The Weekly Sedra – Shemini

This week’s section is called “Eighth” referring to the eighth and final day of the preparations for the opening of the Tabernacle in the desert.

In the writings of Kabbalah and Chassidut the number ‘eight’ signifies ‘above nature’. When we consider that this implies being above even the spiritual worlds this section must have some very high lessons.

And sure enough we find near the end:

“I am G-d your L-rd; Make yourselves Holy and you will be Holy because I am Holy…” (11:45)

Holy doesn’t mean just spiritual. Spiritual is part of the creation. Gentiles can be spiritual; all the religions of the world are spiritual. Holy means ‘part’ of the Creator… and only Jews can be Holy.

Torah Online – Pesach

This week millions of Jews throughout the world will be sitting with family and guests around brightly lit, festive tables eating Matzo and bitter herbs, drinking four cups of wine and reminding each other about the miracles G-d did for the Jews.

They will be celebrating the holiday of Passover for the 3,314th time in history.

That’s right; millions of Jews every year since the exodus have never missed a year of Pesach Seder.

And probably the most basic commandment of the Seder is the talking about leaving Egypt. Besides carrying the spirit of the night it is the foundation of all Judaism (first of the Ten Commandments) and is mandatory not only on Pesach but on every day of the year. The Rabbis even wrote a book called the Haggada containing all the necessary praises and ideas of the night to facilitate this vital commandment.

D’var Torah – Pesach – A Wise Meditation

The Wise Son

On the first night of Passover we are introduced to the four sons of the Haggadah.(1) Drawing on various verses from the Torah, the Haggadah teaches us that there are four types of students: the wise, the wicked, the foolish and the one who knows not how to ask.

The wise one, what does he say? “What are the edicts, testimonials and commandments that our lord has instructed?” You shall inform him of the laws of the Passover. We must not eat dessert after the Paschal lamb.

At first appearance, this dialog seems straightforward. The wise son is curious about the Torah’s laws and we respond by teaching him. Since it is the eve of Passover, we begin by teaching laws that pertain to the Paschal lamb.

Further reflection, however, yields a number of questions. If he is indeed ignorant of the Torah’s laws and traditions, why is he worthy of the appellation of “wise son”?

Yud Alef Nissan: Soul Powers

Yud-Alef Nissan is the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s birthday. A birthday is more than a day for songs and celebrations. Instead, a birthday is a day when mazalo gover, the spiritual source of a person’s soul shines with power. When we say “the spiritual source of a person’s soul,” we mean something more than our conscious thought powers. We have our thoughts and our feelings. And then we possess an inner spiritual core from which those thoughts and feelings spring forth. This spiritual core is the mazal that shines powerfully on a person’s birthday.

Since a person’s mazal shines powerfully on that day, he should use its influence to focus on his individual mission and align all the particular elements of his life with it. As the Previous Rebbe taught, on a birthday a person should spend time in solitude, thinking over the purpose of his life, correcting those matters that need to be amended, and making resolutions with regard to his conduct in the future.

The Weekly Sedra – Tzav

This week’s section continues the laws of the animal sacrifices adding, among other things, the details of the Korbon Toda – the Thanksgiving Offering.

This special offering was not brought anytime but rather only on the four occasions enumerated in Psalm 107: after getting out of prison, crossing a sea, crossing a desert or recovering from a serious disease.

This is very appropriate to the holiday of Passover (which we celebrate this coming week) when we give thanks to HaShem for exactly these four miracles. He took us out of Egyptian imprisonment, across the ‘Red’ sea, through the desert and to the revelation at Mount Sinai where all diseases were cured.

The Weekly Sedra – Vayikra

This week’s section begins the third book of the Torah and is the follow-up to the book of Exodus.

Perhaps the most dominant sentence in Exodus is G-d’s message to Pharaoh: “Release My people and they will serve Me” and the book of Vayikra explains exactly what that service is: The sacrifices in the Temple.

And so it is today. Although we temporarily have no Temple, we are waiting impatiently for Moshiach to build the third and final one (Rambam, Laws of Kings 11;1) so the sacrifices can again resume with even more strength than before, as we say in the Musaf Prayers “Then we will do (make the sacrifices) before You, G-d, as you truly desire.”

The Weekly Sedra – Vayak’hel-Pekudei

In this week’s double portion the Torah relates how the vessels and priestly garments of the Tabernacle were actually made by the Jewish people and it is basically a repetition of what we read just two weeks ago in Parshat Trumah-Tetzaveh when G-d told Moses what He wanted made.

At first glance this is not understood.

Why did the Torah have to repeat an entire section when it could have said the whole thing in one sentence: “And the Jews did what G-d said and made all these vessels and garments”?

The Weekly Sedra – Ki Tisa

This week’s section, which contains the story of the sin of the Golden Calf (Egel shel Zahav), coincides with the holiday of Purim.

One obvious similarity between them is that both began with Jews transgressing (in Purim; attending the feast of the king and bowing to Haman) and another is that in both G-d forgave the Jews due to the leader of their generation; first through Moses and then through Mordechi.

Why did they need these leaders?

Why couldn’t they just have repented on their own?

The Weekly Sedra – Tetzaveh

This Shabbat the Torah portion deals with the garments worn by the Kohanim (priests) in the Holy Temple and this coming week will be Purim, the holiday celebrating the salvation of the Jews from their enemies some 2,400 years ago.

At first glance it’s not hard to see the deeper meaning and connection between them; the Torah portion deals with holy garments and on Purim it is customary to wear funny ones (Aruch Chiam 696:8).

But this itself is not understood. Why did the priests dress so uniquely in the Temple and why the costumes on Purim?

To understand, here is a Purim story.

The Weekly Sedra – Terumah

This week’s section tells us about the Tabernacle that the Jews built in the desert after receiving the Torah.

The purpose of this Tabernacle was to enable the Jews to serve G-d properly and completely.

For instance, we see that the specifications of this Tabernacle were very detailed. And we are taught that it was the center of not just the Jewish religion but of the entire world: the Creator’s connection to His creation.

Demonstrating that G-d’s plan for man is exact, available and achievable.

The Baal Shem Tov taught that every detail of the Tabernacle is important on a personal basis as well. That is what our section hints at when it writes: “Make me a Temple and I will dwell in THEM (rather than in IT)” (25:8) namely in each and every one of us.

Joy and Happiness

When’s a good time to be happy? Anytime! But especially now, as we approach the Jewish month of Adar, concerning which our Sages state: “When Adar starts, we increase our simcha – joy.”

As such, let’s take a look at some of the words of our Sages and Chasidic teachings about the importance of joy and happiness in our lives.

King David in Psalms advises us, “Serve G-d with joy, come before Him with jubilation.”

The power of joy is unlimited, for, as stated in the Talmud, “Joy breaks all boundaries.”

The Weekly Sedra – Mishpatim

This week’s section begins with G-d telling Moses ‘These are the laws (Mishpatim) you should put before them (Lifnayhem)’.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that ‘Mishpatim’ are the type of Torah laws that make practical sense (like the damage cases mentioned in our section). They aren’t like the Torah laws called ‘Aydut’ that make only religious sense (like Tefillin or Mezuza) or ‘Chukim’ which are totally illogical (like not cooking meat and milk together). And the word ‘Lifnayhem’ also means ‘inside of them’

So G-d is telling Moses here (and the leaders of every generation after him) to put these logical Mishpatim/laws ‘inside’ of each Jew.

What does this mean? And why specifically these laws, why not the Aydut or Chukim? And why only the leaders of each generation?

1988: Passing of the Rebbetzin

From The Living Torah, The Rebbetiz’s Funeral

On Wednesday, February 10, 1988 (Shevat 22, 1988) the Rebbe’s wife of 59 years, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson, passed away after a brief illness.

She had felt ill the night before and was brought to the hospital, where she requested a glass of water. After reciting the blessing “Blessed are You, G-d… by whose word all things come into being”, she returned her soul to her Maker.

An erudite and wise woman, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka carried the mantle of her exalted position in a most humble and unpretentious fashion. Though she was the wife of a leader revered by hundreds of thousands, almost nothing was known about her until after her passing, when those who knew her felt that they could tell of her life and personality without violating her jealously guarded privacy.

The Weekly Sedra – Yitro

This week we read about the giving of the Torah. Besides being the basis of the Jewish faith it is an event unequaled in history.

In fact no one ever so much as dared to invent such a story….not even the religions that claim to ‘replace’ Judaism.

G-d, the creator of all spiritual and physical being, actually appeared and spoke to millions of Jews and defined for the first and only time in history what He wants from the world.

The Other Side of the Tapestry

S. Paul, Minnesota, February, 1979

I sat in the hall waiting for the program to start. I felt alone in a room filled with hundreds of people. I had missed my ride to the country. Instead, I was here, in this hall full of chassidic Jews–a stranger in a strange land…

A World that Was

I grew up like any other middle-class American. I went to college, dated, had fun with my friends. Although I happened to be Jewish–and was proud of it–my Judaism didn’t play a big role in my life.

My mother grew up in Chicago in an observant home. Her father, my beloved grandfather, passed away in 1973. When I was little he held me on his lap and told me stories of his own childhood–stories that seemed like fairy tales to me.

The Weekly Sedra – Bo

This week’s section tells of the last three plagues and the Exodus of the entire Jewish nation from Egyptian slavery.

Strangely, the Jews prepared for this monumental event in a seemingly very inappropriate way:

All Jewish males had to undergo a painful and debilitating operation and then eat a full meat meal: they circumcised themselves and then had to eat from the Korbon Pesach – the Pesach Offering, just hours before beginning an arduous desert trek.

Who would do such a crazy thing? Why did G-d want them to do it? What sense did it make?!

The Weekly Sedra – Va’eira

This week’s section finds Moses face to face with Pharaoh the king of Egypt (according to some, the king of the world) and from the beginning we see the game is fixed and Pharaoh doesn’t stand a chance.

Even before they meet G-d announces, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so I can multiply my miracles and signs. And he won’t listen and I will smite Egypt and take my people, the Jews, from Egypt with great miracles. (7:3,4)”

And Pharaoh is certainly no match for the Creator of the universe!

At first glance this is not only unfair, it’s cruel. Why harden Pharaoh’s heart with false confidence in order to add plagues?