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JULY 4th – 1 TAMMUZ
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The Rebbe’s Yortziet! This Sunday, July 6th, 3rd of Tammuz, is the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s fourteenth Yortziet. A very auspicious day for increasing in Torah and Mitzvos!
Hebrew School!Do you have a child between the ages of 3 and 13? Enroll them in our Sunday Hebrew School for a Jewish Education that will last a lifetime. Traditions, Hebrew Reading, Bar/Bat Mitzvah Instruction, and more. We will be starting up in September…So…
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Friday Night Live! Don’t Forget, the next Friday Night Live! will be August 1st (please note that due to July 4th we won’t be having Friday Night Live this week) Invite Your Friends and Join Us For A Special Evening of Delicious Food, Great discussions, Socializing, and More!!
A Torah Thought!
"This is the law when a man dies in a tent," we read in this week's Torah portion, Chukat. "Everyone who comes into the tent...and every open [earthen] vessel on which there is not a closely fitting cover, is [spiritually] unclean." Moreover, whatever substance was within the open vessel is also rendered spiritually unclean.
However, as explained by Maimonides, if a person happened to be in the tent of the deceased "in a sealed barrel with a 'closely fitting cover,' " he remained spiritually pure and unaffected.
Every aspect of Torah provides us with a practical lesson to be applied in our daily lives. To the Jew, spiritual life and death are defined by his connection to G‑d, as the Torah states, "And you who cleave unto G‑d are all alive this day." Conversely, any weakening in our service of G‑d or defect in that connection constitutes the Jew's spiritual death, G‑d forbid.
Nonetheless, no matter how connected to G‑d the individual Jew may be, he still exists within the context of the material world, defined as "a world in which the wicked are ascendant."
Therefore, no matter how "alive" the Jew is in absolute terms, the world around him is unclean; the Jew is always "in the tent of the deceased."
This is especially true during the exile, when darkness covers the face of the earth, in contradistinction to the times of the Holy Temple, when G‑d's Presence in the world was openly perceived, thus enabling Jews to perform mitzvot with vitality and enthusiasm.
What can a Jew do to protect himself from negative influences during these last few minutes of exile? How can we guard ourselves against the spiritual uncleanliness that surrounds us "in the tent of the deceased"?
The answer lies in the above-mentioned ruling, on the principle that properly sealing an earthen vessel protects its contents from spiritual impurity.
In terms of our service of G‑d, the Jew must strive for the humility and self-nullification symbolized by the earthen vessel, which is composed of the dust of the earth.
Our Patriarch Abraham epitomized this quality when he declared, "I am but dust and ashes"; similarly, we recite during the High Holidays, "Man, whose basic element is dust ...is likened to a shard of clay."
Every Jew is obligated, therefore, to fit himself with "a closely fitting cover" - to guard every opening and channel that connects him with the outside world in order to filter out the bad influences from the good. Doing so will protect him from spiritual uncleanliness and ensure that his connection to G‑d remains healthy and intact.
Adapted from Likutei Sichot of the Rebbe, Vol. 23
by Chaya Miriam F., as told to Yehudis Cohen
I grew up in Long Beach, Long Island (New York). One day, When I was about six years old, in the early 50s, there was a heat wave. My mother was at work and my sister, who was a teenager, took me to the beach. There was a low tide that day. I remember seeing the barrels in the water and we were close to them because even near the barrels the water was shallow.
The water was very calm. I was sitting on a sandbar, building castles. Since it was so hot, my sister decided to get us both ice creams. There were many lifeguards at the beach and my sister asked the closest lifeguard if he would watch me for the few minutes that she would be gone. The lifeguard agreed and I continued to play without a care in the world, building my droopy sand castles with a shovel and pail. I was happy. What child wouldn't be? I was at the beach, playing in the sand, and my sister would be back in a few minutes with an ice cream!
Suddenly, the sandbar shifted. I was pulled into the water. I wasn't afraid, though. It seemed to me like a fun ride at the amusement park.
And then the lights went out. I saw in my mind's eye a farmer, chasing after animals. I shouted, "No, no. I don't like that." After all, he was harming the innocent animals and that wasn't nice! Looking back now I realize that the lights going out was due to a lack of oxygen and I was in danger of drowning. But at the time, I was not afraid. I was watching cartoons!
Before I knew it, the lights were on again. Above the water, I even let out a laugh before I was pulled back down under the water once more. This time, when the lights went out, I saw a man in a red suit with white hair and a white beard. "No, that's not my holiday," I said. "I don't want to watch this one."
I was pushed up to the surface again and then pulled back under once more. The third time, I saw a vision of a holy man. He was wearing what looked like some kind of white sheet. I had seen my grandfather wear something like that when he was at the synagogue. I was a little afraid, because I knew the man was a zeidy (grandfather) but he was not my zeidy.
The man spoke in English but with some Yiddish words. I knew a few Yiddish words from my zeidy. The man said, "Give me dein hentala now." (Give me your hand now.) I didn't want to give the man my hand because he was a stranger and I had been taught not to talk to strangers. Then the man said again, more insistently, "I am a Jew like you, give me dein hentala now." I obeyed and reached out my hand toward the man. At that moment, the lifeguard grabbed my hand which was above the water and pulled me out.
I don't know how much time passed because I went unconscious. But when I came to, the lifeguard was squeezing the ocean out of me. I opened my eyes and there were a whole group of people, including my sister and a number of lifeguards, surrounding me. The lifeguard who had been pumping the water out of me, held up his fingers in front of my eyes and asked me how many fingers he had. "You're a life guard, you're supposed to know how many fingers you have!" I scolded him.
Then I saw my sister. The ice creams were dripping but I was glad to see her and the ice cream!
Now they turned their attention to my sister. How long had she been gone? How could she have left me all by myself?
My sister answered them angrily. "I left her with you," and she pointed to the lifeguard who had agreed to watch out for me. They questioned the lifeguard who admitted that he had seen me but when he had looked in my direction I laughed so he turned his attention to swimmers in the deeper area.
As memorable as the experience was at the time, I eventually forgot about it. Time passed. I got married and had a little girl of my own. I was taking steps toward getting more involved in Jewish observance. My daughter attended public school and went to an afternoon Hebrew school.
One day, when I went to pick her up at the Hebrew School, I saw a flyer that said in big letters, "T.N.T." Underneath, it stated, "Torah Never Terminates: What are you doing with your child for the summer?" The flyer shook me. It was advertising the Li Ohr day camp, run by the Yahadus Center, directed by Rabbi Sholom Ber and Frida Schapiro. The Center was established by N.C.F.J.E. under the auspices of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. The camp was to be held at the local Young Israel synagogue. I decided to enroll my daughter.
When I got to the synagogue, there were a number of other pamphlets from the Yahadus Center. I picked up a brochure and saw a picture of a rabbi praying in a tallit. I nearly fainted. The memory of what had taken place 30 years earlier passed before my eyes. The Lubavitcher Rebbe was the holy man, the zeidy, who had saved me when I was drowning as a child!
That day was the beginning of my involvement with the Rebbe and Chabad. With the help of a tutor over the summer, my daughter caught up enough in her Jewish studies to be able to attend the Hebrew Academy in the fall. We became close with the Schapiro family and with Mrs. Schapiro's parents, Rabbi Nissan and Necha Mindel.
There are many, many more stories to tell. But suffice it to say, today, I am the proud mother, grandmother and great-grandmother of, thank G‑d, many children who observe Torah and mitzvot (commandments), thanks to the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Have A Wonderful Shabbos!!