23:8)
An impoverished widow once came to the bet din (courthouse) of the great sage Rabbi Yehoshua Kutner. Weeping bitter tears, she begged him to summon to the court a man she accused of having wronged her.
abbi Yehoshua summoned the man to appear before the court, but referred the case to another rabbi, refusing to preside over it himself. "The Torah forbids the taking of bribes," he explained. "Do you think that a bribe is only a gift of money? Tears can also be a bribe that 'blinds the clear-sighted' -- especially the tears of a poor widow."
(Maayanah Shel Torah)
Do not cook a kid in its mother's milk (23:19)
Meat stems from the divine attribute of justice, milk from the attribute of mercy.
(Shaloh)
more
You shall serve the L-rd your G-d, and He will bless your bread and your water (23:25)
In Hebrew, the pronoun "you" has both a singular and a plural form. The above verse, as written in the Torah, is a grammatical abnormality: the words "your bread and your water" (et lachmecha v'et meimecha) are in the singular form, while the "you" in "you shall serve" (va'avadtem) is plural.
Explained the Rebbe of Kotzk: A Jew praying, even a single Jew praying alone, is nevertheless praying for, and together with, the entire community of Israel. On the other hand, a thousand people eating together are each eating for the sake of their own selves.
To Moses He said, "Go up to G-d..." (24:1)
The commentaries differ as to the timing of the events described in the closing verses (Exodus 24:1-18) of Mishpatim.
According to Rashi, the Torah now returns to fill us in on the events that occurred before the revelation at Sinai and the speaking of the Ten Commandments (recounted in chapters 19-20 above). Moses' summons to the top of the mountain mentioned here is that of the 4th of Sivan, two days before the Giving of the Torah. On that day he relayed to the people of Israel (as mentioned in verse 3) "the words of G-d" commanded in chapter 19 above (to fence in the mountain and to sanctify themselves in preparation for the Giving of the Torah), as well as the "laws" which they had already received in Marah; he also "wrote all the words of G-d" (v. 4) -- i.e., from the beginning of Genesis until the middle of Exodus, bringing the Torah "up to date" until the Revelation. The altar mentioned here (verses 4 and 6) was built, and the sacrifices (verses 5-8) were offered, on the 5th of Sivan, which is also the day on which the people of Israel made the famous proclamation: "We will do and we will hear" (verse 7). Then the Torah describes how they "saw the G-d of Israel" at the Giving of the Torah on the 6th of Sivan. Finally we read how, following the (general) Giving of the Torah, Moses is summoned to the top of the mountain for 40 days to receive the detailed communication from G-d (including the laws we just read in the earlier chapters of Mishpatim). This is consistent with the rule that "there is no earlier and later in Torah" -- i.e., that the Torah does not necessarily relate events in the order in which they occurred.
According to Nachmanides, the Torah is following chronological order. All the laws that we read in the earlier chapters of Mishpatim were communicated to Moses immediately after the Giving of the Torah on Sivan 6th -- before the events related in chapter 24, which occurred on the 7th of Sivan, the day after the Revelation. Hence, "the words of G-d" and the "laws" which Moses related to the people (v. 3), and the divine words which Moses transcribed (v. 4), are the Ten Commandments and the laws we just read in the earlier part of Mishpatim. Following that, Moses ascended the mountain for 40 days to receive the rest of the Torah.
[Moses] took the book of the covenant, and read in the hearing of the people; and they said: "All that G-d has spoken, we will do, and we will hear" (24:7)
When the people of Israel gave precedence to "we will do" over "we will hear," a heavenly voice issued forth and exclaimed to them: "Who revealed to My children this secret, which is employed by the angels?" As it is written (Psalms 103:20), "Bless the L-rd His angels, those mighty in strength, who fulfill His word, who hear the voice of His word" -- first they "fulfill" and then they "hear"...
There was a certain Sadducee who saw Rava engrossed in his studies while the fingers of his hand were under his feet, and he ground them down, so that his fingers spurted blood. "You rash people," he exclaimed, "who gave precedence to your mouth over your ears, still persist in your rashness! First you should have listened, and if it is within your powers, accept; if not, you should not have accepted!"
(Talmud, Shabbat 88a)
The greatness of the people of Israel was not that they were prepared to "blindly" do G-d's bidding without understanding (in which case they would have said only "we will do"), but that they placed their doing before their understanding. G-d desires that we should do as well as "hear" and comprehend His will, so that we serve Him not only with our hands and feet, but also with our minds and hearts. But our doing should serve as the basis of our understanding, rather than the other way around.
(the Chassidic masters)
ESSAYKosher is the diet plan for the soul, in that it contains the foods prescribed by G‑d in the Torah for consumption by the Jewish people. By Pinchas Taylor
What Is Kosher?
Kosher is the DIET PLAN for the soul, in that they are the foods prescribed by G‑d in the Torah for consumption by the Jewish people.
Not Based on Physical Health
Health would not explain why an animal must be ritually slaughtered, why fish with fins and scales would be specified, or why milk from a non-kosher animal would be unfit for consumption.
Reason for Keeping Kosher
For every mitzvah, there is a benefit and a reason. In some instances, the reason and the benefit seem readily discernible, while others are beyond mortal understanding.
Personal Benefits
The sages explain that there are several beneficial outcomes that happen to a person by virtue of keeping kosher.
Kabbalistic Eating
Ideally, the body is meant merely as a conduit for the spiritual, the means of expressing the selflessness and purity of the soul.
Contemporary Perspective
The Jewish soul is sensitive to the harmful spiritual effects of forbidden animals.
VIDEOLouise Hager, who developed a close relationship with the Rebbe’s wife, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, recalls speaking about her for the first time in public, and relates some important lessons the Rebbetzin taught her. (1991)
Watch (4:42)http://www.chabad.org/therebbe/livingtorah/player_cdo/aid/2823587/jewish/She-Taught-Us-to-Appreciate-the-Mainstay-of-the-Home.htm
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to represent welcoming peace and the Shechinah into her house.
The drawing is made using the text of Eishet Chayil, which is traditionally sung at the table on Friday night in praise of the women of the house and the Shechinah. Eishet Chayil also represents the masculine side of G-dpraising His missing feminine half (the Shechinah).
"…She invests herself with strength…she opens her hand to the poor and reaches out to the needy…she is robed in strength and dignity and she smiles at the future…give her credit for the fruit of her labor and let her achievements praise her at the gates..." (Proverbs 31:10-31)NEWS
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QUESTION
The Midrash is replete with statements regarding fantastic miracles that will be commonplace during the Messianic Era. Are we to take these statements literally? By Naftali Silberberg
The prophet Isaiah depicts the messianic era as a miraculous time. “A wolf shall live with a lamb, a leopard shall lie with a kid, a calf and a lion cub and a fatling [shall lie] together, and a small child shall lead them. A cow and a bear shall graze, and their children shall lie together; and a lion, like cattle, shall eat straw” (Isaiah 11:6–7). The Torah, too, promises (Leviticus 26:6): “I will remove wild beasts from the Land,” which seemingly implies a new supernatural order. Nevertheless, the words of our sages seem to contain conflicting messages in this regard.
On one hand, the Midrash and Talmud are replete with statements regarding fantastic miracles that will be commonplace during the messianic era. For example, the Talmud (Shabbat 30b) tells us that during the messianic era women will give birth, and trees will produce new harvests, on a daily basis, and trees will also sprout ready-made cakes and even clothing!
The accepted middle ground is that the messianic era will consist of two periods
On the other hand, the Talmud (Berachot 34b) asserts that “the only difference between today and the messianic era is [that then will end the Jewish nation’s] subjugation to foreign powers.”
Maimonides writes (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings 12:1) that the messianic era will not be characterized by supernatural phenomena. Instead, he understands Isaiah’s prophecy to be allegorical: “The Jews will live peacefully with the most vile of the nations, who are compared to leopards and wolves.” Similarly, he understands all the midrashic statements about the messianic era to be allegorical. Other great sages, however, vehemently disagreed with Maimonides’ interpretation of the messianic prophecies.
The accepted middle ground is that the messianic era will consist of two periods. During the first period, the world will be at peace and the Jews will be autonomous—but everything will CONTINUE operating according to the laws of nature.1 The second period, which will commence with the resurrection of the dead, will be completely miraculous.2
Nevertheless, the prospect of entirely skipping the first period, and Moshiach immediately ushering in the second supernatural period, is a possibility. The arrival of Moshiach is described in the words of the prophets in two manners. Daniel says (7:13), “Behold with the clouds of the heaven, one like a man was coming.” Zechariah (9:9), on the other hand, describes Moshiach as “humble, and riding a donkey.” The Talmud (Sanhedrin 98a) reconciles the prophecies: “If the Jews are meritorious, then he will fly in on a cloud. If not, he will ride in on a donkey.”
This implies that if we are meritorious, we will merit Moshiach’s arriving in a miraculous fashion and immediately ushering in a miraculous era.
FOOTNOTES
1.See Isaiah Horowitz, Shnei Luchot Habrit 23b. This may also be the opinion of Maimonides: see Likutei Sichot volume 27, page 191 ff.
2.Perhaps another possibility is that the era will be miraculous by today’s standards—but actually completely natural. In other words, natural technological advances will allow for phenomena that today appear to be in the realm of the miraculous. (See Technology of the Redemption for more on this topic.)
WOMENBy Chana Scop
Today was Chaim Boruch’s eighth birthday!
His birthday is always a special day for me, as well as a day full of emotion, when it seems that with every blink I take, another image from those first hours of his life flashes before me.
It’s a day of deep nostalgia, something IThis birthday was differentdon't often allow myself to feel. It’s healthier in general for me to keep my energy and spirit uplifted.
But this birthday was different.
I decided to bake a two-tiered cake using a new recipe for a thick white frosting.
I added ingredients, measuring and pouring, feeling a piece of my heart twirl into the batter with each rotation of the beaters, mixing in my own beat and rhythm as a “special” mother.
I chose a magnificent, milky white glass cake stand to showcase the cake and topped the cake with a mini school bus.
There is something about a yellow school bus that Chaim Boruch adores. Its big wheels, tall doors, padded seats with happy kids bumping up and down on them, and of course, best of all—the bus driver!
I carefully smoothed the thick frosting over the cake, making peaks throughout, giving it a celebratory look.
And then, there it was. The sparkle in my son’s eye—the “aaaaahhhhh”—the moment when the sound of his little voice let me know that it was all good. Even better, that it was great!
So, I stood there enjoying his reaction, snapping pictures and smiling at the look on his sweet face as he pointed to the school bus on top of the cake.
And then, suddenly, wearing a huge grin, he tried to grab the bus off the cake! With his unsteady footing and his imbalanced movements, his hand swiped the entire cake and platter off the shelf. Cake, platter, bus and all sailed through the air!
I lurched forward to catch all three in a somewhat ungraceful ballet-like move, and somehow, I did.
However, the camera that was hanging around my neck swung forward, and its exposed lens collided with the thickest, creamiest frosting I had ever made. Sticky, whipped meringue filled every crevice of my shutter, lens and dials. It was all encased in an avalanche of sweet, white, billowing birthday fluff!
And do you know what?
On this day, when deep emotion was tightly wound up in my chest and throat, and I was on the verge of tears from the varying emotions I was experiencing—I began to laugh.
I laughed so hard that it soothed theMy eyes were wet with tears of laughterpain I felt inside. My eyes were wet with tears of laughter as I looked at my now frosted camera and the somewhat lopsided cake.
And that’s when I realized that today had turned into my birthday too—a day on which I was born ANEW. A day when I realized that I now sing a different song.
. A day when I realized that I now sing a different song.
It was an experience of a mere few seconds that turned a new page.
I have learned to laugh from inside my heart.
And I have learned to have my cake and eat it too.
More in Women:• Debunking Three Myths About Gratitude (By Sara Debbie Gutfreund)
It was three o‘clock in the morning, and the Wharton classroom was full of students cramming for exams and furiously typing term papers on their laptops. The four of us sat huddled in a corner by the blackboard around our physics tutor, a brilliant engineering graduate student. He was clearly obsessed with physics, painstakingly going through every single detail and implication of each step of the formulas we were learning. Our final was the following day, and we were all beginning to lose focus. I stared down at my textbook and then up at the thirty steps of the equation that the tutor was scribbling on the board. I had no idea what he was talking about.
We were all beginning to lose focus
“Listen, Sean, I really don’t think we need to know all these steps for the final. Can you maybe simplify all that into two or three steps?” I asked.
Sean stopped scribbling and looked at all of us in surprise. “Ok, I guess I can try to.” Sean then proceeded to breakdown the thirty steps into maybe twenty equations. I couldn’t take it anymore. Now it was almost four o’clock and we hadn’t even gone through half of the review sheet.
“Two steps! Two steps, Sean, please,” I begged.
Sean turned slowly around and sat down at the desk, as he stared at me for a moment. And then he said something I’ll never forget.
“Sooner or later in life, you are all going to have to understand that the answer does not come in two or even three steps. Usually it takes fifty steps or more. And that is just for the simple ones. And if you are going to be so impatient that you cannot appreciate each and every step, you will never really learn. And you will never be able to appreciate how beautiful each part is.”
We all sat there in stunned silence, until one of my friends just started laughing hysterically out of sheer exhaustion.
“But, Sean, none of us are going to be able to pass the test this way. Look at this review sheet! We have done one problem! One!”
Sean looked dismissively at the review sheet. “The sheet is not the point,” he said, as he turned back to the board.
If you are going to be so impatient that you cannot appreciate each and every step, you will never really learn. I thought about that sentence for years as I struggled to grow. GRADUATE SCHOOL was challenging; listening to clients forced me to find some of the patience I didn’t yet have. Marriage was even harder; learning to love and give to another person every day required me to pause more than I ever had before. And parenting brought me to my knees. A baby doesn’t care what your plans are for tomorrow or even an hour from now. A toddler who wants to dress himself is not going to “fit” into your schedule. A child struggling with her homework or with her friends needs your patience and warmth more than anything else.
was challenging; listening to clients forced me to find some of the patience I didn’t yet have. Marriage was even harder; learning to love and give to another person every day required me to pause more than I ever had before. And parenting brought me to my knees. A baby doesn’t care what your plans are for tomorrow or even an hour from now. A toddler who wants to dress himself is not going to “fit” into your schedule. A child struggling with her homework or with her friends needs your patience and warmth more than anything else.
I struggled. I made mistakes. But I kept picking myself up and carving out paths of patience within my soul. Otherwise I will never be able to appreciate how beautiful each part, each step really is, I told myself over and over. And then one day, when my oldest child was five years old, she came home with a gift in her hands. That, week she had earned her first allowance. Now she shyly came up to me with her knapsack still on her tiny shoulders, and she held out the wrapped gift.
“Ima, I got this for you with my allowance. Because you’reJust feeling grateful won't help us cultivate gratitude such a good Ima.” I felt tears spring to my eyes as I opened her present. A white candle etched with gold stood beside a little note that said “thank you” in my daughter’s colorful, messy handwriting. I hugged her. I was speechless. I held the candle like it was the most expensive diamond in the world. I put it in a safe place, and I have kept it since. Every now and then I take out it out and look at it. It reminds me to be patient and grateful for every step in my life. Because the real test is given to us every day: Do I know how to say thank you? Do I see how beautiful the answer in each moment really is?
Over the years, I’ve come to realize that there are three myths about gratitude:
1. It Needs an Occasion
Most of us realize that gratitude is important, but many of us make the mistake of thinking that something extraordinary needs to happen in our lives for us to say thank you. A big raise. The birth of a child. The deal going through. But every day gives us hundreds of reasons to say thank you. Every moment, however ordinary it may seem, has greatness hidden within it. Judaism teaches this to us by giving us the opportunity to say blessings each day. We thank G‑dfor everything; even a small cup of water is a chance to pause and say thank you.
2. It Comes Automatically
Many of us wait to feel grateful before we say thank you to someone or make time to pray. But like growing and learning, gratitude won’t happen on its own. It needs to be intentional and planned. This is why the Torah teaches us to pray even when we aren’t particularly inspired. To say thank you even when we aren’t necessarily in a good mood. We can work to create that feeling of gratitude; searching for the blessings in our lives can make them clearer to us on hard days.
3. It Can Be Silent
On the other hand, just feeling grateful won’t help us cultivate gratitude. Our spouses may not know we appreciate them unless we tell them. Our colleagues may not know that we are grateful for their help if we don’t acknowledge them. Our children need to hear the words. And while G‑d doesn’t “need” our gratitude, we need to hear ourselves express it. This is why Judaism gives us the gift of our siddur, which has the words we need to verbalize our thoughts. The Torah shows us how to say thank you as soon as we awaken in the morning, throughout the day, and right before we go to sleep at night: Thank you for my life. Thank you for this beautiful world. Thank you for each and every step of the answer. Thank you for the candle of gratitude that reminds me how far we can grow and what a gift the journey itself really is.
Shmuel and Avlet, a Persian astrologer, were sitting together watching people go to the pond to cut reeds...
Talmud, Shabbat 156b
Shmuel and Avlet, a Persian astrologer, were sitting together watching people go to the POND to cut reeds.
Avlet said to Shmuel, “That man over there is going to go to the POND, but he won’t come back. A snake is going to bite him and he’ll die.”
Shmuel said, “If he’s Jewish, he’ll come back.”
Sure enough, as they were sitting, the man came back.
Avlet stood up and took the man’s bundle of reeds off his back. Inside, among the reeds, was a snake that had been cut in two.
Shmuel asked the man, “You must have done something good to be saved from death like that. What was it?”
The man answered, “Every day, all of us put all our food together and then share it. Today, one man had nothing to share and he was embarrassed, so I told everyone, ‘Today I’m going to collect the food.’ When I got to him, I pretended to take something from him so that he wouldn’t be embarrassed.”
Shmuel said to him, “That was very charitable of you.” and then explained the phrase “Charity saves one from death” (Proverbs 10:2) to mean not just that it saves from an unnatural death, but that it saves one from death itself.
More in Stories:• Baseball on the Day of Atonement (By Richard Kradin)
Each Yom Kippur, I spend the day fasting and praying in synagogue. However, my choice of where to worship has changed over the years. Recently, I have chosen to follow a more observant Jewish path, so I daven at a Chabad House—which happens to be located several blocks from Fenway Park, home of the ill-fated Boston Red Sox. This Chabad House caters predominantly to the college youth of Boston. It’s a place where they are made to feel welcome, can learn about Judaism at whatever level they are at, and are provided with a free meal on Shabbat and holidays. All without charge. You just need to show up.
You just need to show up
This year, during an afternoon break in the Yom Kippur services, my rabbi was standing outside on the steps of the brownstone building on Commonwealth Avenue that houses the Chabad center. The break coincided with the end of a Red Sox game, and people were flooding out into the streets on their way home. If you have ever seen the members of "Red Sox Nation," you can imagine that their appearance is often incongruent with Jews worshipping on Yom Kippur. So when the crowd passes by Jews who are fasting, wearing formal suits, some with large black hats and beards, it is an evident culture clash. Thankfully, many in the crowd seemed to show a certain respectful curiosity and recognition that this was the Jewish Day of Atonement.
A middle-aged man in blue jeans stepped out of the crowd and approached the rabbi on the steps. He proudly announced that he was Jewish and non-observant, although his father had been raised in a chassidic area of Brooklyn. He added that he was married to a non-Jewish woman, and from his tone and body language, I surmised that he had some Jewish background but had left it behind. He said that while passing the Chabad House, he had remembered that it was Yom Kippur and that he wanted to say Yizkor, the traditional memorial observance for one's deceased parents.
My rabbi listened attentively to the man and said little, but he invited him into the small shul, and they emerged some minutes later. At the threshold of the door, I saw the man shake the hand of the rabbi and hand him something.
Before Neilah, the closing service of Yom Kippur, the rabbi began to speak. "I want to share a story with you that occurred today," he began. He then repeated the events that I had witnessed before he disappeared with the man inside the building.
"This man wanted to say Yizkor, and I suggested that he don a tallit. I thought to myself that wearing a tallit is a mitzvah, so he had begun on the path of teshuvah, returning to his Jewish soul.
"Although he could not read Hebrew, I knew that virtually every young Jew has at some point been taught the Shema Yisroel, the traditional statement of monotheistic belief, so we said it together. As he was reciting the prayer, he broke into uncontrollable sobs, saying that he 'missed his mother.' I hugged him and we recited the short Yizkor prayer.
"Upon leaving at the door, he gave me his card and said that he wanted to make a donation. I told him that I would accept his donation, because the practicalities of running a Chabad center without membership dues depends on the charitable inclinations of others. But I also told him that I would accept his money only on the condition that he bring it to me directly during the daytime, because I thought to myself that then I could help him put on tefillin, another mitzvah."
"Where is my son?"
Then the rabbi made the following amazing statement: "I don't think that this man came here today because he missed his mother. I think that somewhere in the next world, the soul of his Jewish mother was confused and asking, ‘Where is my son? Why is he not with his fellow Jews praying on Yom Kippur?' And through the love and concern of a mother for her son, G‑d brought the man home to his Jewish soul."
I personally don't know whether the man will return to make his donation, or whether he will put on tefillin. I hope that he does. But the next day, after putting on my own tefillin and davening the Shacharit prayer, I sat down and wrote a check, and delivered it that day to my rabbi in support of the extraordinary work that is being done at his Chabad House. And in my prayers, I remembered the man, my rabbi and all of my fellow Jews who were blessed to see another yea
LIFESTYLENoodle kugel is a staple at many an Ashkenazi Shabbat table. Some prefer the sweet raisin kugel, but I prefer a savory onion one. By Miriam Szokovski
Noodle kugel is a staple at many an Ashkenazi Shabbat table. Some prefer the sweet raisin kugel, but I prefer a savory onion one.
Kugel is one of those words that doesn’t really have a good English translation. It's not quite a casserole, or a pudding, but those are probably the closest descriptions.
Traditionally kugels were fried, and since most frying pans are circular, the kugels came out round, which is where the name comes from. Kugel means “round”/“circular.”
Nowadays, kugels are typically baked in square or rectangular pans.
This recipe is not complicated, but it does involve quite a few dishes. You'll need a pot to cook the noodles, a frying pan for the onions and a baking dish. Like everything, it comes out better if you bake it in a real pan, but it also works in disposable if you're short on time.
Dice and sauté the onions over a low flame until caramelized. The more you cook them down, the better the kugel will taste. Boil the noodles and mix them with the rest of the ingredients. Pour the mixture into a greased pan.
Bake the kugel until the top is golden brown, approximately 50 minutes. (Baking time does vary a bit depending on which kind of pan you use). The kugel can easily be reheated later, or served at room temperature.
Cut into squares and enjoy!
Ingredients
- 10 oz. medium egg noodles
- 1 very large Spanish onion (or 2 medium)
- 1/3 cup oil
- 3 tsp. kosher salt, divided
- 3 eggs
Directions
- Dice the onion and sauté it in the oil and 1 tsp. salt over a low flame until caramelized.
- Cook and drain the noodles.
- Pour the onions, and the oil they were fried in, into the noodles. Add the eggs and the rest of the salt (taste and add more salt if desired).
- Pour mixture into a greased pan. You can use a 9x9 square pan for a taller kugel, or a 9x13 for a thinner one.
- Bake on 375°F for 50 minutes, until top is golden brown.
Are you a sweet kugel or savory kugel kinda person? Let us know in the comments.
More in Lifestyle:• Artwork of the Week: Woman of Valor (By Roni Pinto)
Print on Parchment Paper
Artist’s Statement: A woman covers her eyes with her hands and says the blessing over the Shabbat candles. Her hands are shaped like DOVES to represent welcoming peace and the Shechinah into her house.The drawing is made using the text of Eishet Chayil, which is traditionally sung at the table on Friday night in praise of the women of the house and the Shechinah. Eishet Chayil also represents the masculine side of G-dpraising His missing feminine half (the Shechinah).
"…She invests herself with strength…she opens her hand to the poor and reaches out to the needy…she is robed in strength and dignity and she smiles at the future…give her credit for the fruit of her labor and let her achievements praise her at the gates..." (Proverbs 31:10-31)NEWS
Chana’s Place caters to locals and visitors alike, and represents a ‘big change’ in Japan travel. By Chaya Schley
Tokyo has long been recognized as a culinary capital of the world, boasting the greatest number of restaurants conferred three stars by Michelin, the famous gastronomic guide.
But one new restaurant is in a class of its own: Chana’s Place, the country’s first-ever glatt-kosher restaurant, opened in December by Rabbi Mendi and Chana Sudakevich, co-directors of Chabad-Lubavitch of Tokyo for nearly 15 years now.
“We’ve wanted to have a restaurant for a long time, but there was always something more important to do first,” explains Chana Sudakevich. Since arriving in 2000, the couple has inaugurated a new synagogue and a mikvah, in addition to providing a spiritual home for many of Japan’s 2,000 or so Jews.
Long before opening their restaurant, the Sudakeviches worked hard to provide kosher food for Jewish residents of Tokyo, in addition to the several thousand Jews who visit the country each year for business and leisure. They offered catered meals and packed lunches for visitors and tour groups, including preparing food last spring for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his staff when they visited Tokyo.Keeping kosher in Japan is challenging. Its cuisine traditionally features shellfish, pork and other non-kosher ingredients, and only a handful of international supermarkets carry kosher-certified products. With the establishment of the restaurant, kosher consumers can now select from an Israeli and Jewish-style menu with classic dishes like falafel, hummus, shakshuka (eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce) and chicken schnitzel.
The sign in front features a Japanese-style chrysanthemum; the word “flower” in Japanese is “Hana.”
Until recently, all of this was done out of the small kitchen in the couple’s home, which they share with their six children, in Tokyo’s Minato neighborhood.
A chance meeting between two tourists—one from Israel, the other from California—in the summer of 2013 gave the Sudakeviches the push they needed to get the restaurant underway. The travelers, who had both reserved catered meals at Chabad, struck up a conversation about the lack of a kosher restaurant in Tokoyo. Learning of the couple’s plans to start one, they both pledged significant donations for the effort.
It took more than a year of renovations on the ground floor of their building to get the space ready, including INSTALLING a large professional oven and range, new floors, and redoing the bathroom and the general decor.
a large professional oven and range, new floors, and redoing the bathroom and the general decor.
“It was a lot of work,” acknowledges Chana Sudakevich. “Japan has a great deal of bureaucracy, so it was many documents, many things to do. It’s not easy when you are a foreigner and don’t speak the language. But in Japan, as long as you do things correctly, it’ll work out.”
The restaurant is “very Japanese in size,” she says, meaning that it’s quaint, with seating for 14. (As business grows, they hope to expand into an adjoining space that doubles as a dining room for Shabbat meals.) Its color scheme is red and black, and the sign in front, featuring a Japanese-style chrysanthemum, references the double entendre of the restaurant’s name—“Hana” meaning “flower” in Japanese.
The menu offers Israeli and Jewish-style fare cooked by a French chef, including this dish of a chicken and rice (a take, perhaps, on classic coq au vin).
An added BONUS: It is headed by a French-born chef. However, if patrons request kosher Japanese food in advance, such as sushi, special arrangements can be made to bring in a Japanese chef.
: It is headed by a French-born chef. However, if patrons request kosher Japanese food in advance, such as sushi, special arrangements can be made to bring in a Japanese chef.
After a “soft launch” with reservations-only dining, Chana’s Place is now open for dinner Sunday through Thursday, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Lunch is also available with a reservation. So far, most of the patrons have been travelers and Jewish locals, which are their TARGET audience, but Chana Sudakevich says she hopes that the restaurant will attract some Japanese foodies as well.
audience, but Chana Sudakevich says she hopes that the restaurant will attract some Japanese foodies as well.
After all, she notes: “Japanese people like to try new things.”
‘A Very Exciting Development’
Establishing the restaurant took a great deal of hard work, according to Rabbi Sudakevich. To his left is RabbiAbraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.
Rabbi Hertsel Simantov, a 25-year Tokyo resident who works in the kashrut industry and as a medical DOCTOR, says the restaurant will have a huge impact on kosher travel.
, says the restaurant will have a huge impact on kosher travel.
“People traveling to Japan won’t have to bring a suitcase of food with them anymore,” he says. “It’s going to be a big change for people who keep kosher.”
Liane Wakabayashi, an American writer and teacher who has lived in Tokyo since 1987, echoes Simantov’s sentiments. “The restaurant is a very exciting development,” she says, and offers “more opportunity to know and practice Jewish life” in Japan.
David Leibowitz, who owns a tuna exporting company, moved permanently from the United States to Tokyo with his family five years ago. Leibowitz says he, his wife and three children have been regulars at Chana’s Place since it opened.
“Not just having a kosher restaurant, but one with great cooking,” he declares, following the fare set by the Sudakeviches, “is a double blessing.”
A beautiful pareve dessert, topped off with sorbet and fruit.
The restaurant already has a following among locals, who say its existence will change kosher travel in Japan.
• Crash Victim Ellen Brody, Loving Mother and Selfless Community Member (Chabad.org Staff)
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| Ellen |
Ellen Brody, the 49-year-old mother of three whose SUV was at the center of a fatal Metro-North train crash on Wednesday—in what is being called the worst accident in the train line’s history—is being remembered by those who knew her as a loving mother and friend, and an active and selfless community member. Five other people lost their lives in the accident.
“Ellen was everyone’s best friend, and she was always volunteering,” said Rabbi Benjy Silverman, co-director with his wife, Hinda, of Chabad of the Rivertowns in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. “Whenever she came to Chabad, she talked to everyone and made everyone feel comfortable. She would make me feel at home in my own synagogue,” he said.
Since the founding of the Chabad center 12 years ago, Brody was an important part of Chabad of the Rivertowns, along with her husband, Alan, a journalist and author, and three daughters, Danielle, Julia and Alexa, ages 14 to 22.
Hinda Silverman told of how she and her husband once sought to arrange a “mock wedding” at the Hebrew school to show the children how a Jewish wedding is conducted. Upon consideration, they thought to make it that much more poignant for the community if they’d offer the opportunity to a couple who didn’t have a complete ceremony first time around. The Brodys immediately came to mind, and they eagerly volunteered to be the bride and groom. Silverman was pleasantly surprised when Ellen Brody arrived joyously bedecked in a traditional wedding gown and veil. The ceremony was an authentic Jewish marriage, from the signing of the ketubah (wedding contract) to the giving of a ring with the proper blessing (kiddushin) and the breaking of the glass under the chupah (canopy).”“We met when she and her husband enrolled their girls in our Hebrew school,” recalled Rabbi Silverman, who noted how she was active in the synagogue, community projects and the school.
The ceremony had a lasting impact on the family, added Hinda Silverman. While visiting with them last night, she noted that “the girls recalled the ceremony, which was many years ago, and it brought them to tears.”
Brody always took pride in and was close with her daughters, said the rabbi. “She always talked about how her girls were doing. And they admired her as well, adored her.” Silverman noted that two of her daughters had recently returned from a Taglit-Birthright Israel trip, and the Brody family was set to attend a Shabbat dinner at Chabad this Friday night.
Allen and Ellen Brody, and Rabbi Benjy and Hinda Silverman at a "mock wedding" that the Brodys volunteered to participate in at the Chabad Hebrew school. (Photo: Chabad of the Rivertowns)
“She was passionate about Judaism; she was passionate about her kids; and she did a great job of fulfilling the values that were important to her,” affirmed the rabbi.
Passionate About Family, Friends and Judaism
Brody lived in the Edgemont section of Scarsdale, N.Y., and worked at a suburban jewelry store in Chappaqua. Her friends at the store were preparing to celebrate her 50th birthday in March. Whoever she met “always left smiling,” Virginia Shasha, a co-worker at the jewelry shop, told WABC-TV.
“They are a very prominent Edgemont family,” Bob Bernstein, president of the Edgemont Community Council, told the Journal News. “What a terrible tragedy.”
“It’s not just a tragedy for the town. It’s a personal tragedy for me,” said Paul Feiner, supervisor of the town of Greenburgh, who said he has known the Brody family for years. “She was an exceptional … super, super nice (person),” he said.
Her rabbi agreed: “She was very in tune, very warm, and passionate about her family, her friends and Judaism.”
The funeral will take place Friday morning at 10 a.m at Chabad of the Rivertowns in Dobbs Ferry.
The ceremony had a lasting impact on the family, said Hinda Silverman. While visiting them after the accident, she noted that “the girls recalled the ceremony, which was many years ago, and it brought
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| Rabbi Manis Friedman |
A new documentary that screened on January 19th in more than 600 cinemas across America grapples with controversial questions about the search for archaeological evidence for the exodus of the Jews from ancient Egypt as recorded in the Torah.
How relevant is archaeological research to traditional Jewish belief?
Patterns of Evidence: The Exodusprovides a platform for several different voices, which express competing opinions and theories rather than a monolithic archaeological viewpoint. But filmmaker Tim Mahoney clearly favors the contentious “new chronology” espoused by British Egyptologist David Rohl, which better coheres with the chronology of the Torah and the Tanach and offers a new interpretation of the archeological record. One of the most prominent voices in the documentary is that of Rabbi Manis Friedman, who tells the story of the Exodus as it is recorded in the Torah.
Chabad.org spoke with Rabbi Friedman about his role in Patterns of Evidence, and about the broader issues of how Torah and traditional Jewish beliefs relate to archaeology and the scientific method.
Before we discuss this documentary specifically, I’d like to step back a bit and ask you a more general question: As a religious Jew and a rabbi, how relevant is archaeological research to traditional Jewish belief?
MF: Physical evidence is the ultimate goal of tikun olam, when the earth itself “speaks” and says the same truths that come from heaven. Then we know we are making some progress. The Torah tells us what happened as a message from heaven, and the physical evidence coming from the earth means that the world itself is finally reflecting back the same truth. The Alter Rebbe said you will know that Moshiach is here when the papers write about it, and he meant the secular papers.
Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus provides a platform for several different voices, which express competing opinions and theories rather than a monolithic archaeological viewpoint.
Could you elaborate a little on the archaeological debate surrounding the Exodus? Who are the main players? And why is this is such a controversial issue in the academic community?
MF: One of the professors interviewed in the film acknowledges that even the experts have their biases, and that he too has his biases. In the modern world, the secular biases are accepted as truth, while all religious biases are dismissed as unscientific. It is nice, he says, to have a film that balances the information and allows you to think objectively.
When did you first hear about filmmaker Tim Mahoney’s project? How did you initially react? And why did you decide to get involved?
MF: I heard about it eight years ago when they asked me to be a part of the story-telling while they were finding evidence and speaking to archaeologists, Egyptologists and historians. They needed someone to present the story in its original, authentic form, and who better than a rabbi? I was immediately impressed by their sincerity and felt that this film would do more for Judaism than Schindler’s List.
Is this purely about the Exodus, or do you think there is a more general takeaway from this documentary? How might it help us to reexamine the broader conflict between religious tradition and scientific methodology?
MF: The real takeaway is bigger than the Exodus. It’s more about the unique relationship between G‑d and the Jewish people. Patterns of Evidence shows that G‑dIs this purely about the Exodus? works in the world through the Jewish people from the beginning of history to its conclusion. If you see a prophecy coming true, that’s impressive. Two prophecies, more impressive. But when you have a series of prophecies, and they all come true in that precise order, this is something you can’t ignore.
The prophecies were: your children will be enslaved; they will go free; they will receive the Torah; they will inherit the land; they will be exiled from the land; they will be scattered all over the world and persecuted; and they will return to the land in the end of days. That’s a pattern, and the evidence for that is clear.
Mahoney openly acknowledges that, personally, a lot was at stake when he began his investigation, saying that he experienced “a crisis of faith” before discovering a new way of interpreting the archaeological record. Do you think he was right to stake so much on his search? What would you say if there really was no evidence for the Exodus?
MF: When I first met Tim Mahoney, the plan for the film was very simple, and it was to tell a true story that changed the world once and can change it again. He wasn’t really looking for validation or proof. As production of the movie progressed and the aim became more ambitious, it was rewritten to appeal to the skeptics.The skeptic will ask: Is there evidence? The believer asks: Where is the evidence? Because if you haven’t found the evidence, you’re obviously not looking very hard, or in the right places.
When a religious scientist in the 1960s asked the Rebbe whether we believe in life on other planets, the Rebbe said, “It’s not a matter of belief. You are a scientist, go take a look.” So if we didn't find the evidence yet, would that weaken our belief? No, it would just mean that we haven’t looked in the right places or with the right attitude.
Rabbi Manis Friedman tells the story of the Exodus as it is recorded in the Torah.
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| Rabbi Elie and Bracha Filler, and their 1-year-old son Mendel, recently moved to Prescott, Ariz., to |
It’s a long way from New York to Arizona—nearly 2,500 miles, to be exact. That’s where Rabbi Elie and Bracha Filler now find themselves, starting the firstChabad center in the city of Prescott and the 20th Chabad center in the state of Arizona.
Known primarily as a retirement city and tourist destination, Prescott is also home to about 7,000 students from three small colleges in the area. With its mountain views and artsy downtown, it also attracts Phoenix residents, who head a couple of hours north to second homes in Prescott to escape the scorching summer heat.
Unlike Phoenix and much of the U.S. Southwest, the weather in Prescott—county seat of Yavapai County, with a population close to 40,000—is mild, with all four seasons intact.
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Yet while the mountainous landscape keeps the weather temperate, it also means that most homes sit in the hills as well. The Fillers’ challenge was to find one that was accessible for visitors and centrally located, which they eventually did.
“There’s a little bit of everything here,” said Rabbi Filler, who estimates that about 2,000 Jewish people are among the area’s mix. He, his wife and their 1-year-old son, Mendel, settled there in early December from the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., where Bracha Filler is from originally (the rabbi grew up in California). “It’s a real frontier culture here, a little like the ‘Wild West, with a mix of landscape and a mix of people.”
Their first major event was a public menorah-lighting at Chanukah time—the first of its kind in Prescott. The week beforehand, the couple sent out a few hundred postcards, some email, and advertised on the radio and in the local newspaper, The Daily Courier.
They planned to hold the lighting in the middle of town, in front of the iconic county courthouse plaza. Then they discovered they needed a permit to do so.
Shortly after the couple arrived in Prescott, “The Daily Courier” published an article about their first event: a Chanukah menorah-lighting.
It turns out that Prescott is known for its annual holiday lighting ceremony, which can draw as many as 8,000 people. So in December, the city doesn’t typically issue permits for other events.
In the peak of the season, the rabbi called, and couldn’t get through to courthouse and county officials. His back-up plan was to hold the lighting in the local supermarket, or perhaps not at all. The supermarket initially agreed to host the event, but then turned them down. So he tried calling the courthouse again.
He was able to get in touch with an assistant and explain the details of the event, and was told to call back and speak to someone else. When he did, the official replied: “Rabbi, we’ve been waiting to hear from you.” They gave him the OK without a permit. “They were very helpful,” said Filler.
In the end, the Chanukah event drew about 100 people, not to mention passersby who stopped to take in the goings-on. “We were so touched by the number of people who came,” he said.
Bracha Filler added that “people were surprised to see each other there.”
As her husband recited the Chanukah blessings, she marveled at how everyone seemed to join in and sing along.
“I got really emotional,” she said. “It was all worth it.”
The menorah-lighting appeared on the Courier’s front page, with positive comments ensuing on the article’s corresponding web page, including this one from William Gauslow: “I took a few laps on the square about [that] time. I came upon this group without knowing what was up. Until I saw the menorah. I walked my way through the group and was glad they were assembling. Every religion needs its form of expression. Welcome to Prescott.”
The Fillers just held a Shabbat dinner and are working on all kinds of Jewish PROGRAMS.
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Steve Fazekas wrote: “What a wonderful experience for us and Prescott. Thank you so much, Rabbi Elie Filler, and your beautiful family for taking the time and putting in the effort to create a special moment in time for all who attended. We look forward to seeing you around our beautiful city, and welcome you and your family to our community.”
And Gary Rabinovich lamented the fact that he hadn’t heard about the LIGHTING; “otherwise, my family and I would have attended.”
; “otherwise, my family and I would have attended.”
Filler said people came up to him in the street, telling him “it’s so wonderful to have a rabbi in town.”
“You definitely see the foresight of the Rebbe [Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous MEMORY],” he said. “Everything falls into place ... We’re surprised at how many Jews here didn’t know about each other; every day, we meet and get contacts to more Jewish residents, yet most of them thought they knew all the Jewish people here. ”
],” he said. “Everything falls into place ... We’re surprised at how many Jews here didn’t know about each other; every day, we meet and get contacts to more Jewish residents, yet most of them thought they knew all the Jewish people here. ”Big Change, Great Outdoors
Already, the Fillers have adjusted to providing Jewish needs when they’re out and about.
“Originally, when we came, everyone said it’s too far out,” he said—that they wouldn’t get a response from local Jewry. “But every time we are out, we meet Jewish people and wind up putting on tefillin.” Some men have ended up in tears after the experience.
And they CONTINUALLY get phone calls asking when they will start to offer more programming, events and Jewish content. In fact, they just held their first Shabbat dinner.
get phone calls asking when they will start to offer more programming, events and Jewish content. In fact, they just held their first Shabbat dinner.
The first-ever public menorah-lighting in Prescott—and perhaps the first-ever car menorah, too.
Bracha Filler affirmed that moving from New York, with its plethora of Jewish resources, to Prescott has taken some adjusting. “The big change for me,” she explained, “is to get accustomed to out-of-town living in general. I’m used to everything being on the same avenue, and here there are so many large stores all far away from each other. I’m still trying to manage which store has whichkosher item, doing bulk shopping, and freezing cheese and meats, and then defrosting in time.”
For now, they are getting their meat from Phoenix or Los Angles, though Bracha Filler noted that her husband is in contact with a local dairy, and is planning on going one morning to watch them milk the cows so they can havecholov Yisroel milk.
Another adjustment is the presence of the great outdoors, especially the wildlife. Bracha Filler recounted that so far, “we have met a pet parrot in the gas station, saw people walking their pet bunnies down town and saw a baby calf on the side of the highway—as well as many more animal interactions.”
For the long term, she said “I’m opening my home to be a place that everyone can come home to. We want to create a place and an atmosphere where every Jewish person can feel comfortable experiencing their Jewishness.”
She plans to offer women’s courses and study, a women’s circle and a “Mommy & Me” class.
‘Looking for a Way to Connect’
Lighting the candles with the “shamash,” in this case, a torch.
Terry Cohen and her husband are business people who have lived in the community for 30 years. She said they would periodically get visits from rabbinical students and from Rabbi Zalman Levertov, head shaliach and co-director of Chabad Lubavitch of Arizona.
When she first moved from New York, she said it was “culture shock living in the West,” but as the years go by, more and more people have come to live there.
But the Fillers, she added, represent “a really nice addition.”
As for the menorah-lighting, “I didn’t know what to expect or who would show up,” she remarked. “It was so nice, so exciting, and they had such a warm welcome. It was just wonderful. I know a lot of people are excited about them coming.”
“There are a lot of Jewish people, but they stay quiet about it. A lot aren’t affiliated with anything. I’m glad that the Fillers are here because people are looking for a way to connect. He’ll find a lot of people that he’ll be able to help feel at home. It’s a really good thing for our community.”
The sixth night of Chanukah, with the county courthouse in the background. (Photo: MakingASceneProductions.com)
The Chanukah event drew about 100 people, with others stopping by to look.
Filler talks to attendees about the holiday and the couple's plans for Prescott. (Photo: Stan Katz)
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