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Editor's Note:
Dear Friend,
When I think of Noah, I picture him building his ark, plank by plank, day after day, for decades. Despite the scoffing and jeering of passersby, certain that Noah was delusional and no mass destruction would befall them, he persevered.
As difficult and demoralizing as that must have been, he had hope. Hope that someone, anyone, would take him seriously, and adjust their behavior accordingly.
After witnessing the destruction of the entire known world and almost all its inhabitants, most people would have felt hopeless and downtrodden, ready to give up. Noah and his family, however, did what is virtually impossible—they started afresh. They drummed up enough hope and belief in the future—a better future—to begin rebuilding, day by day, person by person.
Our world can be a chaotic and scary place. Natural disasters are striking with increased frequency and ferocity, wars rage on across multiple regions, the US faces an uncertain political future, and that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface.
It’s easy to feel hopeless. It’s normal. Expected. But if Noah could rebuild after seeing his entire world wiped out, surely we can keep working, minute by minute, day by day, to make the world a better, safer, holier place.
Miriam Szokovski
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
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The Echo UpstreamWaves of life flow from the heavens above, carrying with them all your needs.
Celebrate whatever comes to you, out loud and with joy, and your voice echoes back with waves of even greater force.
The channels of life are widened and their currents grow strong.[Hayom Yom, 13 Iyar; Likutei Sichot vol. 14, pg. 403 (based on Zohar).]-------
This Week's Features
Printable Magazine
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Why Noah Planted a Vineyard and Got Drunk by Zalmy Labkowsky
The Biblical Narrative
In the year 1657 (2104 BCE), immediately following the Great Flood, Noah and his family, sole survivors of over 1,500 years of human history, exited the Ark with the task of regrouping, rebuilding and repopulating a desolate earth. The Torah describes the first event to occur after the Flood:
And Noah began to be a master of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. And he drank of the wine and became drunk, and he uncovered himself within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness, and he told his two brothers outside. And Shem and Japheth took the garment, and they placed [it] on both of their shoulders, and they walked backwards, and they covered their father's nakedness, and their faces were turned backwards, so that they did not see their father's nakedness.
And Noah awoke from his wine, and he knew what his small son had done to him.
And he said, "Cursed be Canaan; he shall be a slave among slaves to his brethren." And he said, "Blessed be the L‑rd, the G‑d of Shem, and may Canaan be a slave to them. May G‑d expand Japheth, and may He dwell in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be a slave to them."1
Why Did He Do It?
Why was Noah drinking so heavily? A man chosen by G‑d to be the father of all mankind, someone who was, in the Torah’s words, "a righteous man" and "perfect,”2 was taking to the bottle like some degenerate in a corner pub? We're talking about a man G‑d communicated with directly. We're talking about a man G‑d selected as the most eligible of all his peers to save humanity.
A number of reasons are offered to justify Noah’s inebriation.
The Seder Hadorot writes that, as a young man, Noah had once watched a goat munch on some grapes and then become giddy and cheerful.3 So perhaps Noah was looking for a little pick-me-up after bearing witness to the obliteration of civilization from the face of the earth.
Another explanation offered is that Noah was after the cognitive powers that could be harnessed through alcohol, wanting to broaden his horizons in the study of Torah.4
Chassidic teachings take a different approach. Noah wasn't trying to imbibe spirits to lift his own. He also wasn't looking to drink in moderation to jump-start his brain. Noah's plan from the beginning was to go all in, to get completely under-the-table, stripped-down-to-the-flesh plastered.
Having witnessed extreme depravity and immorality, and the destruction it left in its wake, Noah had come face to face with the consequences of sin. Noah got drunk (and subsequently disrobed) as an ambitious attempt to return the world to the innocent time before sin. He was trying to undo and reverse the negative effects of Adam and Eve's sin in the Garden of Eden.
The World Before Sin
Before there was sin, the universe was at peace. Nature and its Creator were completely in sync and the unity of G‑d was manifest in all of creation. The only consciousness that existed was the consciousness of G‑d, and one couldn't help but view every aspect of the world as a component of that reality. The only self-awareness that existed before sin was the awareness that one was an expression of the Divine. There was no possibility of viewing oneself as an independent, self-sufficient entity when G‑dliness was so revealed. One unifying consciousness fused all of creation together.
Then came sin. The effects were quick in coming and shattered the clarity that had existed previously. Confusion and friction became the dominant realities. In place of the two innocent souls blissfully unaware of their own nakedness, two people stood with a newly acquired self-awareness that focused them in on their own existence and made them shrink away in shame. The harmony was gone. The unity was gone. The transcendence was gone. What was left was a multitude of independent creatures lacking the guiding and uniting force they once took for granted.
Noah, in his attempt to fashion a society based on proper ideals, tried importing the pre-sin state of existence. By getting drunk, Noah thought he could get rid of the pervasive self-awareness and thereby resurrect a state of complete unity with the Divine.
Noah’s mistake was that he thought all oblivion was created equal. What he didn't realize was that lack of self-awareness that doesn't come from subjugation to a higher power, but rather from excessive alcohol consumption, is merely confusion, and isn't in fact an enlightened spiritual state. One can't take shortcuts in achieving transcendence; it has to come from hard work and steady progress.
So Noah wasn't just looking for a good time, and it wasn't just a passing idea. His actions were part of a grand plan to fashion society on the foundations of spiritual enlightenment. It just didn't play out the way he imagined.5
The Reaction
On finding out about their father's intoxication, Noah's three sons had three different reactions, ranging from pious to deplorable.
“And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness, and he told his two brothers outside.”6
Seems innocent enough. But as Rashi is quick to inform us, "saw his father's nakedness" means that he either sodomized him or castrated him.7 Neither of those being your average son's reaction to finding his father sprawled on his bed in a drunken stupor.
Ham lost no time in telling his brothers of their father's shameful state. Shem, the youngest of the three, sprang into action and grabbed a garment to cover their father. Japheth, following his younger brother's lead, also held onto the garment:
Shem and Japheth took the garment, and they placed [it] on both of their shoulders, and they walked backwards, and they covered their father's nakedness, and their faces were turned backwards, so that they did not see their father's nakedness.8
Rashi explains that the seeming redundancy in the verse teaches us that Shem and Japheth made additional efforts to avoid seeing their father in a state of nakedness even for just a moment.
And Noah awoke from his wine, and he knew what his small son had done to him. And he said, "Cursed be Canaan; he shall be a slave among slaves to his brethren." And he said, "Blessed be the L‑rd, the G‑d of Shem, and may Canaan be a slave to them. May G‑d expand Japheth, and may He dwell in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be a slave to them."9
There are a number of explanations offered as to why Canaan, Ham’s son, is the one to bear the brunt of Noah’s curse:
1) He was cursed because he was the one who initially informed his father, Ham, of the situation. (And not in the “Oh my word! Whatever are we to do about this?” kind of way. More like in the “Dad you gotta check out what I just found! You're gonna love this” kind of way.)10
2) Because Ham tried preventing Noah from having a fourth son, Noah cursed his fourth son.11
3) Noah didn't think it was appropriate to curse his son after G‑d himself had blessed his children.12
4) Ham actually learned his perverse ways from his son Canaan.13
Our rabbis teach, that both Shem and Japheth were rewarded for their actions, but in different measures. Shem, because he initiated, was rewarded in both body and soul by meriting to have his descendants receive the special mitzvah of tzitzit. Japheth, who merely went along with Shem’s actions, was rewarded in body by meriting the burial of his descendants during the war of Gog and Magog.14 Ham, who not only didn't assist his father but added injury to insult, was punished through his descendants when they were stripped naked and disgraced in the war with the King of Assyria.15
The Punishment Fits the Crime
What's interesting to note is that all the rewards and punishments dished out as a result of this event are related to clothing. This is in keeping with the Torah’s general principle of "an eye for an eye," the idea that consequences are meted out measure for measure. If you're a good doctor, getting a taste of your own medicine isn't so bad. (But if you're a bad doctor...)
Mirror, Mirror
Chassidic teachings tell us that when one sees negativity in others, it's really a projection of the seer’s own negativity. However, is this true across the board? Is it not possible for a really good guy to happen upon a really bad guy? Is it not possible for a completely selfless person to interact with selfish people? (It's okay if you're picturing yourself right now.) The answer is yes, it is possible. The key to knowing if the negativity you see is a reflection of you is in the kind of reaction it is.
When Ham saw his father's disgrace, the thought of helping him didn't cross his mind. Shem, on the other hand, saw the issue as one that needed to be rectified, and instantly got to work doing that.
One's reaction to negativity is very telling. If, when coming across it, you react like an amateur food critic and just say "that's bad" and move on your way, then something's wrong. The negativity didn't bother you enough to attempt to get rid of it. It didn't rattle your proverbial cage. Negativity has to clash with everything you stand for. It has to shake you to your very core until you have no choice but to correct it.
If it doesn't do that, then there's some of that negativity in you as well.
For Shem, there was no buffering time. The second he heard of his father's compromised situation, he got to work fixing it. Finding out about the issue and finding a solution were one and the same for Shem. Because he was completely free of any of that negativity, he instantly rejected it and went about trying to change it.
So when you come across evil in the world, you have a decision to make: do you want to be a part of it, or do you want to be a part of bringing it down?16
Rabbi Zalmy Labkowsky grew up in LA and currently lives in Brooklyn where he studies Talmud.
Artwork by Sefira Ross, a freelance designer and illustrator whose original creations grace many Chabad.org pages. Residing in Seattle, Washington, her days are spent between multitasking illustrations and being a mom.
FOOTNOTES
1.Genesis 9:20-27.
2.Genesis 6:9.
3.Seder Hadorot, p. 25.
4.Midrash Rabba 36:3; see Eitz Yosef.
5.Sefer Hamaamarim Melukat, vol. 2, Vayihyu Chayei Sarah (pages 148-149)
6.Genesis 9:22.
7.See Rashi ad loc. See Talmud Sanhedrin 70a. See also Rashi to Genesis 9:25where it is explained that Ham castrated Noah because he said, “Adam only had two children and they killed each other over inheriting the earth. My father has three children already and he's still looking for more?”
8.Genesis 9:23.
9.Genesis 9:24-27.
10.Rashi to 9:22.
11.Rashi to 9:25. See The Punishment Fits the Crime. What’s interesting is that Ham judged Noah for having so many children when he himself had more.
12.Kli Yakar 9:24.
13.Ibid.
14.See Ezekiel 39:11. For more about this war, see The War of Gog and Magog.
15.
See Isaiah 20:4. In the year 3221, Sennaherib, king of Assyria, started an imperialistic campaign, conquered many nations and spread them across the world. For further reading: Sennaherib's Debacle.
16.
Likutei Sichot, vol. 10, Noach II (pages 24-29).© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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PARSHAH
The Barren Woman and the Waters of Noah
The haftarah begins: “Sing, barren one who has not given birth.” Who is the “barren one”? by Yitzi Hurwitz
This week’s haftarah is read twice: once with on Parshat Noach and then again as the fifth haftorah of consolation on the week of Ki Teitzei.-------
Why Noah Planted a Vineyard and Got Drunk by Zalmy Labkowsky
The Biblical NarrativeIn the year 1657 (2104 BCE), immediately following the Great Flood, Noah and his family, sole survivors of over 1,500 years of human history, exited the Ark with the task of regrouping, rebuilding and repopulating a desolate earth. The Torah describes the first event to occur after the Flood:
And Noah began to be a master of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. And he drank of the wine and became drunk, and he uncovered himself within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness, and he told his two brothers outside. And Shem and Japheth took the garment, and they placed [it] on both of their shoulders, and they walked backwards, and they covered their father's nakedness, and their faces were turned backwards, so that they did not see their father's nakedness.
And Noah awoke from his wine, and he knew what his small son had done to him.
And he said, "Cursed be Canaan; he shall be a slave among slaves to his brethren." And he said, "Blessed be the L‑rd, the G‑d of Shem, and may Canaan be a slave to them. May G‑d expand Japheth, and may He dwell in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be a slave to them."1
Why Did He Do It?
Why was Noah drinking so heavily? A man chosen by G‑d to be the father of all mankind, someone who was, in the Torah’s words, "a righteous man" and "perfect,”2 was taking to the bottle like some degenerate in a corner pub? We're talking about a man G‑d communicated with directly. We're talking about a man G‑d selected as the most eligible of all his peers to save humanity.
A number of reasons are offered to justify Noah’s inebriation.
The Seder Hadorot writes that, as a young man, Noah had once watched a goat munch on some grapes and then become giddy and cheerful.3 So perhaps Noah was looking for a little pick-me-up after bearing witness to the obliteration of civilization from the face of the earth.
Another explanation offered is that Noah was after the cognitive powers that could be harnessed through alcohol, wanting to broaden his horizons in the study of Torah.4
Chassidic teachings take a different approach. Noah wasn't trying to imbibe spirits to lift his own. He also wasn't looking to drink in moderation to jump-start his brain. Noah's plan from the beginning was to go all in, to get completely under-the-table, stripped-down-to-the-flesh plastered.
Having witnessed extreme depravity and immorality, and the destruction it left in its wake, Noah had come face to face with the consequences of sin. Noah got drunk (and subsequently disrobed) as an ambitious attempt to return the world to the innocent time before sin. He was trying to undo and reverse the negative effects of Adam and Eve's sin in the Garden of Eden.
The World Before Sin
Before there was sin, the universe was at peace. Nature and its Creator were completely in sync and the unity of G‑d was manifest in all of creation. The only consciousness that existed was the consciousness of G‑d, and one couldn't help but view every aspect of the world as a component of that reality. The only self-awareness that existed before sin was the awareness that one was an expression of the Divine. There was no possibility of viewing oneself as an independent, self-sufficient entity when G‑dliness was so revealed. One unifying consciousness fused all of creation together.
Then came sin. The effects were quick in coming and shattered the clarity that had existed previously. Confusion and friction became the dominant realities. In place of the two innocent souls blissfully unaware of their own nakedness, two people stood with a newly acquired self-awareness that focused them in on their own existence and made them shrink away in shame. The harmony was gone. The unity was gone. The transcendence was gone. What was left was a multitude of independent creatures lacking the guiding and uniting force they once took for granted.
Noah, in his attempt to fashion a society based on proper ideals, tried importing the pre-sin state of existence. By getting drunk, Noah thought he could get rid of the pervasive self-awareness and thereby resurrect a state of complete unity with the Divine.
Noah’s mistake was that he thought all oblivion was created equal. What he didn't realize was that lack of self-awareness that doesn't come from subjugation to a higher power, but rather from excessive alcohol consumption, is merely confusion, and isn't in fact an enlightened spiritual state. One can't take shortcuts in achieving transcendence; it has to come from hard work and steady progress.
So Noah wasn't just looking for a good time, and it wasn't just a passing idea. His actions were part of a grand plan to fashion society on the foundations of spiritual enlightenment. It just didn't play out the way he imagined.5
The Reaction
On finding out about their father's intoxication, Noah's three sons had three different reactions, ranging from pious to deplorable.
“And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness, and he told his two brothers outside.”6
Seems innocent enough. But as Rashi is quick to inform us, "saw his father's nakedness" means that he either sodomized him or castrated him.7 Neither of those being your average son's reaction to finding his father sprawled on his bed in a drunken stupor.
Ham lost no time in telling his brothers of their father's shameful state. Shem, the youngest of the three, sprang into action and grabbed a garment to cover their father. Japheth, following his younger brother's lead, also held onto the garment:
Shem and Japheth took the garment, and they placed [it] on both of their shoulders, and they walked backwards, and they covered their father's nakedness, and their faces were turned backwards, so that they did not see their father's nakedness.8
Rashi explains that the seeming redundancy in the verse teaches us that Shem and Japheth made additional efforts to avoid seeing their father in a state of nakedness even for just a moment.
And Noah awoke from his wine, and he knew what his small son had done to him. And he said, "Cursed be Canaan; he shall be a slave among slaves to his brethren." And he said, "Blessed be the L‑rd, the G‑d of Shem, and may Canaan be a slave to them. May G‑d expand Japheth, and may He dwell in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be a slave to them."9
There are a number of explanations offered as to why Canaan, Ham’s son, is the one to bear the brunt of Noah’s curse:
1) He was cursed because he was the one who initially informed his father, Ham, of the situation. (And not in the “Oh my word! Whatever are we to do about this?” kind of way. More like in the “Dad you gotta check out what I just found! You're gonna love this” kind of way.)10
2) Because Ham tried preventing Noah from having a fourth son, Noah cursed his fourth son.11
3) Noah didn't think it was appropriate to curse his son after G‑d himself had blessed his children.12
4) Ham actually learned his perverse ways from his son Canaan.13
Our rabbis teach, that both Shem and Japheth were rewarded for their actions, but in different measures. Shem, because he initiated, was rewarded in both body and soul by meriting to have his descendants receive the special mitzvah of tzitzit. Japheth, who merely went along with Shem’s actions, was rewarded in body by meriting the burial of his descendants during the war of Gog and Magog.14 Ham, who not only didn't assist his father but added injury to insult, was punished through his descendants when they were stripped naked and disgraced in the war with the King of Assyria.15
The Punishment Fits the Crime
What's interesting to note is that all the rewards and punishments dished out as a result of this event are related to clothing. This is in keeping with the Torah’s general principle of "an eye for an eye," the idea that consequences are meted out measure for measure. If you're a good doctor, getting a taste of your own medicine isn't so bad. (But if you're a bad doctor...)
Mirror, Mirror
Chassidic teachings tell us that when one sees negativity in others, it's really a projection of the seer’s own negativity. However, is this true across the board? Is it not possible for a really good guy to happen upon a really bad guy? Is it not possible for a completely selfless person to interact with selfish people? (It's okay if you're picturing yourself right now.) The answer is yes, it is possible. The key to knowing if the negativity you see is a reflection of you is in the kind of reaction it is.
When Ham saw his father's disgrace, the thought of helping him didn't cross his mind. Shem, on the other hand, saw the issue as one that needed to be rectified, and instantly got to work doing that.
One's reaction to negativity is very telling. If, when coming across it, you react like an amateur food critic and just say "that's bad" and move on your way, then something's wrong. The negativity didn't bother you enough to attempt to get rid of it. It didn't rattle your proverbial cage. Negativity has to clash with everything you stand for. It has to shake you to your very core until you have no choice but to correct it.
If it doesn't do that, then there's some of that negativity in you as well.
For Shem, there was no buffering time. The second he heard of his father's compromised situation, he got to work fixing it. Finding out about the issue and finding a solution were one and the same for Shem. Because he was completely free of any of that negativity, he instantly rejected it and went about trying to change it.
So when you come across evil in the world, you have a decision to make: do you want to be a part of it, or do you want to be a part of bringing it down?16
Rabbi Zalmy Labkowsky grew up in LA and currently lives in Brooklyn where he studies Talmud.
Artwork by Sefira Ross, a freelance designer and illustrator whose original creations grace many Chabad.org pages. Residing in Seattle, Washington, her days are spent between multitasking illustrations and being a mom.
FOOTNOTES
1.Genesis 9:20-27.
2.Genesis 6:9.
3.Seder Hadorot, p. 25.
4.Midrash Rabba 36:3; see Eitz Yosef.
5.Sefer Hamaamarim Melukat, vol. 2, Vayihyu Chayei Sarah (pages 148-149)
6.Genesis 9:22.
7.See Rashi ad loc. See Talmud Sanhedrin 70a. See also Rashi to Genesis 9:25where it is explained that Ham castrated Noah because he said, “Adam only had two children and they killed each other over inheriting the earth. My father has three children already and he's still looking for more?”
8.Genesis 9:23.
9.Genesis 9:24-27.
10.Rashi to 9:22.
11.Rashi to 9:25. See The Punishment Fits the Crime. What’s interesting is that Ham judged Noah for having so many children when he himself had more.
12.Kli Yakar 9:24.
13.Ibid.
14.See Ezekiel 39:11. For more about this war, see The War of Gog and Magog.
15.
See Isaiah 20:4. In the year 3221, Sennaherib, king of Assyria, started an imperialistic campaign, conquered many nations and spread them across the world. For further reading: Sennaherib's Debacle.
16.
Likutei Sichot, vol. 10, Noach II (pages 24-29).© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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PARSHAH
The Barren Woman and the Waters of Noah
The haftarah begins: “Sing, barren one who has not given birth.” Who is the “barren one”? by Yitzi Hurwitz
The haftorah has a double theme. First, that when Moshiach comes, things will be so good that we will forget the hardships of the exile. Second, that the redemption will be final, never to be followed by another exile.
The haftarah begins: “Sing, barren one who has not given birth.” Who is the “barren one”?
The simple explanation is that G‑d is talking to the city of Jerusalem, which feels like a barren woman, bereft of children. Although she had been desolate during this long exile, G‑d tells her to sing—as now that Moshiach is here, her streets are once again filled with her children, the Jewish people. She doesn’t feel barren any more.
On a deeper level, Hashem is talking to those Jews who claim they are barren and have not given birth to Him. Meaning, he has totally disassociated himself from the Jewish nation. G‑d is saying that even He will sing a “new song”—the song we will sing when Moshiach comes.
The revelation will be so great that we will break out in song, just as we did at the splitting of the sea. Every Jewish person will be included, even one who is “barren” of mitzvahs and in the darkest place. The revelation and transformation will be so great that he, too, will break out into song.
The exile will then seem as a fleeting dream, as the haftorah says, “for a brief moment I forsook you.” We read in Tehillim (Psalms), when G‑d returns the exiles of Zion, we will say that “we will have been as dreamers.” A dream feels real, but when you wake up, it fades away. This will be because, as the next verse continues: “With a little wrath, I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness, I will have compassion on you . . . ”
When Moshiach comes, it will be so good, that the exile will feel like a brief moment.
Now the haftorah says: “Like the waters of Noach this is to me. Just as I swore to never again cover the earth with the waters of Noach, so have I sworn not to be wrathful with you and not to rebuke you.”
This verse is self-explanatory, except that G‑d calls the flood “the waters of Noach.” Why?
Because the word “Noach” is like the word nachat (“satisfaction”), indicating that it is positive because it changed the world for good. The same is true about this exile. When Moshiach comes, we will see how everything we went through in this exile directly made the world ready for Moshiach. The reading concludes, that when Moshiach comes “ . . . My kindness will never depart from you, and my covenant of peace will never falter.”
Like bookends, this haftorah is read before and after the holiday season, and it sets the tone for the whole year because bringing Moshiach is at the core of our mission as the Jewish people. Like beacons of light, it is read at the beginning and the end of the year to remind us that though our work is difficult and the exile dark, what we are accomplishing is tremendous and our reward is even greater.
Perhaps it is your effort, your mitzvah, which will finally tip the scale and bring Moshiach.
May he come soon.
Rabbi Yitzi Hurwitz—father of seven, husband of Dina, and spiritual leader at Chabad Jewish Center in Temecula, Calif.—has been rendered immobile by ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Unable to speak or type, he uses his eyes to write heartfelt thoughts on the weekly Torah portion.
Artwork by Sefira Ross, a freelance designer and illustrator whose original creations grace many Chabad.org pages. Residing in Seattle, Washington, her days are spent between multitasking illustrations and being a mom.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Noach in Depth
A condensation of the weekly Torah portion alongside select commentaries culled from the Midrash, Talmud, Chassidic masters, and the broad corpus of Jewish scholarship.
Noah is also commanded to bring into the ark two members of each animal species—a male and a female (but seven pairs of all “pure” or kosher species), as well as food for himself, his family and the animals.
The Flood lasted a full solar year—365 days. The 40 days of rain were followed by 150 days in which the water swelled and churned, after which “G‑d remembered Noah and every living thing and all the cattle that were with him in the ark, and G‑d made a wind pass over the earth, and the waters were assuaged” and began to subside. Sixteen days later the ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat, but it took another 44 days for the mountain peaks to become visible.
Noah waited another 40 days, and then, opening the ark’s window, he sent a raven from the ark to test the conditions in the flooded world outside. The raven proved uncooperative, so a week later Noah sent a dove. The dove returned, finding no rest for her feet, so Noah waited another seven days. This time,
When Noah dispatched the dove a third time seven days later, it did not return to the ark at all. Still, Noah remained in the ark. On “the first day of the first month”—307 days after the rains began—the water was completely drained, and Noah removed the covering of the ark, but it took another 57 days for the surface of the earth to dry completely. Finally, on the 27th day of the second month came the divine command:
Never again, vowed G‑d, shall the patterns of nature be so disrupted:
Man is given dominion over all life forms, and the fear of him is instilled in all animals. He is allowed to kill animals for food (Adam was given license to eat only plants), but is forbidden to eat meat or blood taken from an animal while it is still alive.
Human life is sacred, and murder is punishable by death—if a human court fails to punish the murderer, G‑d Himselfwill seek redress. “From the hand of each man, his brother, I will demand the soul of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man through man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of G‑d He made man.”
At first the descendents of Noah formed a single community, sharing “one language and mutual words.” Migrating westward, they settled in the valley of Shin’ar (Babylon).
Terach had three sons: Haran (who died in his father’s lifetime), Nachor and Abram. Haran had a son, Lot, and two daughters: Milkah, who became the wife of her uncle Nachor; and Sarai (also called Yiskah), who also wed a younger brother of her father’s, Abraham. Sarai was barren, having no children.
The Parshah of Noach concludes by telling how the entire family set out from their hometown, Ur Casdim, to journey to the land of Canaan. They stopped, however, at Charan, where Terach died at the age of 205.
From Our SagesNoah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations (6:9)
Among our sages, there are those who interpret this as being in praise of Noah: If he was righteous in his generation, then certainly he would have been even more righteous if he would have been in a generation of righteous people. And there are those who interpret this as a condemnation: In relation to his generation he was righteous, but had he been in Abraham’s generation, he wouldn’t have been regarded as anything.
G‑d said to Noah: “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them” (6:13)
Why was the generation of the Flood utterly destroyed, but not the generation of the Tower? Because the generation of the Flood were consumed by robbery and violence, while amongst the generation of the Tower, love prevailed.
G‑d said to Noah . . . “Make yourself an ark” (6:13–14)
G‑d has many ways to save someone; why did he make Noah toil to build the ark? In order that the people of his generation should see him occupied with the task for 120 years, and they should ask him, “Why are you doing this?” and he would tell them that G‑d is bringing a flood upon the world. Perhaps this would cause them to repent.
In other words, Noah’s involvement with others was limited to his sense of what he ought to do for them, as opposed to a true concern for their wellbeing. He understood the necessity to act for the sake of another, recognizing that to fail to do so is a defect in one’s own character; but he fell short of transcending the self to care for others beyond the consideration of his own righteousness.
This also explains a curious aspect of Noah’s efforts to reach out to his generation. When the Flood came, Noah and his family entered the ark—alone. His 120-year campaign yielded not a single baal teshuvah(repentant)! Perhaps public relations was never Noah’s strong point, but how are we to explain the fact that in all this time he failed to win over a single individual?
But in order to influence others, one’s motives must be pure; in the words of our sages, “Words that come from the heart enter the heart.” Deep down, a person will always sense whether you truly have his interests at heart, or you are filling a need of your own by seeking to change him. If your work to enlighten your fellow stems from a desire to “do the right thing” but without really caring about the result, your call will be met with scant response. The echo of personal motive, be it the most laudable of personal motives, will be sensed, if only subconsciously, by the object of your efforts, and will ultimately put him off.
G‑d said to Noah . . . “Come into the ark” (7:1)
The Hebrew word for “ark,” teivah, also means “word.” “Come into the word,” says G‑d; enter within the words of prayer and Torah study. Here you will find a sanctuary of wisdom, meaning and holiness amidst the raging floodwaters of life.
In the six-hundredth year of Noah’s life . . . all the fountains of the great deep broke open, and the windows of heaven were opened (7:11)
[This hints that] in the sixth century of the sixth millennium [from creation—1740–1840 in the secular calendar], the gates of supernal wisdom will be opened, as will the springs of earthly wisdom, preparing the world to be elevated in the seventh millennium.
The chronology of events, as indicated by the dates and time periods given in the Torah’s account and calculated by Rashi, is as follows:
Cheshvan 17: Noah enters ark; rains begin.
Kislev 27: Forty days of rain end; 150 days of water’s swelling and churning begin, during which the water reaches a height of 15 cubits above the mountain peaks.
Sivan 1: Water calms, and begins to subside at the rate of one cubit each four days.
Sivan 17: The bottom of the ark, submerged 11 cubits beneath the surface, touches down on the top of Mount Ararat.
Av 1: The mountain peaks break the water’s surface.
Elul 10: Noah open the ark’s window and dispatches the raven.
Elul 17: Noah sends the dove for the first time.
Elul 23: The dove is sent a second time, and returns with an olive branch in its beak.
Tishrei 1: Dove’s third mission. Water completely drained.
Cheshvan 27: Ground fully dried. Noah exits the ark.
Total time in ark: 365 days (one solar year; one year and 11 days on the lunar calendar).
G‑d spoke to Noah, saying: “Go out of the ark . . .” (8:16)
This, too, is a divine command. G‑d commands us to “enter into the ark,” into the sanctums of spirituality we are to create in the material world. But then we must “go out of the ark” to carry forth its sanctity to the ends of the earth.
And Noah built an altar to G‑d (8:20)
The location of the altar [in the Holy Temple] is very exactly defined, and is never to be changed. . . . It is a commonly held tradition that the place where David and Solomon built the altar, on the threshing floor of Aravnah, is the very place where Abraham built an altar and bound Isaac upon it; this is where Noah built [an altar] when he came out from the ark; this is where Cain and Abel brought their offerings; this is where Adam the First Man offered a korban when he was created—and it is from [the earth of] this place that he was created. Thus the sages have said: Man was formed from the place of his atonement.
I will demand the life of man . . . for in the image of G‑d made He man (9:5–6)
How were the Ten Commandments given? Five on one tablet and five on a second tablet. This means that “Do not murder” corresponds to “I am the L‑rd your G‑d.” The Torah is telling us that one who sheds blood, it is as if he has reduced the image of the King.
To what is this analogous? To a king of flesh and blood who entered a country and put up portraits of himself, made statues of himself, and minted coins with his image. After a while the people of the country overturned his portraits, broke his statues and invalidated his coins, thereby reducing the image of the king. So too, one who sheds blood reduces the image of the King, as it is written (Genesis 9:6): “One who spills a man’s blood . . . for in the image of G‑d He made man.”
Noah began to be a man of the earth, and he planted a vineyard (9:20)
When Noah took to planting, Satan came and stood before him and said to him: “What are you planting?” Said he: “A vineyard.” Said Satan to him: “What is its nature?” Said he: “Its fruits are sweet, whether moist or dry, and one makes from them wine, which brings joy to the heart.” Said Satan to Noah: “Do you desire that we should plant it together, you and I?” Said Noah: “Yes.”
What did Satan do? He brought a lamb and slaughtered it over the vine; then he brought a lion and slaughtered it over it; then he brought a monkey and slaughtered it over it; then he brought a swine and slaughtered it over it; and he watered the vine with their blood. Thus he alluded to Noah: When a person drinks one cup, he is like a lamb, modest and meek. When he drinks two cups, he becomes mighty as a lion and begins to speak with pride, saying: Who compares with me! As soon as he drinks three or four cups he becomes a monkey, dancing and frolicking and profaning his mouth, and not knowing what he does. When he becomes drunk, he becomes a pig, dirtied by mud and wallowing in filth.
Ham saw the nakedness of their father, and told his two brothers outside. Shem and Japheth took the garment . . . and covered the nakedness of their father, and they did not see their father’s shame (9:22-23)
One of the cornerstones of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov’s teaching is the doctrine of hashgachah peratit, “specific divine providence.” Hashgachah peratit means that nothing is by chance—every event in a person’s life is purposeful, an integral part of his divinely ordained mission in life.
From this principle arises another of the Baal Shem Tov’s famous teachings. “Your fellow is your mirror,” the Besht would say to his disciples. “If your own face is clean, the image you perceive will also be flawless. But should you look upon your fellow man and see a blemish, it is your own imperfection that you are encountering—you are being shown what it is that you must correct within yourself.” Otherwise, to what purpose would G‑d cause you to see your fellow’s degradation?
One may ask: Perhaps I am being shown my fellow’s deficiency not as a message concerning my own state, but so that I may assist him in its correction?
To answer this question, we must first take a closer look at the principle of “particular divine providence.” Particular divine providence means that not only is every event purposeful, but also its every aspect and nuance.
For example, the same event can imply different things to different observers, depending on how much they know about the people involved and the events that led up to it. Divine providence is “particular” in that it shows each observer precisely what is applicable to him. If you witness an event, everything about it, including the particular way in which it has affected you, serves a purpose crucial to your mission in life.
When you are confronted with a fellow’s deficiency, there are two distinct elements in your awareness: (a) the fact of that person’s wrongdoing; (b) his guilt, culpability and decadence. The former does not necessarily imply the latter. You may be aware of the fact that a fellow has done wrong, yet such knowledge can be accompanied with understanding, compassion and vindication.
In order to correct your fellow’s wrongdoing, it is enough to know that the action is wrong. To also sense his guilt and lowliness is completely unnecessary; on the contrary, it only hinders your ability to reach out to him in a loving and tolerant manner. The only possible purpose that it can serve is to impress upon you how despicable that thing—or something similar to it, if only in a most subtle way—is in yourself, and thereby compel you to correct it.
This is what the Torah is telling us when it says, “And they did not see their father’s shame.” Not only did Shem and Japheth not physically see their father’s shameful state—this we already know from the (twice-repeated) fact that “their faces were backward”; they also did not perceive his guilt or disgrace. Unlike Ham, whose own debasement was reflected in his vision of his father, their entire reaction to their knowledge of what had transpired lay in what they must now do to correct it. The shame of their father, however, they simply did not see.
They said to one another: “. . . Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make ourselves a name” (11:4)
What was their sin? Their motives for building a city with a tower whose top shall reach the heavens seem quite understandable. Mankind was only just reconstructing itself after the flood that had wiped out the entire human race save for Noah and his family. If fledgling humanity was to survive, unity and cooperation were of critical importance. So they set out to build a common city to knit them into a single community. At its heart they planned a tower which would be visible for miles, a landmark to beckon to those who had strayed from the city, and a monument to inspire commitment to their common goal—survival. All they wanted was to “make for ourselves a name”—to ensure the continuity of the human race.
And yet, their project to preserve humanity deteriorated into a rejection of all that humanity stands for, and an open rebellion against their Creator and purpose. Their quest for unity resulted in the breakup of mankind into clans and factions, and the onset of close to four thousand years of misunderstanding, xenophobia and bloodletting across the divisions of race, language and culture. Where did they go wrong?
But precisely that was their error: they saw survival as an end in itself. Let us make a name for ourselves, they said; let us ensure that there will be future generations who will read of us in their history books. But whysurvive? For what purpose should humanity inhabit the earth? What is the content of the name and legacy they are laboring to preserve? Of this they said, thought and did nothing. To them, life itself was an ideal, survival itself a virtue.
This was the beginning of the end. No physical system will long tolerate a vacuum, and this is true of spiritual realities as well: unless a soul or cause is filled with positive content, corruption will ultimately seep in. A hollow name and shrine soon becomes a Tower of Babel.
Never has the lesson of the Tower of Babel been more pertinent to our people than it is today. We, too, are a generation struggling to recoup after a holocaust of destruction that threatened to erase us from the face of the earth. Reconstruction and survival are uppermost in our minds, and together, with G‑d’s help, we are succeeding.
At a time like this, it is extremely important that we not repeat the error of the builders of Babel. Rebuild we must, but the objective must be more than a more enduring name, a greater city, a taller tower. If we are to survive, we must give import to our survival, reiterate the why of our existence. We must fill our name with value, our city with significance, and crown the tower of our resurgence with the higher purpose for which we were created.
G‑d descended to see the city and the tower which the sons of man had built (11:5)
Obviously, G‑d did not need to “come down” in order to see their crime; but He wished to teach all future judges not to judge a defendant until they see [the case] and understand [it].
YOUR QUESTIONSWhy Doesn't G-d Flood Away the Yucky People? by Aron Moss
Question:
(from Zac, age 4)
Why doesn't G‑d make a flood to take away all the yucky people, like He did for Noah?
Answer:
Zac, I know you are a very good boy, but have you ever been naughty? Did you ever hurt your little brother, or say something rude to your mommy?
G‑d wants us to be good all the time, but we don't always get it right. Even good boys like you can sometimes do the wrong thing.
It is a pity that we are naughty sometimes, but the most important thing is that we stop being naughty and say sorry. Then it's OK again, and we can start being good and doing what's right.
If a flood would come every time someone did something bad, no one would get the chance to say sorry and change. So G‑d has patience. He is waiting for the yucky people to realize that they are wrong and to start behaving.
In the times of Noah, G‑d warned the people to change their ways 120 years before He brought the flood. The flood only happened because no one changed their bad ways in all that time. They even watched Noah building the ark, and he told them the flood was coming, but they still didn't start behaving themselves. From that story we learn how silly it is to keep on being yucky when we have the ability to change.
G‑d always gives us a chance, because even when we do something bad, He knows how good we can be.
Aron Moss is rabbi of the Nefesh Community in Sydney, Australia, and is a frequent contributor to Chabad.org.
Artwork by Sefira Ross, a freelance designer and illustrator whose original creations grace many Chabad.org pages. Residing in Seattle, Washington, her days are spent between multitasking illustrations and being a mom.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Your Questions
Is the Phoenix a Real Bird? by Yehuda Shurpin
Unlike some other mythical creatures found in fantasy books, there is reference to the phoenix in ancient Jewish sources as far back as the Book of Job. When Job reminisces about his “good old days,” he says, “And I said, ‘I will perish with my nest, and like a chol [ וְכַחוֹל] I will multiply my days.’”1 According to many translations, the word chol refers to the phoenix.
(In fact, there is a fascinating incident in which the Lubavitcher Rebbe used this verse to show the widow of renowned artist Jacques Lipchitz that the phoenix was indeed a Jewish symbol. You can read the full story here.)
The Phoenix and the Tree of Knowledge
The Midrash (cited by Rashi) explains that after Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge, she gave its fruit to all of the animals to eat. Only the chol (phoenix) abstained from eating it. Thus, death was decreed upon all animals except the phoenix, which lives forever and is rejuvenated every thousand years, returning to its youth.2
There are two opinions in the Midrash on how this rejuvenation process works: According to one opinion, the phoenix lives a thousand years, at the end of which a fire issues forth from its nest and burns it up. All that remains is an egg, from which the phoenix grows new limbs and lives again. According to another opinion, the fire issues forth from the phoenix itself.3
The Phoenix: The Most Patient Animal
The Talmud, however, gives another explanation for how the phoenix got its long life. Here is the account, as described by Noah’s son Shem:
Indeed, we endured great distress in the Ark. Any creature which normally ate by day, we fed it in the daytime, and any creature whose habit it was to eat at night, we fed it by nighttime . . . As for the avarshinah [phoenix], Father found it lying in its quarters in the Ark. Father said to it, “Do you not need food?” The creature replied, “I saw that you were preoccupied with feeding all the animals, so I said, ‘I will not trouble you.’” Noah said to the bird, “May it be G‑d’s will that you never die! As the verse states, ‘I will perish with my nest; like a chol I will multiply my days.’”4
Reconciling the Two Accounts
The commentaries offer a number of explanations reconciling the account in the Talmud with the one in the Midrash.
Some explain that for refraining from eating from the forbidden fruit, the phoenix was blessed that it would be rejuvenated every thousand years. However, the process still involved dying and being reborn from the egg, so Noah blessed it that it wouldn’t need to die at all.5
Others explain that the phoenix’s long life was not a result of Noah’s blessing. The account in the Talmud was just an explanation of why the phoenix was so blessed—by by virtue of its patience, it merited many blessings, including the one for eternal life.6
Alternatively, for refraining from eating from the forbidden fruit, the phoenix was blessed that it would not die of natural causes, and every thousand years it would return to its youthful state. However, it could still be killed by unnatural causes, such as an arrow. Noah’s blessing was that it should not get killed.7
There are, of course, different ways of understanding Midrashic accounts (for more on that, see our series Is Midrash for Real?), so I can’t give you a more concrete answer to your question about how “real” the phoenix is.
The Phoenix and the Jewish People
Real or not, the phoenix provides a beautiful metaphor for the Jewish people. Just as the phoenix is eternal, so too is the Jewish nation. Just as the phoenix experiences highs and lows in its lifetime, so too are there moments of greatness and moments of tragedy in Jewish history. But from the darkest of ashes, the Jewish nation is always reborn—with more youthful vigor than ever before.
Rabbi Yehuda Shurpin responds to questions for Chabad.org's Ask the Rabbi service.
Artwork by Sefira Ross, a freelance designer and illustrator whose original creations grace many Chabad.org pages. Residing in Seattle, Washington, her days are spent between multitasking illustrations and being a mom.
FOOTNOTES
1.Job 29:18.
2.Midrash, Bereishit Rabbah 18:5; Rashi on Job 29:18.
3.Midrash, ibid.
4.Job 29:18.
5.Torat Chaim on Sanhedrin 108b.
6.Maharal, Chiddushei Aggadot, Sanhedrin 108b.
7.Yafeh Toar on Midrash, Bereishit Rabbah 18:5.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Women
Does Tylenol Alter Your Mind (and Heart)? by Chana Weisberg
Dear Readers,
You’ve experienced a difficult and overloaded day. The tension is mounting, and your head is pounding. Before your headache becomes utterly unbearable, you swallow two Tylenols. To your great relief, within several minutes the pain has subsided, and you can continue working.
You think you are now functioning as your normal self. But think again.
A new study by researchers at Ohio State University found that while acetaminophen—the main medical ingredient used in Tylenol and many other pain relievers—dulls your own pain, it also dulls your empathy to the trials and tribulations of others.
In this study, participants from two groups were tested; one group was given a placebo pill, and the other was given acetaminophen. After the medicine took effect, the groups were each asked to read sad stories of individuals experiencing challenges and hurt. Each group was then asked to rate the pain of the characters. Those who had taken acetaminophen minimized the pain, while the placebo group had greater empathy for them.
Empathy is our ability to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and feel their emotional landscape from their own perspective. Apparently, the part of the brain that’s activated when you’re feeling pain is the same part activated when you’re imagining someone else feeling the same pain. And if your pain center is dulled, so, too, is your empathy to another’s agony.
Reading this study made me wonder if the converse is also true. Can experiencing a painful situation actually increase our compassion? While empathy comes more naturally to some than to others, if you have experienced a particular challenge or trauma, can you use your experience to become more sensitized to the depth of another person’s pain?
I have met people who have suffered terrible challenges in their lives: debilitating sicknesses, financial crisis and appalling emotional trauma. Some of these individuals have used their pain and suffering to transform themselves into greater people, overflowing with empathy. The depth of their pain seems to reflect the depth of their ability to feel the hurt of another—and to take action, to proactively do something to help.
While none of us ever wants to experience serious suffering in our lives, perhaps we can view our challenges as opportunities to grow into greater more empathetic individuals.
And while the researchers in Ohio never intended to prove that, perhaps this can have even greater ramifications on how we function as human beings.
Wishing you a week full of empathy—and devoid of headaches!
Chana Weisberg,
Editor, TJW
Chana Weisberg is the editor of TheJewishWoman.org. She lectures internationally on issues relating to women, relationships, meaning, self-esteem and the Jewish soul. She is the author of five popular books.
Artwork by Sefira Ross, a freelance designer and illustrator whose original creations grace many Chabad.org pages. Residing in Seattle, Washington, her days are spent between multitasking illustrations and being a mom.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Women
‘Negative’ Emotions? 4 Tips on How to Accept Them by Alyssa Rachel Gross
Anger. Disappointment. Frustration. Tension. We’ve all been there and back again. Our culture has labeled these emotions as negative. Especially in the Jewish community, there’s a great deal of emphasis on growing in our positive traits. While admirable, we’ve subsequently also created a rift within ourselves by labeling some attributes as positive and others as negative.
While it’s commendable to work on developing our positive quality traits, it’s also important to our self-worth to recognize that we are whole and worthy beings with all sorts of emotions.
G‑d created us with emotions such as jealousy, anxiety and impatience. How do we resolve these emotions within our internal lives? How do we maintain a positive self-image?
Here are four ways to embrace all of yourself and your emotions:
1. Identify the Emotion
Identify the particular emotion you’re feeling at any given moment. Be aware of your current emotional state. Don’t let it go under the radar; otherwise, it will control you without your knowledge or consent.
For instance, are you irritable because you’re lacking sleep, overextended or hungry? Identify the situation, thoughts or feelings that might be blocking you from being your best.
2. Acceptance
Accept that you feel this way. Are you agitated because of a traffic jam? Frustrated with your spouse? Jealous because of someone else’s recent success?
Experience your emotions fully. Otherwise, it’s like a flat-lining heartbeat: You can’t shut off one emotional valve without clogging another. You know that you’re alive when the rhythm of emotions flows.
Can you accept with patience and compassion that these emotions are part of being human? Would you denigrate a friend for having a moment of frustration? Often, we treat others with much more kindness than ourselves. Try talking to yourself like you would a dear friend—with understanding, love and acceptance.
3. Humility
It takes a great deal of humility to appreciate our humanity and the beauty of having all these varied emotions and experiences. As much as we enjoy feeling happiness or joy, life would become stale if we knew of nothing else. How many days could you have an ice-cream sundae before you would no longer even want to look at the sight of ice-cream?
And how about the reverse? We may consciously or unconsciously say to ourselves, “I’m not good enough or I’m not worthy because I have these ‘negative’ feelings.” That’s simply not true. We are a container for the multitude of emotions that G‑d created in this world.
We are human and have a vast scope of emotions, none of which are truly “negative.” Similar to King David, we all have within us a multitude of emotions like those expressed in Psalms. The ultimate goal is to connect to the Creator by reacting to them in the right way. Remember that G‑d implants everything in us for the positive to utilize, to grow and to elevate.
4. Channel Emotional Energy Into Light
Allow your emotions to vibrate and pass through you. The issue becomes when we try to reject pieces of our self, and the concomitant negative self-regard and stagnation that arises. Don’t allow yourself to savor misery, but don’t deny it if you’re having a miserable moment. Who are you lying to anyway?
In Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3, it says: “Everything has an appointed season, and there is a time for every matter under the heaven. . . . A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time of wailing and a time of dancing.” Further, “He has made everything beautiful in its time . . . ”
We overestimate the value of having a happy life rather than one of meaning, which is far greater. A life of meaning brings deep contentment and joy, as opposed to the ephemeral nature of pleasures that bring transitory happiness.
For instance, if you were recently under the weather, you might visit the sick with a greater sense of empathy due to your experience. Or you might channel your anger to champion a cause close to your heart.
Our emotions are invaluable teachers; we are meant to embrace them, to remain fluid and open. Once the emotion becomes like a clogged artery, we can’t pretend that the emotional lump isn’t there. Instead, we go in, open it up, express it and let the flow of blood return to its natural state.
Ideally, every emotion will cultivate a greater sense of love for yourself and others. We can allow every emotion to connect us more deeply with our self, with others and with G‑d.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Alyssa is a thirsty soul looking to connect to spirituality and the larger Jewish community. She invites you to come along.
Artwork by Sefira Ross, a freelance designer and illustrator whose original creations grace many Chabad.org pages. Residing in Seattle, Washington, her days are spent between multitasking illustrations and being a mom.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Women
Getting to Know My Baby’s Feeding Patterns by Aliza Neveloff
Recently, I gave birth to our second daughter after five years of prayers. Thankfully, things were different this time around; the pregnancy was normal and the birth was a dream come true (VBAC). But nursing brought me to the same place I was five years ago. Again, my baby had a low birthweight (just above 6 pounds), whichAs with every conflict, I searched for a resolution made me anxious about whether she was getting enough nutrition. Both daughters were also jaundiced, for which the doctors and nurses recommended giving formula. So I supplemented with formula after I breastfed but felt conflicted inside.
As with every conflict, I searched for a resolution. I researched breastfeeding and milk production. I rested. I ate healthy meals and snacks. I took fenugreek pills morning and night. But what helped me the most was reading this one line in Ellyn Satter’s book Child of Mine: “If your baby wants to eat after half an hour, feed him. You will be able to make milk because most of the milk is made when your baby asks for it.”1 After reading this, all the doubt and fear about my milk production suddenly disappeared. I stopped trying to schedule my baby’s feedings every two hours. I stopped comparing myself to my friend’s baby and started to get to know mine. When she fussed, I would try to calm her by nursing her. When she fussed again, I would check what else might be bothering her, and if she still wasn’t happy, I would nurse her again.
Some days, I feel like I am nursing her all the time, and doubt and fear creep into the back of my mind: “Maybe I don’t have enough milk?” But then I tell myself this must be a “hungry day,” and I know this is the way my body will start to produce more milk to suit her growing needs.
It takes determination to be successful at breastfeeding. It takes letting go of control and following your baby’s lead. You have to take care of yourself, and don’t be afraid to ask others for help. Don’t compare yourself to other women. The frequency of feeding times while nursing is highly individual and dependent on the mother and baby.2
Nursing a baby also takes a strong will and prayer, as we learn from Channah’s supplications to G‑d that we read in the haftorah on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. The verse says: “And Channah spoke upon her heart,”3 referring to her chest. The Talmud4 explains that Channah prayed to G‑d, “Master of the world, everything YouIt takes determination to be successful created in a woman has a purpose—eyes to see, nose to smell, mouth to speak, hands to make things, legs to walk and breasts to nurse . . . give me a son so I can nurse.”5 Why was her prayer heard by G‑d? Because she convinced G‑d with her claim, and her words gave G‑d great joy.6
Whether we are nursing or formula-feeding our babies, we should pray that we are nourishing our children to be healthy and to grow to their full potential.
Aliza has a bachelor’s degree in Clinical Nutrition from the University of California, Davis, and a master’s degree in Public Health from Ben Gurion University. She recently finished a course in nutrition education and counseling through the Ellyn Satter Institute. She lives in the northern Negev of Israel with her family.
Artwork by Sefira Ross, a freelance designer and illustrator whose original creations grace many Chabad.org pages. Residing in Seattle, Washington, her days are spent between multitasking illustrations and being a mom.
FOOTNOTES
1.Ellyn Satter, Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense (United States: Bull Publishing Company, 2000), 150.
2.Satter, Child of Mine, 164.
3.Samuel I, 1:13.
4.Tractate Berachot 31b.
5.Rav Shalom Arush, Women’s Wisdom: The Garden of Peace for Women (Israel: Chut Shel Chesed Institutions, 2010), p. 323.
6.Rebbi Nachman, Likutei Mohoran, Torah 124.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Story
The Russians and the Nazis Couldn't Crush Her Spirit by Yehudis Pinter
The following story is true, as heard directly from my beloved, young-at-heart grandmother. All names have been changed.
Winter 1945. The Death March. For those who weren’t there, no words can truly describe it, and for those who were there, no words are needed. At the end of the war, when the Germans were losing on all fronts, they refused to give up on their goal of destroying the Jewish people. They forcedFor those who were there, no words are needed inmates out of concentration camps and made them walk hundreds of miles in the bitter cold without sufficient clothing or food, towards areas farther away from the invading armies.
Bubby was there with her two cousins, Chanala and Gittel. They had been suffering under German occupation for 5 years already. They saw their parents killed, and lived a life of fear and hunger, constantly fleeing from one location to another in a desperate search for a safe haven, until they were deported on the infamous cattle-cars. Miraculously, they had survived 11 months in a concentration camp, drawing strength from caring for and connecting with each other. By this time, they were hanging on to life by a thread. Bubby had typhus, and was suffering terribly from the agonies of her illness, combined with hunger, weakness and the freezing temperatures. Gittel was the weakest of the three, and so Bubby and Chanala exerted themselves to support her as she trudged along, step after step, mile after endless mile. Anyone who stopped to rest was shot.
After a while, Gittel collapsed, and there was nothing more they could do for her. With the strength that had carried them thus far, Bubby and Chanala plowed forward. Soon, Bubby felt she could not push herself anymore and told Chanala, “I am going to sit down and rest. I just can’t do this.”
Chanala was in a dilemma. She wanted to save her dear cousin’s life, but she simply didn’t have the strength to carry her. Suddenly, she had an idea: “If you stop, I will stop, too.” Bubby, who had retained her faith and commitment to her Creator through unspeakable suffering, thought to herself, “If this is the end for me, then so be it. But I can’t be the cause of Chanala’s death. I’ll walk a few more steps. If I do collapse, it will be against my will. And if that happens, Chanala probably won’t stop; if she does, I won’t be the cause.” So Bubby pushed herself one more step, one more step, one more; miraculously, they both made it until they were liberated.
Challenges and hardship continued for the broken survivors. The American liberators placed the sick in a hospital in Bialystok to begin the long healing process. Shortly afterwards, the Russians took control of the city. Disregarding the feelings and well-being of individuals, they decided to send those who were still sick to Gorky (currently Nizhny Novgorod), a city 600 miles east of Moscow. Bubby cried and begged to stay with her beloved cousin Chanala, to no avail.
So Bubby was put on a train to Gorky, all alone (yet never truly alone); accompanied and safeguarded by her Father in Heaven, with Whom she was connected by an unbreakable bond of devotion and trust.
In Gorky, Bubby was cared for by a kind Jewish nurse, who bolstered her spirits with encouraging words. A Jewish man brought her a newspaper to read, and to her astonishment, she saw mention of a cousin, Rabbi Efraim Silverman, who was a community leader in Moscow. Upon her discharge from the hospital, Bubby began the long journey out of Communist Russia by way of Moscow.
There, she went to visit her mother’s brother, Uncle Itzik, whose address she remembered from before the war. She knew he came from a wealthy aristocratic family and was saddened to see what he had been reduced to under Communist rule. His clothing screamed poverty, and his one-room dwelling was furnished with a box of potatoes, a box of carrots and a narrow couch.
Bubby then visited her cousin Rabbi Silverman, and he greeted her warmly. Being that he assisted Polish refugees, he had clothing and food to distribute. He gave Bubby a coat, food, 200 rubles and a package of various items she might need.
That night, while staying with the sister of a woman who had traveled with her, Bubby thought of Uncle Itzik, living all alone, and wished she could find him a wife. The hostess suggested a fine woman who, like Uncle Itzik, still retained her Jewish beliefs.
But when Bubby suggested the shidduch to him, he refused to consider it. “What do you think, that I forgot where I come from, and who my parents were? I can’t meet a girl like this, looking like a beggar!” To Bubby’s disappointment, she did not succeed in convincing him.
Bubby then left for Vilna, where she was finally reunited with her cousin Chanala. Bubby shared her efforts to help Uncle Itzik get married, and together they devised a plan. There was a community leader inBubby wished she could find Uncle Itzik a wife Vilna distributing clothing and shoes that had been sent from America for the refugees. Bubby received permission to take shoes and a suit for Uncle Itzik. Unbelievably, she spent her precious 200 rubles, together with 50 donated by Chanala, to purchase a shirt, underwear, socks and a hat for him.
They mailed the package to Uncle Itzik, and with his new dignified appearance, he contacted the woman who had been suggested to him. They were indeed compatible and married shortly afterwards. Though they never had children, Uncle Itzik later said the years of his marriage were the happiest in his life. The difference between a life of loneliness, and a life of love and connection, is eternally to the credit of Bubby’s selfless caring and generosity.
Fast-forward 70 years.
Bubby recently celebrated the birth of her first great-great-grandchild. She is devotedly cared for by the children and grandchildren she nurtured, and is frequently called and visited by all those who she touched. Though limited in physical ability, she retains her inner serenity, content with her life’s achievements. She also accepts that at the designated time, she will leave for the World of Truth to greet her Maker, and be reunited with the family and friends who were taken at the prime of their lives so many years ago.
Yehudis Pinter is a pen name.
Artwork by Sefira Ross, a freelance designer and illustrator whose original creations grace many Chabad.org pages. Residing in Seattle, Washington, her days are spent between multitasking illustrations and being a mom.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Story
Second Thoughts by Yanki Tauber
G‑d said to Noah: Come, you and your household, into the ark (Genesis 8:21)
The 'wiseguy' nestled in the left chamber of the heart of man - wrote Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok of Lubavitch to a chassid - comes in many guises. At times he may even appear in a silk caftan and shtreiml… Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok goes on to make his point with the following story:
It is known that Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Chernobel was very poor and forever hard-pressed to feed his household. One day a chassid came and brought him a gift of 300 rubles.
Both the Rebbe's family and the head secretary who served the Rebbe and managed his affairs were extremely relieved. Now they would finally enjoy a respite from the heavy debts owed for bread, meat, fish and other pressing household necessities.
After the gift-bearing chassid left the Rebbe's room, the Rebbe continued to receive his chassidim, until he broke for the minchah and maariv prayers. After maariv the Rebbe secluded himself in his room, preoccupied with some personal matter. After a long while, he finally opened his door and requested that a certain chassid - one of those whom he had received earlier - be summoned back. When this chassid had left, the Rebbe he continued to receive his visitors late into the night.
When the last audience-seeker had gone, the Rebbe's head secretary came to request funds for the needed expenditures. Knowing of the 300 rubles received and confident of his ability to now settle at least part of the debts, he had already made a detailed list of how much to give to each creditor.
Rabbi Menachem Nachum opened the drawer in which he would place the money which chassidim would bring him to cover his personal expenses (the maamad funds). (Money brought to him and earmarked for charity - the the pidyon funds - were kept in separate drawer to prevent any possibility of their intermixing.)1 The Rebbe's secretary saw a drawer full of copper coins with a scant smattering of silver coins mixed in. Much to his dismay, no ruble-notes.
The Rebbe told him to take the contents of the maamad drawer. The secretary counted the silver and copper, among which were also discovered three golden coins. They added up to close to 100 rubles.
The secretary just stood there, unable to say a word. He did not wish to bring up the matter of the 300 rubles, but the fact that he would be unable to at least partially settle the Rebbe's debts pained his heart.
The Rebbe noticed his distress and said to him: "Why are you so upset? Thank G‑d that He who provides bread to all flesh has, in His great kindness, has sent us an undeserved gift. From far and wide, many of our brethren - may they live - have labored and toiled to earn and bring us such a sum."
Now the secretary was indeed a man worthy to be the intimate of the Rebbe of Chernobel. Nevertheless, he could no longer contain himself. The heavy debts and the terrible poverty which prevailed in the Rebbe's home so deeply distressed him. As if of their own accord, the words tore themselves from a anguished heart: "But where are the 300 rubles that so-and-so brought? With that, together with what we have here, we would be able to pay off part of what is owed…"
"True," said the Rebbe, "I was brought 300 rubles. At the moment I received them I wondered: why do I deserve such a large amount? Then I was filled with pleasure at the thought that I had found favor in the eyes of the Almighty so that He chose to provide sustenance for myself and for my household in such a generous and honorable manner. But when I thought further, I was greatly distressed: perhaps I am receiving this money in the place of some spiritual gift?2
"Later in the day, one of the chassidim who came to see me poured out his troubled heart: for the past year he has been unable to pay his children's teacher of his children, a very poor but G‑d-fearing man who continues to teach the children in the hope that he will some day be paid. This man already owes eight months' rent for the mill and inn which he leases, and soon the landowner is sure to evict him. And to top it all off, he has arranged a match for his eldest daughter and has nothing with which to marry her off.
"When I heard this, it occurred to me that perhaps the Almighty has granted me the privilege of being an administtrator of charity. Perhaps this large amount was entrusted to me so that I may merit such great mitzvahs as educating a child, saving the livelihood of an entire family and marrying off a Jewish bride. I asked the chassid how much his debts and marriage needs added up to, and I found that it matches the sum exactly - 300 rubles!
"However, as soon as I decided to give the 300 rubles to this chassid, another thought entered my mind: Is it proper to give the entire sum to a single individual? Why, with such an amount, one could support, at the very least, six entire families!
"I entered into a dilemma, since both these options - a) to give the entire to the said chassid, and b) to divide it between several needy families - seemed righteous and correct. I couldn't decide between them, so I locked my door in order to contemplate the matter and reach a decision.
"Upon contemplation, I came to recognize that these two opinions are coming from the two 'judges' within me, the 'Good Inclination' and the 'Evil Inclination'3, and that the argument to divide the sum among several families is definitely not coming from my 'Good Inclination.' For were this indeed my Good Inclination speaking, why didn't he speak up immediately? As soon as I received the money, he should have said: "Nachum, 300 rubles were brought to you. Take the money and divide it into six parts, distribute five parts to needy families and take the sixth for yourself." But no, this voice spoke within me only afterI had decided to give away the entire sum.
"This gave him away. When at first I had assumed that the entire sum was meant for me, he was silent. No wonder: he was perfectly satisfied with my decision. Only after the Almighty had privileged me to realize why I had been given this money did he wake up. Obviously, he did not say "Keep the money!" - oh no, he is far too experienced at his craft for that - he knew that I would recognize the source of such a desire and reject it immediately. So along he comes, this master of cunning, with a utterly pious and logical suggestion - anything to prevent me from acting on the role which Divine Providence so clearly designated for me to play in the delivery of a family from distress.
"So I called back the chassid and gave him the 300 rubles."
Yanki Tauber served as editor of Chabad.org
FOOTNOTES
1.When a chassid asks the Rebbe to pray for him, he encloses a pidyon nefesh('redemption of the soul'), a sum for charity for the Rebbe to distribute at his discretion. Maamad ('support') is a chassid's contribution to the Rebbe's personal and household expenses.
2.See Rashi's commentary on Genesis 15:1, in which he explains Abraham's distress in the wake of his great miletary victory over the Four Kings. In his humility, Abraham feared that he had now deplenished his entire 'account' of merit and that he would now be undeserving of any further gifts from above.
3.In Hebrew, 'Yetzer Tov' and 'Yetzer Hora'.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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VIDEO
Go Out of Your Ark
In the ark, Noah focused entirely on serving his Creator. After the great flood, G-d commanded Noah, “Go out from the Teivah—the ark.” He was commanded to leave this ideal environment and reenter the world.
Watch (8:11)
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Topics: Lubavitcher Rebbe, Noach, Ark, Noah's
Go Out of Your Ark
Disc 15, Program 60
Event Date: 1 Cheshvan 5749 - October 12, 1988
In the ark, Noah focused entirely on serving his Creator. After the great flood, G-d commanded Noah, “Go out from the Teivah—the ark.” He was commanded to leave this ideal environment and reenter the world.
Teivah also means “word.” The Baal Shem Tov expounds G-d’s original command, “Come into the ark,” as a lesson for us to “come into the words” of prayer and Torah. These words create a protective “ark” around us, guarding against the “stormy waters” of the world.
The best time of year to enter this “ark” is the month of Tishrei—the month “filled with festivals.” When Tishrei ends, however, we are commanded, “Go out from your ark.” We reenter daily life with the added inspiration we have absorbed. This new holiness infuses every day of the year with a protective purity, enabling us to attain stronger, higher levels of divine service all year long.
Noach in Depth
A condensation of the weekly Torah portion alongside select commentaries culled from the Midrash, Talmud, Chassidic masters, and the broad corpus of Jewish scholarship.
Parshat Noach In-Depth
Genesis 6:9-11:32
Parshah SummaryNoah—the only righteous man in a corrupted world—is told by G‑d: “The end of all flesh is come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence.” Therefore,
Make yourself an ark of gopher wood, and make rooms in the ark; and caulk it both inside and out with pitch.
This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth fifty cubits and the height thirty cubits. Make a window for the ark, and taper it to a cubit on top, and set the door of the ark in its side; with lower, second and third stories shall you make it.
Behold, I will bring the flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which there is the breath of life from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall die. But with you I will establish My covenant, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
The Flood
In the six-hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that very day all the fountains of the great deep broke open, and the windows of heaven were opened.
The rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. . . . And the waters increased, and raised up the ark, and it was lifted up off the ground. . . . The waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth, and all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered . . .
All flesh that moved upon the earth perished. . . . There remained only Noah and those who were with him in the ark.
Noah waited another 40 days, and then, opening the ark’s window, he sent a raven from the ark to test the conditions in the flooded world outside. The raven proved uncooperative, so a week later Noah sent a dove. The dove returned, finding no rest for her feet, so Noah waited another seven days. This time,
The dove came in to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.
G‑d spoke to Noah, saying: “Go out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. Every living thing that is with you, of all flesh—of fowl, of animals, and of all the creeping things that creep on the earth—bring out with you, and they shall swarm upon the earth, and they shall be fruitful and multiply upon the earth.”
The Vow
Noah built an altar and brought offerings “of every pure beast and of every pure bird” (of which he had been commanded to bring additional members into the ark).
G‑d smelled the sweet savor, and G‑d said in His heart: “I will no longer curse the earth because of man, for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth, and I will no longer smite all living things as I have done.”
For as long as the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
Man and Animal
G‑d then blessed Noah and his sons that they “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth,” and issued a number of instructions regarding the new world they are to build.Man is given dominion over all life forms, and the fear of him is instilled in all animals. He is allowed to kill animals for food (Adam was given license to eat only plants), but is forbidden to eat meat or blood taken from an animal while it is still alive.
Human life is sacred, and murder is punishable by death—if a human court fails to punish the murderer, G‑d Himselfwill seek redress. “From the hand of each man, his brother, I will demand the soul of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man through man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of G‑d He made man.”
The Covenant
G‑d spoke to Noah, and to his sons with him, saying:
“Behold, I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you, and with every living creature that is with you . . . from all that came out of the ark . . . that never shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of the flood; neither shall there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth.”
G‑d said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you and every living creature that is with you . . . I have set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between me and the earth.
“It shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth . . . the rainbow shall be in the cloud. I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between G‑d and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.”
The First Drunk
Noah began to be a man of the earth, and he planted a vineyard.
He drank of the wine, and was drunk, and was uncovered within his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
Shem and Japheth took the garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were backward, and they did not see their father’s shame.
Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. He said: “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” Then he said: “Blessed be the L‑rd, G‑d of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. G‑d shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”
Noah lived after the Flood three hundred and fifty years. All the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.
The Dispersion
The Torah now lists the seventy nations that formed when the descendents of Shem, Ham and Japheth (Noah’s three sons) dispersed across the earth. It then tells the story of how this dispersion came about.At first the descendents of Noah formed a single community, sharing “one language and mutual words.” Migrating westward, they settled in the valley of Shin’ar (Babylon).
They said: “Come, let us build for ourselves a city and a tower whose top shall reach the heavens; and we shall make for ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”
G‑d came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of man had built.
G‑d said: “Behold! [They are] one people, and they all have one language, and this is what they have commenced to do. Now, will there not be withheld from them all that they have planned to do? Come, let us go down and there confound their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”
So G‑d scattered them from there upon the face of the entire earth, and they ceased building the city.
Therefore He named it Babel, for there the L‑rd confused (balal) the language of the entire earth, and from there the L‑rd scattered them upon the face of the entire earth.
Abram’s First Years
Noah’s son, Shem, had a son named Arpachshad. Arpachshad fathered Shelach; Shelach’s son was Eber (one of the sources of the appellation “Hebrew”); Eber fathered Peleg (“division”—it was in the year of Peleg’s death that the division of humanity into nations occurred in wake of the sin of the Tower); Peleg’s son was Reu; Reu’s son was Serug; Serug begot Nachor; and Nachor was the father of Terach.Terach had three sons: Haran (who died in his father’s lifetime), Nachor and Abram. Haran had a son, Lot, and two daughters: Milkah, who became the wife of her uncle Nachor; and Sarai (also called Yiskah), who also wed a younger brother of her father’s, Abraham. Sarai was barren, having no children.
The Parshah of Noach concludes by telling how the entire family set out from their hometown, Ur Casdim, to journey to the land of Canaan. They stopped, however, at Charan, where Terach died at the age of 205.
From Our SagesNoah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations (6:9)
Among our sages, there are those who interpret this as being in praise of Noah: If he was righteous in his generation, then certainly he would have been even more righteous if he would have been in a generation of righteous people. And there are those who interpret this as a condemnation: In relation to his generation he was righteous, but had he been in Abraham’s generation, he wouldn’t have been regarded as anything.
(Rashi)
G‑d said to Noah: “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them” (6:13)
Why was the generation of the Flood utterly destroyed, but not the generation of the Tower? Because the generation of the Flood were consumed by robbery and violence, while amongst the generation of the Tower, love prevailed.
(Midrash Rabbah)
G‑d said to Noah . . . “Make yourself an ark” (6:13–14)
G‑d has many ways to save someone; why did he make Noah toil to build the ark? In order that the people of his generation should see him occupied with the task for 120 years, and they should ask him, “Why are you doing this?” and he would tell them that G‑d is bringing a flood upon the world. Perhaps this would cause them to repent.
(Rashi; Midrash Tanchuma)
When G‑d said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me,” Noah said: “What will You do with me?” But he did not pray for mercy for the world, as Abraham would pray for the city of Sodom. . . . This is why the Flood is called “the waters of Noah” (Isaiah 54:9)—he is culpable for them, because he did not appeal for mercy on the world’s behalf.
(Zohar)
Noah tried to save his generation by calling on them to repent. But the fact that he did not pray for them implies that, ultimately, it did not matter to him what became of them. Had he truly cared, he would not have sufficed with “doing his best,” but would have implored the Almighty to repeal His decree of destruction—just as a person whose own life is in danger would never say, “Well, I did my best to save myself” and leave it at that, but would beseech G‑d to help him.In other words, Noah’s involvement with others was limited to his sense of what he ought to do for them, as opposed to a true concern for their wellbeing. He understood the necessity to act for the sake of another, recognizing that to fail to do so is a defect in one’s own character; but he fell short of transcending the self to care for others beyond the consideration of his own righteousness.
This also explains a curious aspect of Noah’s efforts to reach out to his generation. When the Flood came, Noah and his family entered the ark—alone. His 120-year campaign yielded not a single baal teshuvah(repentant)! Perhaps public relations was never Noah’s strong point, but how are we to explain the fact that in all this time he failed to win over a single individual?
But in order to influence others, one’s motives must be pure; in the words of our sages, “Words that come from the heart enter the heart.” Deep down, a person will always sense whether you truly have his interests at heart, or you are filling a need of your own by seeking to change him. If your work to enlighten your fellow stems from a desire to “do the right thing” but without really caring about the result, your call will be met with scant response. The echo of personal motive, be it the most laudable of personal motives, will be sensed, if only subconsciously, by the object of your efforts, and will ultimately put him off.
(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)
G‑d said to Noah . . . “Come into the ark” (7:1)
The Hebrew word for “ark,” teivah, also means “word.” “Come into the word,” says G‑d; enter within the words of prayer and Torah study. Here you will find a sanctuary of wisdom, meaning and holiness amidst the raging floodwaters of life.
(Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov)
In the six-hundredth year of Noah’s life . . . all the fountains of the great deep broke open, and the windows of heaven were opened (7:11)
[This hints that] in the sixth century of the sixth millennium [from creation—1740–1840 in the secular calendar], the gates of supernal wisdom will be opened, as will the springs of earthly wisdom, preparing the world to be elevated in the seventh millennium.
(Zohar)
MoreThe chronology of events, as indicated by the dates and time periods given in the Torah’s account and calculated by Rashi, is as follows:
Cheshvan 17: Noah enters ark; rains begin.
Kislev 27: Forty days of rain end; 150 days of water’s swelling and churning begin, during which the water reaches a height of 15 cubits above the mountain peaks.
Sivan 1: Water calms, and begins to subside at the rate of one cubit each four days.
Sivan 17: The bottom of the ark, submerged 11 cubits beneath the surface, touches down on the top of Mount Ararat.
Av 1: The mountain peaks break the water’s surface.
Elul 10: Noah open the ark’s window and dispatches the raven.
Elul 17: Noah sends the dove for the first time.
Elul 23: The dove is sent a second time, and returns with an olive branch in its beak.
Tishrei 1: Dove’s third mission. Water completely drained.
Cheshvan 27: Ground fully dried. Noah exits the ark.
Total time in ark: 365 days (one solar year; one year and 11 days on the lunar calendar).
G‑d spoke to Noah, saying: “Go out of the ark . . .” (8:16)
This, too, is a divine command. G‑d commands us to “enter into the ark,” into the sanctums of spirituality we are to create in the material world. But then we must “go out of the ark” to carry forth its sanctity to the ends of the earth.
(The Chassidic Masters)
And Noah built an altar to G‑d (8:20)
The location of the altar [in the Holy Temple] is very exactly defined, and is never to be changed. . . . It is a commonly held tradition that the place where David and Solomon built the altar, on the threshing floor of Aravnah, is the very place where Abraham built an altar and bound Isaac upon it; this is where Noah built [an altar] when he came out from the ark; this is where Cain and Abel brought their offerings; this is where Adam the First Man offered a korban when he was created—and it is from [the earth of] this place that he was created. Thus the sages have said: Man was formed from the place of his atonement.
(Maimonides)
I will demand the life of man . . . for in the image of G‑d made He man (9:5–6)
How were the Ten Commandments given? Five on one tablet and five on a second tablet. This means that “Do not murder” corresponds to “I am the L‑rd your G‑d.” The Torah is telling us that one who sheds blood, it is as if he has reduced the image of the King.
To what is this analogous? To a king of flesh and blood who entered a country and put up portraits of himself, made statues of himself, and minted coins with his image. After a while the people of the country overturned his portraits, broke his statues and invalidated his coins, thereby reducing the image of the king. So too, one who sheds blood reduces the image of the King, as it is written (Genesis 9:6): “One who spills a man’s blood . . . for in the image of G‑d He made man.”
(Mechilta)
Noah began to be a man of the earth, and he planted a vineyard (9:20)
When Noah took to planting, Satan came and stood before him and said to him: “What are you planting?” Said he: “A vineyard.” Said Satan to him: “What is its nature?” Said he: “Its fruits are sweet, whether moist or dry, and one makes from them wine, which brings joy to the heart.” Said Satan to Noah: “Do you desire that we should plant it together, you and I?” Said Noah: “Yes.”
What did Satan do? He brought a lamb and slaughtered it over the vine; then he brought a lion and slaughtered it over it; then he brought a monkey and slaughtered it over it; then he brought a swine and slaughtered it over it; and he watered the vine with their blood. Thus he alluded to Noah: When a person drinks one cup, he is like a lamb, modest and meek. When he drinks two cups, he becomes mighty as a lion and begins to speak with pride, saying: Who compares with me! As soon as he drinks three or four cups he becomes a monkey, dancing and frolicking and profaning his mouth, and not knowing what he does. When he becomes drunk, he becomes a pig, dirtied by mud and wallowing in filth.
(Midrash Tanchuma)
Ham saw the nakedness of their father, and told his two brothers outside. Shem and Japheth took the garment . . . and covered the nakedness of their father, and they did not see their father’s shame (9:22-23)
One of the cornerstones of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov’s teaching is the doctrine of hashgachah peratit, “specific divine providence.” Hashgachah peratit means that nothing is by chance—every event in a person’s life is purposeful, an integral part of his divinely ordained mission in life.
From this principle arises another of the Baal Shem Tov’s famous teachings. “Your fellow is your mirror,” the Besht would say to his disciples. “If your own face is clean, the image you perceive will also be flawless. But should you look upon your fellow man and see a blemish, it is your own imperfection that you are encountering—you are being shown what it is that you must correct within yourself.” Otherwise, to what purpose would G‑d cause you to see your fellow’s degradation?
One may ask: Perhaps I am being shown my fellow’s deficiency not as a message concerning my own state, but so that I may assist him in its correction?
To answer this question, we must first take a closer look at the principle of “particular divine providence.” Particular divine providence means that not only is every event purposeful, but also its every aspect and nuance.
For example, the same event can imply different things to different observers, depending on how much they know about the people involved and the events that led up to it. Divine providence is “particular” in that it shows each observer precisely what is applicable to him. If you witness an event, everything about it, including the particular way in which it has affected you, serves a purpose crucial to your mission in life.
When you are confronted with a fellow’s deficiency, there are two distinct elements in your awareness: (a) the fact of that person’s wrongdoing; (b) his guilt, culpability and decadence. The former does not necessarily imply the latter. You may be aware of the fact that a fellow has done wrong, yet such knowledge can be accompanied with understanding, compassion and vindication.
In order to correct your fellow’s wrongdoing, it is enough to know that the action is wrong. To also sense his guilt and lowliness is completely unnecessary; on the contrary, it only hinders your ability to reach out to him in a loving and tolerant manner. The only possible purpose that it can serve is to impress upon you how despicable that thing—or something similar to it, if only in a most subtle way—is in yourself, and thereby compel you to correct it.
This is what the Torah is telling us when it says, “And they did not see their father’s shame.” Not only did Shem and Japheth not physically see their father’s shameful state—this we already know from the (twice-repeated) fact that “their faces were backward”; they also did not perceive his guilt or disgrace. Unlike Ham, whose own debasement was reflected in his vision of his father, their entire reaction to their knowledge of what had transpired lay in what they must now do to correct it. The shame of their father, however, they simply did not see.
(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)
They said to one another: “. . . Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make ourselves a name” (11:4)
What was their sin? Their motives for building a city with a tower whose top shall reach the heavens seem quite understandable. Mankind was only just reconstructing itself after the flood that had wiped out the entire human race save for Noah and his family. If fledgling humanity was to survive, unity and cooperation were of critical importance. So they set out to build a common city to knit them into a single community. At its heart they planned a tower which would be visible for miles, a landmark to beckon to those who had strayed from the city, and a monument to inspire commitment to their common goal—survival. All they wanted was to “make for ourselves a name”—to ensure the continuity of the human race.
And yet, their project to preserve humanity deteriorated into a rejection of all that humanity stands for, and an open rebellion against their Creator and purpose. Their quest for unity resulted in the breakup of mankind into clans and factions, and the onset of close to four thousand years of misunderstanding, xenophobia and bloodletting across the divisions of race, language and culture. Where did they go wrong?
But precisely that was their error: they saw survival as an end in itself. Let us make a name for ourselves, they said; let us ensure that there will be future generations who will read of us in their history books. But whysurvive? For what purpose should humanity inhabit the earth? What is the content of the name and legacy they are laboring to preserve? Of this they said, thought and did nothing. To them, life itself was an ideal, survival itself a virtue.
This was the beginning of the end. No physical system will long tolerate a vacuum, and this is true of spiritual realities as well: unless a soul or cause is filled with positive content, corruption will ultimately seep in. A hollow name and shrine soon becomes a Tower of Babel.
Never has the lesson of the Tower of Babel been more pertinent to our people than it is today. We, too, are a generation struggling to recoup after a holocaust of destruction that threatened to erase us from the face of the earth. Reconstruction and survival are uppermost in our minds, and together, with G‑d’s help, we are succeeding.
At a time like this, it is extremely important that we not repeat the error of the builders of Babel. Rebuild we must, but the objective must be more than a more enduring name, a greater city, a taller tower. If we are to survive, we must give import to our survival, reiterate the why of our existence. We must fill our name with value, our city with significance, and crown the tower of our resurgence with the higher purpose for which we were created.
(Based on an address by the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 1959)
G‑d descended to see the city and the tower which the sons of man had built (11:5)
Obviously, G‑d did not need to “come down” in order to see their crime; but He wished to teach all future judges not to judge a defendant until they see [the case] and understand [it].
(Rashi)
-------YOUR QUESTIONSWhy Doesn't G-d Flood Away the Yucky People? by Aron Moss
Question:
(from Zac, age 4)
Why doesn't G‑d make a flood to take away all the yucky people, like He did for Noah?
Answer:
Zac, I know you are a very good boy, but have you ever been naughty? Did you ever hurt your little brother, or say something rude to your mommy?
G‑d wants us to be good all the time, but we don't always get it right. Even good boys like you can sometimes do the wrong thing.
It is a pity that we are naughty sometimes, but the most important thing is that we stop being naughty and say sorry. Then it's OK again, and we can start being good and doing what's right.
If a flood would come every time someone did something bad, no one would get the chance to say sorry and change. So G‑d has patience. He is waiting for the yucky people to realize that they are wrong and to start behaving.
In the times of Noah, G‑d warned the people to change their ways 120 years before He brought the flood. The flood only happened because no one changed their bad ways in all that time. They even watched Noah building the ark, and he told them the flood was coming, but they still didn't start behaving themselves. From that story we learn how silly it is to keep on being yucky when we have the ability to change.
G‑d always gives us a chance, because even when we do something bad, He knows how good we can be.
Aron Moss is rabbi of the Nefesh Community in Sydney, Australia, and is a frequent contributor to Chabad.org.
Artwork by Sefira Ross, a freelance designer and illustrator whose original creations grace many Chabad.org pages. Residing in Seattle, Washington, her days are spent between multitasking illustrations and being a mom.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Your Questions
Is the Phoenix a Real Bird? by Yehuda Shurpin
Unlike some other mythical creatures found in fantasy books, there is reference to the phoenix in ancient Jewish sources as far back as the Book of Job. When Job reminisces about his “good old days,” he says, “And I said, ‘I will perish with my nest, and like a chol [ וְכַחוֹל] I will multiply my days.’”1 According to many translations, the word chol refers to the phoenix.
(In fact, there is a fascinating incident in which the Lubavitcher Rebbe used this verse to show the widow of renowned artist Jacques Lipchitz that the phoenix was indeed a Jewish symbol. You can read the full story here.)
The Phoenix and the Tree of Knowledge
The Midrash (cited by Rashi) explains that after Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge, she gave its fruit to all of the animals to eat. Only the chol (phoenix) abstained from eating it. Thus, death was decreed upon all animals except the phoenix, which lives forever and is rejuvenated every thousand years, returning to its youth.2
There are two opinions in the Midrash on how this rejuvenation process works: According to one opinion, the phoenix lives a thousand years, at the end of which a fire issues forth from its nest and burns it up. All that remains is an egg, from which the phoenix grows new limbs and lives again. According to another opinion, the fire issues forth from the phoenix itself.3
The Phoenix: The Most Patient Animal
The Talmud, however, gives another explanation for how the phoenix got its long life. Here is the account, as described by Noah’s son Shem:
Indeed, we endured great distress in the Ark. Any creature which normally ate by day, we fed it in the daytime, and any creature whose habit it was to eat at night, we fed it by nighttime . . . As for the avarshinah [phoenix], Father found it lying in its quarters in the Ark. Father said to it, “Do you not need food?” The creature replied, “I saw that you were preoccupied with feeding all the animals, so I said, ‘I will not trouble you.’” Noah said to the bird, “May it be G‑d’s will that you never die! As the verse states, ‘I will perish with my nest; like a chol I will multiply my days.’”4
Reconciling the Two Accounts
The commentaries offer a number of explanations reconciling the account in the Talmud with the one in the Midrash.
Some explain that for refraining from eating from the forbidden fruit, the phoenix was blessed that it would be rejuvenated every thousand years. However, the process still involved dying and being reborn from the egg, so Noah blessed it that it wouldn’t need to die at all.5
Others explain that the phoenix’s long life was not a result of Noah’s blessing. The account in the Talmud was just an explanation of why the phoenix was so blessed—by by virtue of its patience, it merited many blessings, including the one for eternal life.6
Alternatively, for refraining from eating from the forbidden fruit, the phoenix was blessed that it would not die of natural causes, and every thousand years it would return to its youthful state. However, it could still be killed by unnatural causes, such as an arrow. Noah’s blessing was that it should not get killed.7
There are, of course, different ways of understanding Midrashic accounts (for more on that, see our series Is Midrash for Real?), so I can’t give you a more concrete answer to your question about how “real” the phoenix is.
The Phoenix and the Jewish People
Real or not, the phoenix provides a beautiful metaphor for the Jewish people. Just as the phoenix is eternal, so too is the Jewish nation. Just as the phoenix experiences highs and lows in its lifetime, so too are there moments of greatness and moments of tragedy in Jewish history. But from the darkest of ashes, the Jewish nation is always reborn—with more youthful vigor than ever before.
Rabbi Yehuda Shurpin responds to questions for Chabad.org's Ask the Rabbi service.
Artwork by Sefira Ross, a freelance designer and illustrator whose original creations grace many Chabad.org pages. Residing in Seattle, Washington, her days are spent between multitasking illustrations and being a mom.
FOOTNOTES
1.Job 29:18.
2.Midrash, Bereishit Rabbah 18:5; Rashi on Job 29:18.
3.Midrash, ibid.
4.Job 29:18.
5.Torat Chaim on Sanhedrin 108b.
6.Maharal, Chiddushei Aggadot, Sanhedrin 108b.
7.Yafeh Toar on Midrash, Bereishit Rabbah 18:5.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Women
Does Tylenol Alter Your Mind (and Heart)? by Chana Weisberg
Dear Readers,
You’ve experienced a difficult and overloaded day. The tension is mounting, and your head is pounding. Before your headache becomes utterly unbearable, you swallow two Tylenols. To your great relief, within several minutes the pain has subsided, and you can continue working.
You think you are now functioning as your normal self. But think again.
A new study by researchers at Ohio State University found that while acetaminophen—the main medical ingredient used in Tylenol and many other pain relievers—dulls your own pain, it also dulls your empathy to the trials and tribulations of others.
In this study, participants from two groups were tested; one group was given a placebo pill, and the other was given acetaminophen. After the medicine took effect, the groups were each asked to read sad stories of individuals experiencing challenges and hurt. Each group was then asked to rate the pain of the characters. Those who had taken acetaminophen minimized the pain, while the placebo group had greater empathy for them.
Empathy is our ability to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and feel their emotional landscape from their own perspective. Apparently, the part of the brain that’s activated when you’re feeling pain is the same part activated when you’re imagining someone else feeling the same pain. And if your pain center is dulled, so, too, is your empathy to another’s agony.
Reading this study made me wonder if the converse is also true. Can experiencing a painful situation actually increase our compassion? While empathy comes more naturally to some than to others, if you have experienced a particular challenge or trauma, can you use your experience to become more sensitized to the depth of another person’s pain?
I have met people who have suffered terrible challenges in their lives: debilitating sicknesses, financial crisis and appalling emotional trauma. Some of these individuals have used their pain and suffering to transform themselves into greater people, overflowing with empathy. The depth of their pain seems to reflect the depth of their ability to feel the hurt of another—and to take action, to proactively do something to help.
While none of us ever wants to experience serious suffering in our lives, perhaps we can view our challenges as opportunities to grow into greater more empathetic individuals.
And while the researchers in Ohio never intended to prove that, perhaps this can have even greater ramifications on how we function as human beings.
Wishing you a week full of empathy—and devoid of headaches!
Chana Weisberg,
Editor, TJW
Chana Weisberg is the editor of TheJewishWoman.org. She lectures internationally on issues relating to women, relationships, meaning, self-esteem and the Jewish soul. She is the author of five popular books.
Artwork by Sefira Ross, a freelance designer and illustrator whose original creations grace many Chabad.org pages. Residing in Seattle, Washington, her days are spent between multitasking illustrations and being a mom.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Women
‘Negative’ Emotions? 4 Tips on How to Accept Them by Alyssa Rachel Gross
Anger. Disappointment. Frustration. Tension. We’ve all been there and back again. Our culture has labeled these emotions as negative. Especially in the Jewish community, there’s a great deal of emphasis on growing in our positive traits. While admirable, we’ve subsequently also created a rift within ourselves by labeling some attributes as positive and others as negative.
While it’s commendable to work on developing our positive quality traits, it’s also important to our self-worth to recognize that we are whole and worthy beings with all sorts of emotions.
G‑d created us with emotions such as jealousy, anxiety and impatience. How do we resolve these emotions within our internal lives? How do we maintain a positive self-image?
Here are four ways to embrace all of yourself and your emotions:
1. Identify the Emotion
Identify the particular emotion you’re feeling at any given moment. Be aware of your current emotional state. Don’t let it go under the radar; otherwise, it will control you without your knowledge or consent.
For instance, are you irritable because you’re lacking sleep, overextended or hungry? Identify the situation, thoughts or feelings that might be blocking you from being your best.
2. Acceptance
Accept that you feel this way. Are you agitated because of a traffic jam? Frustrated with your spouse? Jealous because of someone else’s recent success?
Experience your emotions fully. Otherwise, it’s like a flat-lining heartbeat: You can’t shut off one emotional valve without clogging another. You know that you’re alive when the rhythm of emotions flows.
Can you accept with patience and compassion that these emotions are part of being human? Would you denigrate a friend for having a moment of frustration? Often, we treat others with much more kindness than ourselves. Try talking to yourself like you would a dear friend—with understanding, love and acceptance.
3. Humility
It takes a great deal of humility to appreciate our humanity and the beauty of having all these varied emotions and experiences. As much as we enjoy feeling happiness or joy, life would become stale if we knew of nothing else. How many days could you have an ice-cream sundae before you would no longer even want to look at the sight of ice-cream?
And how about the reverse? We may consciously or unconsciously say to ourselves, “I’m not good enough or I’m not worthy because I have these ‘negative’ feelings.” That’s simply not true. We are a container for the multitude of emotions that G‑d created in this world.
We are human and have a vast scope of emotions, none of which are truly “negative.” Similar to King David, we all have within us a multitude of emotions like those expressed in Psalms. The ultimate goal is to connect to the Creator by reacting to them in the right way. Remember that G‑d implants everything in us for the positive to utilize, to grow and to elevate.
4. Channel Emotional Energy Into Light
Allow your emotions to vibrate and pass through you. The issue becomes when we try to reject pieces of our self, and the concomitant negative self-regard and stagnation that arises. Don’t allow yourself to savor misery, but don’t deny it if you’re having a miserable moment. Who are you lying to anyway?
In Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3, it says: “Everything has an appointed season, and there is a time for every matter under the heaven. . . . A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time of wailing and a time of dancing.” Further, “He has made everything beautiful in its time . . . ”
We overestimate the value of having a happy life rather than one of meaning, which is far greater. A life of meaning brings deep contentment and joy, as opposed to the ephemeral nature of pleasures that bring transitory happiness.
For instance, if you were recently under the weather, you might visit the sick with a greater sense of empathy due to your experience. Or you might channel your anger to champion a cause close to your heart.
Our emotions are invaluable teachers; we are meant to embrace them, to remain fluid and open. Once the emotion becomes like a clogged artery, we can’t pretend that the emotional lump isn’t there. Instead, we go in, open it up, express it and let the flow of blood return to its natural state.
Ideally, every emotion will cultivate a greater sense of love for yourself and others. We can allow every emotion to connect us more deeply with our self, with others and with G‑d.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Alyssa is a thirsty soul looking to connect to spirituality and the larger Jewish community. She invites you to come along.
Artwork by Sefira Ross, a freelance designer and illustrator whose original creations grace many Chabad.org pages. Residing in Seattle, Washington, her days are spent between multitasking illustrations and being a mom.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Women
Getting to Know My Baby’s Feeding Patterns by Aliza Neveloff
Recently, I gave birth to our second daughter after five years of prayers. Thankfully, things were different this time around; the pregnancy was normal and the birth was a dream come true (VBAC). But nursing brought me to the same place I was five years ago. Again, my baby had a low birthweight (just above 6 pounds), whichAs with every conflict, I searched for a resolution made me anxious about whether she was getting enough nutrition. Both daughters were also jaundiced, for which the doctors and nurses recommended giving formula. So I supplemented with formula after I breastfed but felt conflicted inside.
As with every conflict, I searched for a resolution. I researched breastfeeding and milk production. I rested. I ate healthy meals and snacks. I took fenugreek pills morning and night. But what helped me the most was reading this one line in Ellyn Satter’s book Child of Mine: “If your baby wants to eat after half an hour, feed him. You will be able to make milk because most of the milk is made when your baby asks for it.”1 After reading this, all the doubt and fear about my milk production suddenly disappeared. I stopped trying to schedule my baby’s feedings every two hours. I stopped comparing myself to my friend’s baby and started to get to know mine. When she fussed, I would try to calm her by nursing her. When she fussed again, I would check what else might be bothering her, and if she still wasn’t happy, I would nurse her again.
Some days, I feel like I am nursing her all the time, and doubt and fear creep into the back of my mind: “Maybe I don’t have enough milk?” But then I tell myself this must be a “hungry day,” and I know this is the way my body will start to produce more milk to suit her growing needs.
It takes determination to be successful at breastfeeding. It takes letting go of control and following your baby’s lead. You have to take care of yourself, and don’t be afraid to ask others for help. Don’t compare yourself to other women. The frequency of feeding times while nursing is highly individual and dependent on the mother and baby.2
Nursing a baby also takes a strong will and prayer, as we learn from Channah’s supplications to G‑d that we read in the haftorah on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. The verse says: “And Channah spoke upon her heart,”3 referring to her chest. The Talmud4 explains that Channah prayed to G‑d, “Master of the world, everything YouIt takes determination to be successful created in a woman has a purpose—eyes to see, nose to smell, mouth to speak, hands to make things, legs to walk and breasts to nurse . . . give me a son so I can nurse.”5 Why was her prayer heard by G‑d? Because she convinced G‑d with her claim, and her words gave G‑d great joy.6
Whether we are nursing or formula-feeding our babies, we should pray that we are nourishing our children to be healthy and to grow to their full potential.
Aliza has a bachelor’s degree in Clinical Nutrition from the University of California, Davis, and a master’s degree in Public Health from Ben Gurion University. She recently finished a course in nutrition education and counseling through the Ellyn Satter Institute. She lives in the northern Negev of Israel with her family.
Artwork by Sefira Ross, a freelance designer and illustrator whose original creations grace many Chabad.org pages. Residing in Seattle, Washington, her days are spent between multitasking illustrations and being a mom.
FOOTNOTES
1.Ellyn Satter, Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense (United States: Bull Publishing Company, 2000), 150.
2.Satter, Child of Mine, 164.
3.Samuel I, 1:13.
4.Tractate Berachot 31b.
5.Rav Shalom Arush, Women’s Wisdom: The Garden of Peace for Women (Israel: Chut Shel Chesed Institutions, 2010), p. 323.
6.Rebbi Nachman, Likutei Mohoran, Torah 124.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Story
The Russians and the Nazis Couldn't Crush Her Spirit by Yehudis Pinter
The following story is true, as heard directly from my beloved, young-at-heart grandmother. All names have been changed.
Winter 1945. The Death March. For those who weren’t there, no words can truly describe it, and for those who were there, no words are needed. At the end of the war, when the Germans were losing on all fronts, they refused to give up on their goal of destroying the Jewish people. They forcedFor those who were there, no words are needed inmates out of concentration camps and made them walk hundreds of miles in the bitter cold without sufficient clothing or food, towards areas farther away from the invading armies.
Bubby was there with her two cousins, Chanala and Gittel. They had been suffering under German occupation for 5 years already. They saw their parents killed, and lived a life of fear and hunger, constantly fleeing from one location to another in a desperate search for a safe haven, until they were deported on the infamous cattle-cars. Miraculously, they had survived 11 months in a concentration camp, drawing strength from caring for and connecting with each other. By this time, they were hanging on to life by a thread. Bubby had typhus, and was suffering terribly from the agonies of her illness, combined with hunger, weakness and the freezing temperatures. Gittel was the weakest of the three, and so Bubby and Chanala exerted themselves to support her as she trudged along, step after step, mile after endless mile. Anyone who stopped to rest was shot.
After a while, Gittel collapsed, and there was nothing more they could do for her. With the strength that had carried them thus far, Bubby and Chanala plowed forward. Soon, Bubby felt she could not push herself anymore and told Chanala, “I am going to sit down and rest. I just can’t do this.”
Chanala was in a dilemma. She wanted to save her dear cousin’s life, but she simply didn’t have the strength to carry her. Suddenly, she had an idea: “If you stop, I will stop, too.” Bubby, who had retained her faith and commitment to her Creator through unspeakable suffering, thought to herself, “If this is the end for me, then so be it. But I can’t be the cause of Chanala’s death. I’ll walk a few more steps. If I do collapse, it will be against my will. And if that happens, Chanala probably won’t stop; if she does, I won’t be the cause.” So Bubby pushed herself one more step, one more step, one more; miraculously, they both made it until they were liberated.
Challenges and hardship continued for the broken survivors. The American liberators placed the sick in a hospital in Bialystok to begin the long healing process. Shortly afterwards, the Russians took control of the city. Disregarding the feelings and well-being of individuals, they decided to send those who were still sick to Gorky (currently Nizhny Novgorod), a city 600 miles east of Moscow. Bubby cried and begged to stay with her beloved cousin Chanala, to no avail.
So Bubby was put on a train to Gorky, all alone (yet never truly alone); accompanied and safeguarded by her Father in Heaven, with Whom she was connected by an unbreakable bond of devotion and trust.
In Gorky, Bubby was cared for by a kind Jewish nurse, who bolstered her spirits with encouraging words. A Jewish man brought her a newspaper to read, and to her astonishment, she saw mention of a cousin, Rabbi Efraim Silverman, who was a community leader in Moscow. Upon her discharge from the hospital, Bubby began the long journey out of Communist Russia by way of Moscow.
There, she went to visit her mother’s brother, Uncle Itzik, whose address she remembered from before the war. She knew he came from a wealthy aristocratic family and was saddened to see what he had been reduced to under Communist rule. His clothing screamed poverty, and his one-room dwelling was furnished with a box of potatoes, a box of carrots and a narrow couch.
Bubby then visited her cousin Rabbi Silverman, and he greeted her warmly. Being that he assisted Polish refugees, he had clothing and food to distribute. He gave Bubby a coat, food, 200 rubles and a package of various items she might need.
That night, while staying with the sister of a woman who had traveled with her, Bubby thought of Uncle Itzik, living all alone, and wished she could find him a wife. The hostess suggested a fine woman who, like Uncle Itzik, still retained her Jewish beliefs.
But when Bubby suggested the shidduch to him, he refused to consider it. “What do you think, that I forgot where I come from, and who my parents were? I can’t meet a girl like this, looking like a beggar!” To Bubby’s disappointment, she did not succeed in convincing him.
Bubby then left for Vilna, where she was finally reunited with her cousin Chanala. Bubby shared her efforts to help Uncle Itzik get married, and together they devised a plan. There was a community leader inBubby wished she could find Uncle Itzik a wife Vilna distributing clothing and shoes that had been sent from America for the refugees. Bubby received permission to take shoes and a suit for Uncle Itzik. Unbelievably, she spent her precious 200 rubles, together with 50 donated by Chanala, to purchase a shirt, underwear, socks and a hat for him.
They mailed the package to Uncle Itzik, and with his new dignified appearance, he contacted the woman who had been suggested to him. They were indeed compatible and married shortly afterwards. Though they never had children, Uncle Itzik later said the years of his marriage were the happiest in his life. The difference between a life of loneliness, and a life of love and connection, is eternally to the credit of Bubby’s selfless caring and generosity.
Fast-forward 70 years.
Bubby recently celebrated the birth of her first great-great-grandchild. She is devotedly cared for by the children and grandchildren she nurtured, and is frequently called and visited by all those who she touched. Though limited in physical ability, she retains her inner serenity, content with her life’s achievements. She also accepts that at the designated time, she will leave for the World of Truth to greet her Maker, and be reunited with the family and friends who were taken at the prime of their lives so many years ago.
Yehudis Pinter is a pen name.
Artwork by Sefira Ross, a freelance designer and illustrator whose original creations grace many Chabad.org pages. Residing in Seattle, Washington, her days are spent between multitasking illustrations and being a mom.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Story
Second Thoughts by Yanki Tauber
G‑d said to Noah: Come, you and your household, into the ark (Genesis 8:21)
The 'wiseguy' nestled in the left chamber of the heart of man - wrote Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok of Lubavitch to a chassid - comes in many guises. At times he may even appear in a silk caftan and shtreiml… Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok goes on to make his point with the following story:
It is known that Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Chernobel was very poor and forever hard-pressed to feed his household. One day a chassid came and brought him a gift of 300 rubles.
Both the Rebbe's family and the head secretary who served the Rebbe and managed his affairs were extremely relieved. Now they would finally enjoy a respite from the heavy debts owed for bread, meat, fish and other pressing household necessities.
After the gift-bearing chassid left the Rebbe's room, the Rebbe continued to receive his chassidim, until he broke for the minchah and maariv prayers. After maariv the Rebbe secluded himself in his room, preoccupied with some personal matter. After a long while, he finally opened his door and requested that a certain chassid - one of those whom he had received earlier - be summoned back. When this chassid had left, the Rebbe he continued to receive his visitors late into the night.
When the last audience-seeker had gone, the Rebbe's head secretary came to request funds for the needed expenditures. Knowing of the 300 rubles received and confident of his ability to now settle at least part of the debts, he had already made a detailed list of how much to give to each creditor.
Rabbi Menachem Nachum opened the drawer in which he would place the money which chassidim would bring him to cover his personal expenses (the maamad funds). (Money brought to him and earmarked for charity - the the pidyon funds - were kept in separate drawer to prevent any possibility of their intermixing.)1 The Rebbe's secretary saw a drawer full of copper coins with a scant smattering of silver coins mixed in. Much to his dismay, no ruble-notes.
The Rebbe told him to take the contents of the maamad drawer. The secretary counted the silver and copper, among which were also discovered three golden coins. They added up to close to 100 rubles.
The secretary just stood there, unable to say a word. He did not wish to bring up the matter of the 300 rubles, but the fact that he would be unable to at least partially settle the Rebbe's debts pained his heart.
The Rebbe noticed his distress and said to him: "Why are you so upset? Thank G‑d that He who provides bread to all flesh has, in His great kindness, has sent us an undeserved gift. From far and wide, many of our brethren - may they live - have labored and toiled to earn and bring us such a sum."
Now the secretary was indeed a man worthy to be the intimate of the Rebbe of Chernobel. Nevertheless, he could no longer contain himself. The heavy debts and the terrible poverty which prevailed in the Rebbe's home so deeply distressed him. As if of their own accord, the words tore themselves from a anguished heart: "But where are the 300 rubles that so-and-so brought? With that, together with what we have here, we would be able to pay off part of what is owed…"
"True," said the Rebbe, "I was brought 300 rubles. At the moment I received them I wondered: why do I deserve such a large amount? Then I was filled with pleasure at the thought that I had found favor in the eyes of the Almighty so that He chose to provide sustenance for myself and for my household in such a generous and honorable manner. But when I thought further, I was greatly distressed: perhaps I am receiving this money in the place of some spiritual gift?2
"Later in the day, one of the chassidim who came to see me poured out his troubled heart: for the past year he has been unable to pay his children's teacher of his children, a very poor but G‑d-fearing man who continues to teach the children in the hope that he will some day be paid. This man already owes eight months' rent for the mill and inn which he leases, and soon the landowner is sure to evict him. And to top it all off, he has arranged a match for his eldest daughter and has nothing with which to marry her off.
"When I heard this, it occurred to me that perhaps the Almighty has granted me the privilege of being an administtrator of charity. Perhaps this large amount was entrusted to me so that I may merit such great mitzvahs as educating a child, saving the livelihood of an entire family and marrying off a Jewish bride. I asked the chassid how much his debts and marriage needs added up to, and I found that it matches the sum exactly - 300 rubles!
"However, as soon as I decided to give the 300 rubles to this chassid, another thought entered my mind: Is it proper to give the entire sum to a single individual? Why, with such an amount, one could support, at the very least, six entire families!
"I entered into a dilemma, since both these options - a) to give the entire to the said chassid, and b) to divide it between several needy families - seemed righteous and correct. I couldn't decide between them, so I locked my door in order to contemplate the matter and reach a decision.
"Upon contemplation, I came to recognize that these two opinions are coming from the two 'judges' within me, the 'Good Inclination' and the 'Evil Inclination'3, and that the argument to divide the sum among several families is definitely not coming from my 'Good Inclination.' For were this indeed my Good Inclination speaking, why didn't he speak up immediately? As soon as I received the money, he should have said: "Nachum, 300 rubles were brought to you. Take the money and divide it into six parts, distribute five parts to needy families and take the sixth for yourself." But no, this voice spoke within me only afterI had decided to give away the entire sum.
"This gave him away. When at first I had assumed that the entire sum was meant for me, he was silent. No wonder: he was perfectly satisfied with my decision. Only after the Almighty had privileged me to realize why I had been given this money did he wake up. Obviously, he did not say "Keep the money!" - oh no, he is far too experienced at his craft for that - he knew that I would recognize the source of such a desire and reject it immediately. So along he comes, this master of cunning, with a utterly pious and logical suggestion - anything to prevent me from acting on the role which Divine Providence so clearly designated for me to play in the delivery of a family from distress.
"So I called back the chassid and gave him the 300 rubles."
Yanki Tauber served as editor of Chabad.org
FOOTNOTES
1.When a chassid asks the Rebbe to pray for him, he encloses a pidyon nefesh('redemption of the soul'), a sum for charity for the Rebbe to distribute at his discretion. Maamad ('support') is a chassid's contribution to the Rebbe's personal and household expenses.
2.See Rashi's commentary on Genesis 15:1, in which he explains Abraham's distress in the wake of his great miletary victory over the Four Kings. In his humility, Abraham feared that he had now deplenished his entire 'account' of merit and that he would now be undeserving of any further gifts from above.
3.In Hebrew, 'Yetzer Tov' and 'Yetzer Hora'.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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VIDEO
Go Out of Your Ark
In the ark, Noah focused entirely on serving his Creator. After the great flood, G-d commanded Noah, “Go out from the Teivah—the ark.” He was commanded to leave this ideal environment and reenter the world.
Watch (8:11)Please Become A Member
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Topics: Lubavitcher Rebbe, Noach, Ark, Noah's
Go Out of Your Ark
Disc 15, Program 60
Event Date: 1 Cheshvan 5749 - October 12, 1988
In the ark, Noah focused entirely on serving his Creator. After the great flood, G-d commanded Noah, “Go out from the Teivah—the ark.” He was commanded to leave this ideal environment and reenter the world.
Teivah also means “word.” The Baal Shem Tov expounds G-d’s original command, “Come into the ark,” as a lesson for us to “come into the words” of prayer and Torah. These words create a protective “ark” around us, guarding against the “stormy waters” of the world.
The best time of year to enter this “ark” is the month of Tishrei—the month “filled with festivals.” When Tishrei ends, however, we are commanded, “Go out from your ark.” We reenter daily life with the added inspiration we have absorbed. This new holiness infuses every day of the year with a protective purity, enabling us to attain stronger, higher levels of divine service all year long.
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How Many Colors in a Rainbow
Ever wonder what a rainbow really is? Here's what the rainbow teaches us about making our world a better, more colorful place. by Chana Weisberg
Watch (1:50)
How Many Colors in a Rainbow
Ever wonder what a rainbow really is? Here's what the rainbow teaches us about making our world a better, more colorful place. by Chana Weisberg
Watch (1:50)
http://www.chabad.org/3425496
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LIFESTYLEPeanut Chicken Salad by Miriam Szokovski
Ingredients:
2 cups shredded napa cabbage
2 cups shredded purple cabbage
2-3 carrots, shredded
2 scallions, sliced
1 mango, diced
1 cup cooked rice noodles
1-2 cups shredded or diced chicken
1-2 red chili peppers, finely sliced (optional)
Cilantro, to taste
Salted roasted peanuts or cashews, whole or chopped
Directions:
Mix all the salad ingredients together, add dressing, mix, and top with peanuts.
Dressing Ingredients
3 tbsp. peanut butter
4 tbsp. vinegar
1.5 tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 tbsp. water
5 tbsp. sugar (6 tbsp. if you're using natural, unsweetened peanut butter)
Dressing Directions
Put the peanut butter in a small saucepan and turn the heat on very low. The peanut butter will start to soften. Stir it a little to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.
Slowly add in the vinegar, soy sauce and water, one tablespoon at a time. Mix in one direction. Add the garlic powder, red pepper flakes and sugar.
Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Turn off the fire.
Miriam Szokovski is the author of the historical novel Exiled Down Under, and a member of the Chabad.org editorial team. She shares her love of cooking, baking and food photography on Chabad.org’s food blog, Cook It Kosher.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Lifestyle
Art: The Covenant by Naomi Young
Naomi Young was born and raised in Jerusalem, Israel. She is a graduate of Interior Design in Los Angeles. Jerusalem is a favorite topic for the multi faceted artist. Naomi paints in acrylics, oil and water. She is a mosaic artist, sculptor and published poet as well. She lives in Los Angeles.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Jewish News
Jewish Life Gets a Jump in the Deep South City of Mobile by Reuvena Leah Grodnitzky
Children in Mobile, Ala., are looking forward to Chanukah again this year. Above, a performance at the Southern city's first public menorah-lighting, organized two years ago by Rabbi Yosef and Bina Goldwasser, co-directors of the Chabad House there.
Though Jews have lived in the port city of Mobile since before the Civil War, it was only two years ago that the third most populous city in Alabama was added to the map of Chabad-Lubavitch outposts worldwide. And just last month, right before the start of the High Holidays, the community celebrated the grand opening of the Olender Chabad House, co-directed by Rabbi Yosef and Bina Goldwasser.
Located in America’s Deep South on the north central Gulf Coast, Mobile boasts a Jewish population of 1,200 Jews, many of whom descended from immigrants who arrived in the port city directly from Europe.
“The Mobile Jewish community as a whole is very proud of their Judaism,” says Bina Goldwasser, 29, who is originally from Florida. “The Deep South, as part of the ‘Bible Belt,’ has a very strong religious association, so it’s amazing how the Jews have been able to maintain their Jewish identity when they can at times be isolated as the only Jew in a classroom or other settings.”
Still, there is much that local Jews don’t have access to because of their distance from larger Jewish communities. That’s why the Goldwassers moved from Brooklyn, N.Y., to Mobile in the summer of 2014 to fill in any needs that the Jewish community may have been experiencing.
Hosting large-scale Jewish-holiday celebrations, teaching educational classes, distributing holiday items such as menorahs and matzah, and shipping in kosher food from New Orleans weekly—a two-hour car ride away—have been the Goldwassers’ first efforts to ensure that every Jew in Mobile has access to Jewish amenities.
The rabbi at the event; to his left is an American Sgn Language interpreter. To his right is Mayor Sandy Stimpson, who lit the shamash (“helper candle”) on the 9-foot menorah.
“Aside from that, we put much effort into making our programs and classes exciting and applicable to the community—so a holiday is not just about traditions, but incorporates entertainment for the whole family,” says Rabbi Goldwasser, 31, who grew up in Pittsburgh, where his parents have served as Chabad emissaries for nearly 40 years. “And a class is not just stories or laws, but also includes the Torah’s outlook on current hot topics. This keeps Jews excited about Judaism, and shows how it is a real and relevant part of our everyday lives.”
Like other parts of the Southern United States, Jewish families see few Jewish symbols with the approach of winter and Chanukah time. That’s why the Goldwassers’ first major program upon arrival was a large-scale menorah-lighting in Bienville Square, a historic public park in the center of downtown Mobile, where Mayor Sandy Stimpson lit the shamash (“helper candle”) on the giant menorah. Serving his own first term, Stimpson made a little history that night along with the Goldwassers in the first-ever public lighting there.
“Jews here often feel strongly that they are a minority,” explains the rabbi. “Our menorah-lighting was a highlight in that respect because people didn’t have to celebrate Chanukah alone; they could see a 9-foot menorah right in town.”
Destination for Business and Travel
The Ketchum Fountain in the center of Bienville Square, where the menorah-lightings have been held since 2014. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
As Mobile becomes more of a draw for businesses—an Airbus factory opened last September, the company’s first manufacturing facility in the United States and now one of the largest employment centers in Alabama—and tourists, Chabad is filling Jewish needs for kosher food, Shabbat accommodations and more. A number of Israelis who work in the area have also now found a taste of home that they crave being so far away.
“The rabbi is the best in the world—such a good person,” declares Desta Eagna, an Israeli employed in Mobile. “He has helped us with all of the holidays, and I enjoy eating a meal with him. He has a beautiful way of bringing people together.”
Mobile is located a little more than an hour from the resort city of Gulf Shores—in southernmost Alabama on the Gulf of Mexico—where the Goldwassers visit to connect with Jewish residents and tourists. It’s been labeled as the “new South Florida” because of its beaches, water sports, leisure activities and natural beauty.
The rabbi also visits local nursing homes to blow the shofar, read Megillah and provide other Jewish services to people living there. He does the same for Jews in area prisons.
“Chabad has been a lovely place to spend Shabbat over the two years that I have been in the region for work,” says Adam Taxin, who travels from his home in Philadelphia often for his work in social media and broadcasting. “It was so special to be a part of the first-ever minyan reading the Ten Commandments for Shavuot and their impressive Chanukah menorah-lighting in the center of Mobile.
“It’s amazing to see how Chabad is sprouting along the Gulf coast,” he adds. “There used to be nothing between New Orleans and Tallahassee, but now that’s not the case. Now I can travel without having to stay alone in my hotel room for the duration of Shabbat.”
Women work on art a “paint night” activity prior to Shavuot.
‘Help People Learn’
Upon arrival in Mobile, the Goldwassers, who have two young children, had been operating out of their home and renting various locations—art galleries, office spaces, hotel conference rooms—for big events. This summer, however, they signed a lease for office space that has a large room for programs, classes, meals and more.
A grand opening was held on Sept. 21, before the High Holidays. Among a crowd of friends and guests—Bina Goldwasser remarks on the innate Southern Hospitality, how friendly residents there are, Jews and non-Jews alike—the new space was dedicated.
“We want to be there for every Jew, regardless of their standing, knowledge or affiliation, for whatever they may need,” says the rabbi. “We want to help people learn and do more Jewish things than they did before.”
Checking out shofars prior to Rosh Hashanah at a Shofar Factory Workshop. The rabbi gets a little help from a little participant.
Rabbi Yosef and Bina Goldwasser
The new space has a room for programs, classes, meals and more.
Local residents and guests gather at the grand opening on Sept. 21.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Jewish News
Rabbi Shimon Goldman, 91, Communal Leader Survived World War II in Shanghai by Menachem Posner
While a young boy, before the age of bar mitzvah, Shimon studied in the Novardok yeshivahs in the towns of Levertov and Stashov. As was customary in those days, he would eat his meals with a different family every day of the week. As for sleeping quarters, he and his fellow students were housed in an unused shack in the old Stashov cemetery.
After his bar mitzvah, he enrolled in the Warsaw yeshivah of the famed Piasetzno Rebbe, who was known by his work, the Aish Kodesh (“Holy Fire”). Shortly thereafter, he transferred to the Lubavitcher yeshivahs in Warsaw and then Kalishin.
When war broke out in September 1939, Goldman returned home to Shedlitz. After enduring bombings—and the sight of friends and family members shamed by the Nazis—he snuck to the Russian-occupied part of Poland and then into Lithuania, where he resumed his studies at the Vilnius Chabad yeshivah.
Throughout this period, he and his fellows were in constant contact with the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe—Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory—who was then in Riga, Latvia. The Rebbe urged them to encourage their friends in Poland to leave while it was still possible.
Goldman married Esther Gordon, whose father was a prominent Chabad Chassid.
Reminiscing, second from left, with distant relatives in Israel
Fled to Safety in Asia
Through the heroic assistance of Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese consul to Lithuania, Goldman and his fellow students left for Japan via the Russian heartland. In Moscow, under the watchful eye of the KGB, they gave the Russian Chassidim messages of hope from the Rebbe, in addition to religious articles, including their own tefillin.
Upon realizing that they would not be able to leave Japan for America, the group boarded a ship to Shanghai, China, which was then home to thousands of Jewish refugees.
After the war, following five years of relative isolation, Goldman and his peers began to hear of the devastation that the Nazis had brought upon Polish Jewry. He discovered that not a single member of his immediate family was left alive.
A Teacher and Leader
Upon finally immigrating to New York, he joined the local Chabad yeshivah and was ultimately dispatched by the Rebbe to Buffalo, N.Y., to teach at the Chabad-run day school there. During that period, he was introduced to Esther Gordon, whose father was a prominent Chabad Chassid.
After their marriage in 1949, the couple settled in Philadelphia and then in Brooklyn, N.Y., raising four children. Bereft of his family who had been killed in Poland in 1942, he showered attention on children, including his own and his nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The Goldmans receive a dollar bill from the Lubavitcher Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory. (Photo: JEM/The Living Archive)
A butcher by profession, Goldman was involved in many communal efforts. Taking over from his father-in-law, he ran a free loan society that functioned for decades. He was also an active member of the board of Beth Rivkah schools, the flagship Chabad girl’s school in Brooklyn.
In the 1980s, he was appointed to the board of Agudas Chassidei Chabad, the worldwide umbrella organization of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
He and his wife, who passed away in 2013, were legendary for the open home they maintained, housing and feeding countless visitors. They also took great pride in seeing their children and grandchildren fan out to serve as Chabad emissaries in South Africa, Uruguay, France, Canada, Montana, Florida, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.
Goldman is survived by his children: Rabbi Yossy Goldman, Kraindy Klein and Shmuly Goldman; and dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by daughter Chanchy (Chana Leah) Brook.
The funeral will take place on Tuesday morning, leaving Shomrei Hadas in the Boro Park section of Brooklyn at 10:45 a.m. and passing by 770 Eastern Parkway at 11:45 a.m.
At the annual melavah malkah for the free loan society that Goldman oversaw.
Goldman, left, showered attention on children, including his many nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Jewish News
Wrigley Field Rabbi Gives Cubs Fans Something Else to Cheer About by Dovid Margolin
Rabbi Dovid Kotlarsky, left, has been stationing himself around Wrigley Field with mitzvahs in tow.
This time, they say, it’s different.
After winning their first pennant in 71 years, the Chicago Cubs are set to play their first World Series game at Wrigley Field since 1945. The baseball team, which hasn’t won a championship since 1908, split the first two games played against the Indians in Cleveland earlier this week.
Now, as the city of Chicago and fans of the national pastime turn their eyes back to the iconic corner of Addison and Clark in Wrigleyville, they’ll notice what has become a regular sight around the North Side home of the Cubs: A rabbi in a “Team Chabad” baseball jersey offering Jews of all stripes the ability to do a mitzvah.
For the second straight season, Rabbi Dovid Kotlarsky—co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of East Lakeview, which encompasses Wrigleyville—has been stationing himself around Wrigley Field with tefillin, encouraging Jewish baseball fans to wrap the traditional leather prayer straps. During Sukkot, the rabbi brought a sukkah mobile to the area as well, shaking lulav and etrog with Jews of all ages.
The number on the rabbi’s jersey? 18, of course, the numerical value of chai, or “life.”
Kotlarsky is regularly joined in his effort by his father-in-law, Rabbi Baruch Hertz, who founded Chabad of Lakeview in 2003 and pioneered Chabad activities at Wrigley Field at the same time. The two are often joined by volunteer rabbinical students.
On Friday morning, Kotlarsky and an enlarged team will be out in full force once again, engaging fans who flock to Wrigley.
On Friday morning, Kotlarsky and an enlarged team will be out in force once again, engaging the assemblage of fans who will flock to the Wrigley area. They’ll be there Sunday, too,
“We get recognized all the time, and people’s reactions are great,” says Kotlarsky, whose sukkah mobile was profiled on Chicago’s WGN-TV News and in other media outlets. “People are upbeat, so there’s just this sense of happiness in the city.”
“When people are excited in this way, it leads to positivity,” says Hertz, who on some years even built a large permanent sukkah near the stadium. “I’ve seen this season after season. When the fans are feeling good, happy, they’ll do a mitzvah, and that’s a great thing. Right now, there is huge excitement in Chicago; nothing else even comes close.”
During Sukkot, the rabbi brought a sukkah mobile to the area, shaking lulav and etrog with Jews of all ages.
‘Never Give Up’
Hertz also has another Cubby connection that is of historical interest. Since 1993, he has served as rabbi of the historic Congregation Bnei Ruven in West Rogers Park (for years, on Shabbat he would walk the 5.1 miles between his Chabad center in Lakeview and Bnei Ruven). Bnei Ruven was initially founded in 1895 by Lubavitch immigrants from Russia, who built their synagogue on Chicago’s West Side, not too far away from the Cubs’ old stadium, the West Side Grounds, the place where they last won the World Series in 1908.
The last Cubs championship game to be played in Chicago was on Oct. 12, 1908, or 17 Tishrei 5669, the first intermediate day of Sukkot, The Cubs lost that game, and it’s possible that Bnei Ruven’s congregants heard the groans coming from the ball park while sitting in their sukkahs. The Cubs would end up winning the next two games, and the series, in Detroit.
But a long time has passed since that Chicago Sukkot of 5669, and Cubs fans feel that their moment is coming once again. Hertz believes that there’s a classic Jewish lesson to be learned by everyone.
“Try again and again, never give up,” says the rabbi. “If you try, you’ll eventually get there.”
Rabbi Dovid Kotlarsky, right, has been stationing himself around Wrigley Field with tefillin, encouraging Jewish baseball fans to wrap the traditional leather prayer straps.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Chabad.org Magazine - Editor: Yanki Tauber
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LIFESTYLEPeanut Chicken Salad by Miriam Szokovski
2 cups shredded napa cabbage
2 cups shredded purple cabbage
2-3 carrots, shredded
2 scallions, sliced
1 mango, diced
1 cup cooked rice noodles
1-2 cups shredded or diced chicken
1-2 red chili peppers, finely sliced (optional)
Cilantro, to taste
Salted roasted peanuts or cashews, whole or chopped
Directions:
Mix all the salad ingredients together, add dressing, mix, and top with peanuts.
Dressing Ingredients
3 tbsp. peanut butter
4 tbsp. vinegar
1.5 tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 tbsp. water
5 tbsp. sugar (6 tbsp. if you're using natural, unsweetened peanut butter)
Dressing Directions
Put the peanut butter in a small saucepan and turn the heat on very low. The peanut butter will start to soften. Stir it a little to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.
Slowly add in the vinegar, soy sauce and water, one tablespoon at a time. Mix in one direction. Add the garlic powder, red pepper flakes and sugar.
Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Turn off the fire.
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Lifestyle
Art: The Covenant by Naomi Young
Naomi Young was born and raised in Jerusalem, Israel. She is a graduate of Interior Design in Los Angeles. Jerusalem is a favorite topic for the multi faceted artist. Naomi paints in acrylics, oil and water. She is a mosaic artist, sculptor and published poet as well. She lives in Los Angeles.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
-------
Jewish News
Jewish Life Gets a Jump in the Deep South City of Mobile by Reuvena Leah Grodnitzky
Children in Mobile, Ala., are looking forward to Chanukah again this year. Above, a performance at the Southern city's first public menorah-lighting, organized two years ago by Rabbi Yosef and Bina Goldwasser, co-directors of the Chabad House there.
Though Jews have lived in the port city of Mobile since before the Civil War, it was only two years ago that the third most populous city in Alabama was added to the map of Chabad-Lubavitch outposts worldwide. And just last month, right before the start of the High Holidays, the community celebrated the grand opening of the Olender Chabad House, co-directed by Rabbi Yosef and Bina Goldwasser.
Located in America’s Deep South on the north central Gulf Coast, Mobile boasts a Jewish population of 1,200 Jews, many of whom descended from immigrants who arrived in the port city directly from Europe.
“The Mobile Jewish community as a whole is very proud of their Judaism,” says Bina Goldwasser, 29, who is originally from Florida. “The Deep South, as part of the ‘Bible Belt,’ has a very strong religious association, so it’s amazing how the Jews have been able to maintain their Jewish identity when they can at times be isolated as the only Jew in a classroom or other settings.”
Still, there is much that local Jews don’t have access to because of their distance from larger Jewish communities. That’s why the Goldwassers moved from Brooklyn, N.Y., to Mobile in the summer of 2014 to fill in any needs that the Jewish community may have been experiencing.
Hosting large-scale Jewish-holiday celebrations, teaching educational classes, distributing holiday items such as menorahs and matzah, and shipping in kosher food from New Orleans weekly—a two-hour car ride away—have been the Goldwassers’ first efforts to ensure that every Jew in Mobile has access to Jewish amenities.
The rabbi at the event; to his left is an American Sgn Language interpreter. To his right is Mayor Sandy Stimpson, who lit the shamash (“helper candle”) on the 9-foot menorah.
“Aside from that, we put much effort into making our programs and classes exciting and applicable to the community—so a holiday is not just about traditions, but incorporates entertainment for the whole family,” says Rabbi Goldwasser, 31, who grew up in Pittsburgh, where his parents have served as Chabad emissaries for nearly 40 years. “And a class is not just stories or laws, but also includes the Torah’s outlook on current hot topics. This keeps Jews excited about Judaism, and shows how it is a real and relevant part of our everyday lives.”
Like other parts of the Southern United States, Jewish families see few Jewish symbols with the approach of winter and Chanukah time. That’s why the Goldwassers’ first major program upon arrival was a large-scale menorah-lighting in Bienville Square, a historic public park in the center of downtown Mobile, where Mayor Sandy Stimpson lit the shamash (“helper candle”) on the giant menorah. Serving his own first term, Stimpson made a little history that night along with the Goldwassers in the first-ever public lighting there.
“Jews here often feel strongly that they are a minority,” explains the rabbi. “Our menorah-lighting was a highlight in that respect because people didn’t have to celebrate Chanukah alone; they could see a 9-foot menorah right in town.”
Destination for Business and Travel
As Mobile becomes more of a draw for businesses—an Airbus factory opened last September, the company’s first manufacturing facility in the United States and now one of the largest employment centers in Alabama—and tourists, Chabad is filling Jewish needs for kosher food, Shabbat accommodations and more. A number of Israelis who work in the area have also now found a taste of home that they crave being so far away.
“The rabbi is the best in the world—such a good person,” declares Desta Eagna, an Israeli employed in Mobile. “He has helped us with all of the holidays, and I enjoy eating a meal with him. He has a beautiful way of bringing people together.”
Mobile is located a little more than an hour from the resort city of Gulf Shores—in southernmost Alabama on the Gulf of Mexico—where the Goldwassers visit to connect with Jewish residents and tourists. It’s been labeled as the “new South Florida” because of its beaches, water sports, leisure activities and natural beauty.
The rabbi also visits local nursing homes to blow the shofar, read Megillah and provide other Jewish services to people living there. He does the same for Jews in area prisons.
“Chabad has been a lovely place to spend Shabbat over the two years that I have been in the region for work,” says Adam Taxin, who travels from his home in Philadelphia often for his work in social media and broadcasting. “It was so special to be a part of the first-ever minyan reading the Ten Commandments for Shavuot and their impressive Chanukah menorah-lighting in the center of Mobile.
“It’s amazing to see how Chabad is sprouting along the Gulf coast,” he adds. “There used to be nothing between New Orleans and Tallahassee, but now that’s not the case. Now I can travel without having to stay alone in my hotel room for the duration of Shabbat.”
Women work on art a “paint night” activity prior to Shavuot.
‘Help People Learn’
Upon arrival in Mobile, the Goldwassers, who have two young children, had been operating out of their home and renting various locations—art galleries, office spaces, hotel conference rooms—for big events. This summer, however, they signed a lease for office space that has a large room for programs, classes, meals and more.
A grand opening was held on Sept. 21, before the High Holidays. Among a crowd of friends and guests—Bina Goldwasser remarks on the innate Southern Hospitality, how friendly residents there are, Jews and non-Jews alike—the new space was dedicated.
“We want to be there for every Jew, regardless of their standing, knowledge or affiliation, for whatever they may need,” says the rabbi. “We want to help people learn and do more Jewish things than they did before.”
Checking out shofars prior to Rosh Hashanah at a Shofar Factory Workshop. The rabbi gets a little help from a little participant.
Rabbi Yosef and Bina Goldwasser
The new space has a room for programs, classes, meals and more.
Local residents and guests gather at the grand opening on Sept. 21.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
-------
Jewish News
Rabbi Shimon Goldman, 91, Communal Leader Survived World War II in Shanghai by Menachem Posner
Rabbi Shimon Goldman
Rabbi Shimon Goldman, who survived the Holocaust living in China and Japan, and who built a large Chabad family in the United States where he had a leadership role in many communal projects, passed away early Monday morning. He was 91 years old.
Born on Jan. 1, 1925, in the Polish shtetl of Shedlitz (Siedlce), Shimon Goldman was the fourth of six children of Shmuel Zanvil and Menucha Kreindel Goldman. A Gerrer Chassid who eked out a living through odd jobs, Shmuel Zanvil would often study Torah for many hours deep into the night in an effort to stave off the hunger pangs that were the family’s constant companions.While a young boy, before the age of bar mitzvah, Shimon studied in the Novardok yeshivahs in the towns of Levertov and Stashov. As was customary in those days, he would eat his meals with a different family every day of the week. As for sleeping quarters, he and his fellow students were housed in an unused shack in the old Stashov cemetery.
After his bar mitzvah, he enrolled in the Warsaw yeshivah of the famed Piasetzno Rebbe, who was known by his work, the Aish Kodesh (“Holy Fire”). Shortly thereafter, he transferred to the Lubavitcher yeshivahs in Warsaw and then Kalishin.
When war broke out in September 1939, Goldman returned home to Shedlitz. After enduring bombings—and the sight of friends and family members shamed by the Nazis—he snuck to the Russian-occupied part of Poland and then into Lithuania, where he resumed his studies at the Vilnius Chabad yeshivah.
Throughout this period, he and his fellows were in constant contact with the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe—Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory—who was then in Riga, Latvia. The Rebbe urged them to encourage their friends in Poland to leave while it was still possible.
Goldman married Esther Gordon, whose father was a prominent Chabad Chassid.
Reminiscing, second from left, with distant relatives in Israel
Fled to Safety in Asia
Through the heroic assistance of Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese consul to Lithuania, Goldman and his fellow students left for Japan via the Russian heartland. In Moscow, under the watchful eye of the KGB, they gave the Russian Chassidim messages of hope from the Rebbe, in addition to religious articles, including their own tefillin.
The rabbi, left, at his grandson’s wedding
They then crossed Siberia to Vladivostok, sailing the Sea of Japan to Kobe, Japan, where they immediately resumed their rigorous regimens of prayer and study, despite the unusual surroundings.Upon realizing that they would not be able to leave Japan for America, the group boarded a ship to Shanghai, China, which was then home to thousands of Jewish refugees.
After the war, following five years of relative isolation, Goldman and his peers began to hear of the devastation that the Nazis had brought upon Polish Jewry. He discovered that not a single member of his immediate family was left alive.
A Teacher and Leader
Upon finally immigrating to New York, he joined the local Chabad yeshivah and was ultimately dispatched by the Rebbe to Buffalo, N.Y., to teach at the Chabad-run day school there. During that period, he was introduced to Esther Gordon, whose father was a prominent Chabad Chassid.
After their marriage in 1949, the couple settled in Philadelphia and then in Brooklyn, N.Y., raising four children. Bereft of his family who had been killed in Poland in 1942, he showered attention on children, including his own and his nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The Goldmans receive a dollar bill from the Lubavitcher Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory. (Photo: JEM/The Living Archive)
A butcher by profession, Goldman was involved in many communal efforts. Taking over from his father-in-law, he ran a free loan society that functioned for decades. He was also an active member of the board of Beth Rivkah schools, the flagship Chabad girl’s school in Brooklyn.
In the 1980s, he was appointed to the board of Agudas Chassidei Chabad, the worldwide umbrella organization of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
The cover of the rabbi’s 2004 book
In 2004, he penned From Shedlitz to Safety: A Young Jew’s Story of Survival, in which he chronicled his memories of prewar Poland, the trevails of his escape and the new life he created in America.He and his wife, who passed away in 2013, were legendary for the open home they maintained, housing and feeding countless visitors. They also took great pride in seeing their children and grandchildren fan out to serve as Chabad emissaries in South Africa, Uruguay, France, Canada, Montana, Florida, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.
Goldman is survived by his children: Rabbi Yossy Goldman, Kraindy Klein and Shmuly Goldman; and dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by daughter Chanchy (Chana Leah) Brook.
The funeral will take place on Tuesday morning, leaving Shomrei Hadas in the Boro Park section of Brooklyn at 10:45 a.m. and passing by 770 Eastern Parkway at 11:45 a.m.
At the annual melavah malkah for the free loan society that Goldman oversaw.
Goldman, left, showered attention on children, including his many nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Jewish News
Wrigley Field Rabbi Gives Cubs Fans Something Else to Cheer About by Dovid Margolin
Rabbi Dovid Kotlarsky, left, has been stationing himself around Wrigley Field with mitzvahs in tow.
This time, they say, it’s different.
After winning their first pennant in 71 years, the Chicago Cubs are set to play their first World Series game at Wrigley Field since 1945. The baseball team, which hasn’t won a championship since 1908, split the first two games played against the Indians in Cleveland earlier this week.
Now, as the city of Chicago and fans of the national pastime turn their eyes back to the iconic corner of Addison and Clark in Wrigleyville, they’ll notice what has become a regular sight around the North Side home of the Cubs: A rabbi in a “Team Chabad” baseball jersey offering Jews of all stripes the ability to do a mitzvah.
For the second straight season, Rabbi Dovid Kotlarsky—co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of East Lakeview, which encompasses Wrigleyville—has been stationing himself around Wrigley Field with tefillin, encouraging Jewish baseball fans to wrap the traditional leather prayer straps. During Sukkot, the rabbi brought a sukkah mobile to the area as well, shaking lulav and etrog with Jews of all ages.
The number on the rabbi’s jersey? 18, of course, the numerical value of chai, or “life.”
Kotlarsky is regularly joined in his effort by his father-in-law, Rabbi Baruch Hertz, who founded Chabad of Lakeview in 2003 and pioneered Chabad activities at Wrigley Field at the same time. The two are often joined by volunteer rabbinical students.
On Friday morning, Kotlarsky and an enlarged team will be out in force once again, engaging the assemblage of fans who will flock to the Wrigley area. They’ll be there Sunday, too,
“We get recognized all the time, and people’s reactions are great,” says Kotlarsky, whose sukkah mobile was profiled on Chicago’s WGN-TV News and in other media outlets. “People are upbeat, so there’s just this sense of happiness in the city.”
“When people are excited in this way, it leads to positivity,” says Hertz, who on some years even built a large permanent sukkah near the stadium. “I’ve seen this season after season. When the fans are feeling good, happy, they’ll do a mitzvah, and that’s a great thing. Right now, there is huge excitement in Chicago; nothing else even comes close.”
During Sukkot, the rabbi brought a sukkah mobile to the area, shaking lulav and etrog with Jews of all ages.
‘Never Give Up’
Hertz also has another Cubby connection that is of historical interest. Since 1993, he has served as rabbi of the historic Congregation Bnei Ruven in West Rogers Park (for years, on Shabbat he would walk the 5.1 miles between his Chabad center in Lakeview and Bnei Ruven). Bnei Ruven was initially founded in 1895 by Lubavitch immigrants from Russia, who built their synagogue on Chicago’s West Side, not too far away from the Cubs’ old stadium, the West Side Grounds, the place where they last won the World Series in 1908.
The last Cubs championship game to be played in Chicago was on Oct. 12, 1908, or 17 Tishrei 5669, the first intermediate day of Sukkot, The Cubs lost that game, and it’s possible that Bnei Ruven’s congregants heard the groans coming from the ball park while sitting in their sukkahs. The Cubs would end up winning the next two games, and the series, in Detroit.
But a long time has passed since that Chicago Sukkot of 5669, and Cubs fans feel that their moment is coming once again. Hertz believes that there’s a classic Jewish lesson to be learned by everyone.
“Try again and again, never give up,” says the rabbi. “If you try, you’ll eventually get there.”
Rabbi Dovid Kotlarsky, right, has been stationing himself around Wrigley Field with tefillin, encouraging Jewish baseball fans to wrap the traditional leather prayer straps.© Copyright 2016, all rights reserved.
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Chabad.org Magazine - Editor: Yanki Tauber
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