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The Holy Ones

1 Jul

 Today is Gimmel Tammuz, the twentieth anniversary of the passing of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. I was emotionally numb since receiving the news of the three kidnapped and murdered boys last night, but that changed when I went to pray today. Chabad meditative prayer is intellectual, it’s all about soaring on the wings of lofty spiritual concepts. But as I focused and meditated and my thoughts took me to where they are supposed to go, the tears also came. I can’t explain it. All of a sudden the senseless loneliness and sorrow of the boys and their families hit me like a ton of bricks. The tears started and they haven’t stopped.
As if the news of the boys was not enough, a dear friend called me last night and told me that he lost his mother. The levaya is today, gimmel Tammuz. His family is not just another noble Jewish family. They are the rabonim and poskim of the largest congregation in London and hence in all of Europe. Meaning, they do not live for themselves, they are dedicated to all of the Jewish people.
Taken altogether, we begin to get the picture. There are days when the kedoshim, the holy ones of the Jewish people, are taken back to their source. Whether the Rebbe, whether the three boys, whether my friend’s mother, for some reason known only to Him, they are needed more upstairs than they are down here. They can do more for us from Above than they can down here in this physical world. No longer limited to a physical body, their souls can have an unlimited influence on the rest of the world. If I can, I’m going to the levaya of the boys. They are holy.

For more words of Torah on the weekly portion, go to http://jerusalemconnection.org/weekly  If you would like to learn a method and technique of meditative prayer, go to www.jewishspiritualbooks.com, and if you just want to know what’s going on with Chabad in Jeruslaem, check out www.chabadjerusalem.org  Plus here are a couple more sites for your educational benefit: www.rootsofprayer.blogspot.co.il and www.neirot.com  A little something for everyone…

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Aside 24 Jun

This week’s words of Torah are dedicated to “our boys,” to Naphtali, Gilad and Eyal, who were kidnapped almost two weeks ago near Hebron and not heard from since.  It is known who the kidnappers were – two Hamas operatives recently released from jail in the Shalit deal.  Here is what the chief Bedouin tracker says,  “In every corner and in every room and tunnel that I go into, I see them in front of my eyes,” Major Mazarib, 37, commander of the southern West Bank’s specialized tracking unit, said in Hebrew. “As long as there are three missing, we’re going to keep going.” Major Mazarib and his 50 trackers, all Bedouin citizens who serve voluntarily in the Israeli military, were among perhaps 1,000 troops who converged Monday around the village of Beit Kahil.”  We are witnessing an unprecedented expression of Israeli unity.  It is significant that the whole country, not only the families of the kidnapped, stand behind this search.  Yes, there are the usual far-left loonies who attempt to justify this dastardly act, but overall there is more unity behind the search than behind anything that happened recently in Israel.  We will find our boys!
For something on the weekly Torah portion, check out www.jerusalemconnection.org/weekly/w_Chukas_5774.php If you’d like to delve a bit deeper and look into books on the subject, try www.jewishspiritualbooks.com  And finally, for a taste of Chabad in Jerusalem, go to www.chabadjerusalem.org  And here are a couple more options for the spiritually oriented:  www.rootsofprayer.blogspot.co.il and www.neirot.com  With all these options, you are sure to find something that suits your fancy!

Seeking Enlightenment

18 Jun

This entire week, we have been surrounded by the “Festival of Lights” in Jerusalem’s old city.  It is beautifully done, with several light paths meandering around the old city walls and into its alleyways, all cleverly laid out with various bulbs and projected images.  But, you know what?  There is no Jewish content in these lights and projections.  Why not inject a wee bit of Jewish content into the festival?  Isn’t that what we, the Jews are all about, illuminating and shedding light?  Directly in front of our headquarters, in the Hurva Square and in the shadow of the Hurva Shul, is an illuminated deck of playing cards, with nothing but the most cursory reference to anything Jewish.  What are the festival designers afraid of, that in the most Jewish quarter of the most Jewish city in the world, someone might actually receive a bit of Jewish knowledge?  The light show is a great vehicle for instruction, but if we don’t add some illumination to the lights, they are nothing but empty vessels.  Next year, let’s add some illumination to the light festival, shall we?  To shed some light on the weekly Torah portion, go to www.jerusalemconnection.org/weekly/  For some light on Jewish meditation and prayer, check out www.jewishspiritualbooks.com.  For just some local Jerusalem information, have a look at www.chabadjerusalem.org.  And if all that is not good enough for you, pick up some more tidbits at www.neirot.com and at www.rootsofprayer.blogspot.co.il   Plenty for everyone… 

No-Man’s Land

12 Jun

 Still in the shadow of Shavuot, we reach for another season of the year on the Jewish calendar.  It’s a spiritual “no-man’s land,” as we leave the festival and inch toward another spiritual event, looking around to discover what it might be.  It’s a good time for taking stock, for noting where we have been and where we now want to go.  Where we have been?  Dare we say, “one on one with the One above” during Shavuot?  And if so, where do we go next?  Clues are to be found in the weekly Torah portion.  This week it’s about sending “spies” to check out the lay of the land.  That’s a good thing to do when you’re thinking about taking a new direction.  You should always scout out where you want to go before going there.  For more on that, have a look at our weekly words of Torah at http://www.jerusalemconnection.org/weekly/w_Shlach_5774.php  And if you’re into not just words, but whole books on the subject, try www.jewishspiritualbooks.com  Finally, for some local Jerusalem news, look at www.chabadjerusalem.org.  Here are a couple more good links for good measure; www.rootsofprayer.blogspot.co.il, and last but not least, www.neirot.com.  Enjoy and have a great week!

 

Into the Fray and Beyond

27 May

   Lots of people just “don’t want to get involved.”  But sometimes, it makes sense.  That’s the art of “picking your battles.”  You can’t choose every battle that come your way, but you should certainly choose some of them.  This week, we experienced the day (yesod within yesod) of a famous biblical figure – Yoseph hatzadik, or “Joseph the righteous.”  Joseph’s contribution was his ability to be above the fray even while in the midst of the fray.  While the chief viceroy of Egypt, Joseph was nonetheless able to keep his head above the accounts, beyond the politics, and past the petty squabbles of Egyptian life.  He remained focused and concentrated on one thing alone – the One above.  Joseph was a highly developed individual, and not all of us can master his trait of being “above the fray” even while “in the fray.”  On the other hand, it is not totally beyond us.  The method was perfected by Joseph but we can tap into it.  His quality was the ability to be tied to someone/something beyond himself.  When you are connected Above (the fray) you do not fall down (into the fray).  For more on the subject, have a look at this week’s words of Torah at http://www.jerusalemconnection.org/weekly/w_Naso_5774.php  If you like what you see, you may want to check out www.jewishspiritualbooks.com and pick up some valuable info on Jewish meditation and prayer.  And if you really want to dive into life in the big (spiritual) city, go to www.chabadjerusalem.org   Here are a couple of other links for good measure: www.neirot.com and www.rootsofprayer.blogspot.co.il  See ya on the other (higher) spiritual side…

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Musing with the times…

21 May

Lag b’Omer has come and gone, and once again, I ask myself the quintessential Jewish question, “where am I”?  I don’t know why Lag b’Omer does this, even Yom Kippur doesn’t make me as introspective as Lag b’Omer does.  While everyone else is huddled around a huge bonfire or pushing their way up to Meron and R’ Shimon bar Yochai, I can be found alone at my desk, pondering the mysteries of the universe.  Is there something wrong with that on lag b’Omer?  I don’t think so, actually…Lag b’Omer is all about what the mystics called hod, or “glory” and the way we get into the glory is by pondering the mystery of creation, so maybe I’m onto something…at the same time, Lag b’Omer is not just your standard “glory.”  It’s hod within hod, or the “glory of the glory.”  Another way of getting that is to know that we are not just puny in relation to Him.  That would be like saying, “yeah God is bigger than I am.”  Congratulations you have arrived at step one.  Rebbe Shimon was step one thousand or maybe one hundred thousand.  Hod within hod is more like, “I don’t exist, I’m really not here, I’m only a piece of the One above.”  A little infinity (soul) within a body, that’s the Jew.  When my musings get me to that point, I’m ready for R’ Shimon…

For more meaningful musings from a more advanced human being, go to http://www.jerusalemconnection.org/weekly/w_Bamidbar_5774.php  For books and information about Jewish meditation and prayer, go to www.jewishspiritualbooks.com  For more background and info on Chabad in Jerusalem, visit us at www.chabadjerusalem.org  And here are a couple of other great sites as well: www.neirot.com and www.rootsofprayer.blogspot.co.il  

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Second Chance

14 May

We are in the heart of the omer, the countdown period that occurs between Pesach and Shavuot.  Twenty nine days, to be exact, or four weeks, one day and counting.  Tonite, we have the holiday of Pesach sheni, or the “second Pesach,” during which the Jews get a “second chance.”  Those who were impure or far away on the night of the exodus from Egypt, got a second chance to join the festivities a month later.  And the same is true of the rest of us; it’s never too late to throw our hat into the ring.  It’s never too late to say, “Hey I want to be part of this party together with the rest of you.”  Simultaneously, it also happens to be the yahrtzeit, or day of passing of a great Jewish sage – R’ Meir.  We are told that the other sages of his day “couldn’t fathom the depths of R’ Meir’s teachings,” and that R’ Meir could present three hundred parables in order to teach any subject of the Torah.  It’s never too late; if one parable or life-event doesn’t convince you, another one will, it’s never too late to join the party…

For more on the period of counting, check out our weekly words of spirituality at http://www.jerusalemconnection.org/weekly/w_Bechukosai_5774.php.  And for more depth and color on Jewish spirituality and meditation, check out www.jewishspiritualbooks.com.  Finally, to gain some awareness of the color and history of Chabad in Jerusalem, check out www.chabadjerusalem.org  Image

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Chag Sameach – Happy Holidays!

6 May

Last week, we wrote about Holocaust Remembrance day in Israel. No-one in Israel is untouched by the holocaust, but different people “commemorate” the day in various ways. For example, not everyone stands during the siren that sounds off throughout Israel. In fact, many of those who do not stand are among those whose families suffered the most in the Holocaust. The same is true of today’s celebrations, of Yom Hazikaron (“Memorial day” for fallen soldiers) and Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israeli “Independence day”). There are varying degrees of celebration of these days. One person might add Hallel to his prayers, while another may go out to the park and make a BBQ. Yet a third will find it meaningful to read off a list of fallen comrades and light candles for them. What is clear though, is that we Jews need a safe place to live on this planet. Our attachment to Israel goes back centuries and millennia, but the absolute necessity of having a place to be safe in this cruel world goes back only a few decades. No matter how we celebrate, we all need to be glad that we have our own nation and a powerful military to defend us. Together with our fulfillment of Torah and mitzvoth, that’s about the best we can hope for until meshiach arrives!

            It’s Israeli Independence Day today, but if you’re feeling studious, go to http://www.jerusalemconnection.org/weekly and have a look at the weekly Torah portion from the eyes of a sixteenth century sage and master of the entire Torah. And if that little taste of mind-blowing spirituality fails to whet your appetite, go to www.jewishspiritualbooks.com and check out the array of spiritual books on Jewish meditation and prayer that are available to you. Finally, if you just want to tune into the events and celebrations that are happening here in Jerusalem, go to www.chabadjerusalem.org something for everyone! Chag sameach!

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Standing for Holocaust Day in Israel

29 Apr

It’s Holocaust remembrance week. I got involved in a discussion about whether or not to stand during the siren that goes off in Israel. The siren commemorates the six million who died, and also asserts our dedication to never again allow such a thing to happen. Some people stand during the sixty-second siren, and others (who are Jewish) do not. So, those who do not stand must be “insensitive, out of touch, and ignorant,” right? At least that was what one side of the discussion claimed. Wait, not so quickly…it turns out that many who do not stand are from families who lost the most in the Holocaust – Chasidic families from Poland, Hungary and east Europe. They do not stand because a sixty-second reminder of the Holocaust simply does not do justice to the suffering that they underwent in the holocaust. Their everyday existence in the holy Land is testimonial to their survival, and the scars of the Holocaust are with them every minute, every hour and every day. They feel that standing still for sixty seconds once a year diminishes, rather than enhances, the memory of the six million. Of course, many will disagree with them…but this is another way in which we need to overcome the gulf, and bridge the gap between secular and religious, between Sfardi and Ashkenzai, and between right and left in Israel. Always be ready to see the issue from another perspective, to see through another person’s eyes…and be ready to do what our parsha (Emor) says, which is to speak good about another Jew and another human being, because that’s what we deserve…

                For a bit more on the parsha, visit our site at http://www.jerusalemconnection.org/weekly If you’re interested in some Jewish meditation or prayer, check out www.jewishspiritualbooks.com, and if you just want to know what’s going on around J-town, go to www.chabadjerusalem.org Have a great week!

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Mosaic Perspective

10 Mar

   Writing on Moshe Rabeinu’s birthday, the 7 of the month of Adar, I can’t help but wonder how Moses would translate today’s issues into his own Mosaic terms.  Here are the current issues coming up for vote in the Israeli Knesset:  The voting threshold that will allow a party into the Knesset, whether the Ultra religious will join the Israeli army, and a referendum on any agreement to give up parts of the land of Israel.  The voting threshold may be equivalent to the size of a tribe.  Although the division of the land of Israel took place according to lottery, the larger the tribe was, the more land it needed.  Who will join the army?  That’s easy – Moshe made it clear that nobody is exempt.  No tribe could refuse to serve in the army.  And finally, the referendum regarding land concessions – to Moshe’s mind, that didn’t exist.  He was coming to Israel in order to conquer it – all of it – and certainly not to cede part of it to any enemy.  So, reflecting on his birthday, it would seem that we have drifted away from the Mosaic concepts.  However, we are only one week away from Purim, so everything could change quickly…

                For some deeper insights on the weekly Torah portion, go to http://www.jerusalemconnection.org/weekly   If you have any interest in prayer and meditation, go to www.jewishspiritualbooks.com  Finally, if you want to know anything about Chabad in Jerusalem, go to www.chabadjerusalem.org  Happy Purim!

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