No Sale! – Parshas Behar-Bechukosai

Sholom Aleichem. Imagine a priceless thing that no one wants. If it’s priceless, why doesn’t everyone want it? If no one wants it, why is it priceless? Please read on:

When the Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn (1880-1950), left Soviet Russia after miraculously being freed from a death sentence, he was asked for his reaction to his recent experiences. He answered:

“If you wanted to give me a million dollars to go through it again, I would refuse. But if you wanted to give me a million dollars to erase one moment of the suffering I just went through, I would refuse that too.”

One seldom encounters a person who stands up for what is right even when life itself hangs in the balance. People who are harassed by powerful governments and hold steadfast to truth and their belief in G-d’s mercy are indeed heroic. You might think that I am describing a case that happened under some villainous totalitarian regime. Sadly, I am referring to events that occur in these hallowed (Yes, I really mean hallowed, as in sacred) United States of America.

Op-Ed: Children of Believers

Spending Lag Beomer day with my nephew this week sent me down memory lane to the days when thousands of children marched down the famous Lag Beomer parade route at Lubavitch World Headquarters.

I cannot purport to remember the Rebbe’s address to the legions of men, women, and children, who came from across the metropolitan area to join in the show of Jewish unity. I wont profess to recall every detail of the events that took place only a couple of times in my youth, as the parades were only held when Lag Beomer was on a Sunday. However, I can look back on one time that I actually marched with my kindergarten class by the grand podium from which the Rebbe viewed the procession.