We are pleased to present our twenty-fifth online class in the “Torah in Ten” series, presented by the editor-in-chief of Kol Menachem, Rabbi Chaim Miller.
The Rebbe says:
1. In this week’s Torah portion Hashem (G-d) tells Yakov Avinu (Jacob our Forefather) that his name would no longer be called “Yakov” (Jacob), it would now be called “Yisroel” (Israel).
2. As the preface to a question, the Rebbe now quotes the Talmud which discusses this verse:
The Talmud tells us that whoever calls our Forefather Avraham “Avram” (which was his original name), transgresses on the verse, “And your name shall no longer be called ‘Avram’; it shall henceforth be called ‘Avraham’ ”.
The Talmud then goes on to ask, “Why does this rule not also apply to Yakov Avinu? Why is it that we can still call Yakov Avinu “Yakov” even after Hashem told him, “No longer will your name be Yakov, but Yisroel will be your name”?
“Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of creative alternatives for responding to conflict… (Dorothy Thompson).”Having become increasingly committed to Torah Judaism, a woman once lamented in bemusement: “Rabbi, will my moral conflicts ever end? I had hoped, in embracing Judaism, to no longer struggle with issues of moral substance.” After all, is that not what Judaism is about? Yet, it had not turned out that way in the least,” she proceeded in exasperation, “To the contrary; my struggles have become considerably amplified.”
“In this very real world, good doesn't drive out evil. Evil doesn't drive out good. But the energetic displaces the passive (William Bernbach).”
“Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of creative alternatives for responding to conflict… (Dorothy Thompson).”
“In this very real world, good doesn’t drive out evil. Evil doesn’t drive out good. But the energetic displaces the passive (William Bernbach).”
Having become increasingly committed to Torah Judaism, a woman once lamented in bemusement: “Rabbi, will my moral conflicts ever end? I had hoped, in embracing Judaism, to no longer struggle with issues of moral substance.” After all, is that not what Judaism is about? Yet, it had not turned out that way in the least,” she proceeded in exasperation, “To the contrary; my struggles have become considerably amplified.”
In this weeks Parasha – Vayishlach we dicuss the benefits of a Bechor [the first born].
We are pleased to present our twenty fourth online class in the “Torah in Ten” series, presented by the editor-in-chief of Kol Menachem, Rabbi Chaim Miller.
In light of the recent tragedies the Avner Institute would like to present a moving letter that a young mother whose husband perished during the Yom Kippur war asking: How can she explain this tragedy to her children? What words of comfort can she give them? And the Rebbe’s response.
Courtesy of Rabbi Sholom Dovber Levin, chief librarian of Agudas Chasidei Chabad of Brooklyn.
Leaving his office building at lunchtime; a young businessman would pass the stand of a little old Jewish lady who sold pretzels on a street corner for 25 cents each. He would always leave her a quarter but never take a pretzel. The two of them never spoke.
One day, after 3 years of this routine, the young man passed the old lady's stand and left his usual quarter; the pretzel lady spoke to him for the first time.
“Sir, you are a good customer and I appreciate your business, but I have to tell you that the price of pretzels has gone up to 50 cents!!!”
Leaving his office building at lunchtime; a young businessman would pass the stand of a little old Jewish lady who sold pretzels on a street corner for 25 cents each. He would always leave her a quarter but never take a pretzel. The two of them never spoke.
One day, after 3 years of this routine, the young man passed the old lady’s stand and left his usual quarter; the pretzel lady spoke to him for the first time.
“Sir, you are a good customer and I appreciate your business, but I have to tell you that the price of pretzels has gone up to 50 cents!!!”
The Rebbe says:
1. This week’s Torah portion begins by saying, “And Yakov (Jacob) left Be’er Sheva and went to Charan”.
To be sure, this verse is actually repeating something we already knew from the end of last week’s Torah portion.
2. The Rebbe points out that the Torah must be teaching us something by telling us this twice:
In the Torah everything is exact. In fact, our Sages learn out many Halachas (laws) from one extra letter in the Torah. Therefore, if the Torah repeats this story twice, it must be teaching us something that we can implement into our daily life. Let us find out what the Torah is teaching us:
The duties that a soldier performs are not for his own interests, but rather are intended to benefit the entire army as well as the people it is charged to protect.
For this reason, the soldier must comply with every order, without thought as to whether it is essential or not, for only the commander-in-chief understands the importance of all the details of the military strategy, and only he determines what is important and what is trivial.
We are pleased to present our twenty-third online class in the “Torah in Ten” series, presented by the editor-in-chief of Kol Menachem, Rabbi Chaim Miller.
On Rosh Chodesh it is customary that we add a number of Tefilos, one of them is we add Yaaleh Veyavo during Shmoneh Esreh. What if one forgot to say it or is unsure if he did?
In the area of outreach the Rebbe displayed remarkable acuity mixed with compassion. He understood that not all Jews were alike, and that special cases involving coed learning or contact with those far removed from the faith required discretion.
The late Bobover Rebbe is said to have been sitting on an airplane in the late 1950s, next to the famous playwright Arthur Miller.
Upon observing the care and reverence with which the Bobover Rebbe was escorted through the airport and settled into his seat by his young protégés – how they kept checking on his well-being and doting over him – Miller turned to the Rebbe and asked: “Rabbi, how come when I, a pillar of secular knowledge, lecture at a university I am treated casually, and even with disrespect by the students, while you, a teacher of an archaic tradition, are treated with utmost reverence, almost as a beloved surrogate parent, by your followers?”
The Rebbe, purportedly, smiled and replied: “It is very simple, you, a secular scholar, teach your students that they are descendants of monkeys, so when they look at you, they see someone who is one generation closer to their primitive ape past, no wonder why they treat you that way.
I, on the other hand, teach my students that they are descendants of the awesome generation who stood at Sinai and witnessed the greatest Divine revelation in history, so they consider me one generation closer to that transformational face to face encounter with the Divine, is it a wonder that they respect me?”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The late Bobover Rebbe is said to have been sitting on an airplane in the late 1950s, next to the famous playwright Arthur Miller.
Upon observing the care and reverence with which the Bobover Rebbe was escorted through the airport and settled into his seat by his young protégés – how they kept checking on his well-being and doting over him – Miller turned to the Rebbe and asked: “Rabbi, how come when I, a pillar of secular knowledge, lecture at a university I am treated casually, and even with disrespect by the students, while you, a teacher of an archaic tradition, are treated with utmost reverence, almost as a beloved surrogate parent, by your followers?”
The Rebbe, purportedly, smiled and replied: “It is very simple, you, a secular scholar, teach your students that they are descendants of monkeys, so when they look at you, they see someone who is one generation closer to their primitive ape past, no wonder why they treat you that way.
I, on the other hand, teach my students that they are descendants of the awesome generation who stood at Sinai and witnessed the greatest Divine revelation in history, so they consider me one generation closer to that transformational face to face encounter with the Divine, is it a wonder that they respect me?”
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
With many Shluchim traveling to New York for the Kinus the issue of “V’ten Tal U’mater” arises for those coming from or going to Eretz Yisroel.
We are pleased to present our twenty-second online class in the “Torah in Ten” series, presented by the editor-in-chief of Kol Menachem, Rabbi Chaim Miller.
“she said, “I will also draw for your camels”
It was a busy morning, about 8:30 an elderly gentleman in his 80's arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him.
I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On exam, it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.
While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife.
It was a busy morning, about 8:30 an elderly gentleman in his 80’s arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him.
I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On exam, it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.
While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor’s appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife.
