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Heart and Soul - Korach/Gimel Tamuz 5786

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I’m writing these lines at 35,000 feet, on my way to New York to mark the Third of Tammuz, the 32nd Yartzeit of the Rebbe. I plan to visit the Ohel and I was invited to speak at a gathering in Brooklyn Heights. At the 32nd Yartzeit of the previous Rebbe, the Rebbe pointed out the significance of the number 32. It is the numerical value of the Hebrew word “lev” which means heart. Rambam tells us that the leader of the Jewish people is considered the heart of the nation. The heart is one of the key organs that give life to the body, and in some ways is the most important because it provides the lifeblood to every limb in the body. A healthy heart must pump the blood to every arteryand every limb, and even helps the nails grow.  Our spiritual life force is the Torah, and it is interesting to note that “lev”, the letters lamed and beit, are the end and the beginning of the Torah. The last letter is lamed, and when we conclude the reading of the Torah on Simchat Torah, we immediatel...
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A Loaf for the Creator - Shelach 5786

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What comes to mind when we use the word Challah?  Usually it refers to the special bread that we eat on Shabbat and holidays after kiddush, often braided and with seeds on top.  The meaning of the word Challah in its original Biblical form is a loaf.  A loaf of bread or even a “loaf” of Matzah.  And there is a Mitzvah of “Challah” in this week’s Parsha (Bamidbar 15:18-21): Upon your arrival in the land to which I am bringing you, when you eat from the bread of the land, you must donate a raised-offering to G-d: Donate the first of your dough, a loaf (Challah in the original Hebrew) as a raised-offering... From the first portion of your dough you must give a gift to G-d, in all your generations.   Which means that whenever a person would make a dough, they are to give the Kohen (priest) the first loaf, and it needs to be large enough to make a meal.  This was the case at the time when people were generally ritually pure, meaning that they had the ashes ...
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Can I Become a "Levite?" - Beha'alotecha 5786

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“Can I become a Levite?” the great philanthropist asked the Rabbi.  It is a famous old joke (usually told about Kohanim). The Rabbi says: “I’m sorry, I can’t make you a Levite.”  The man pleads and begs, but the Rabbi refuses to budge.  He offers a million dollars, but the Rabbi says “I’m sorry, I just can’t make you a Levite.”  (There is a PS to this joke, I’ll get to that soon.) When the disappointed man leaves, the Rabbi’s assistant follows him out and asks why it is so important for him to become a Levite.  “Well,” he answers, "My father is a Levite and my grandfather was a Levite, I also want to be a Levite!” At the beginning of our Parsha this week, Hashem tells Moshe to separate the Levites to work in the Mishkan (traveling Sanctuary), and later in the Holy Temple, alongside the Kohanim (priests).  The Levites (Leviim) were chosen by their lineage, as descendants of Yaakov’s son Levi, with the exclusion of Aarn’s branch of the tribe, who were the koh...
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On Your Shoulders - Naso 5785

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The Mishkan (traveling sanctuary) was finally completed.  It was a magnificent portable building made of many materials including gold, silver and copper, and various colors of fabrics and skins. To dedicate the Mishkan, over the course of the first 12 days, each head of tribe brought a lavish offering consisting of animal sacrifices, incense and more. They also donated six covered wagons and 12 oxen to pull them.  These wagons were used by the Levites to transport the pieces of the Mishkan and all the utensils and vessels from place to place as the Jews traveled through the desert.  However the wagons were not given to all the Levites.   Each of the three levite families carried different specific parts of the Mishkan.  The family of Kehot were assigned the holy furniture items, including the Holy Ark.  Those items had poles and were carried by Levites on foot, not transported on wagons.   Rambam (Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Klei Hamikdash 2:12) ...
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Limitless Torah - Happy Shavuot 5786

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“I am Hashem your G-d who took you out of Egypt from the house of bondage.”  These are the opening words of the Ten Commandments that Hashem gave the Jewish people on Shavuot 3,338 years ago. They were the introduction to the 613 Mitzvot that are the vehicles by which we reveal Hashem’s light in the world and make it a home for Him.  Hashem is the Creator of the entire world. It would seem that that is a greater accomplishment than freeing slaves from Egypt. Why not introduce Himself as the One on Whom everything depends?   Another interesting point is why Hashem would have to remind the Jews that they were redeemed from Egypt. This was only a few weeks after they had ended 210 years of bitter exile there, and they hardly needed a reminder of the country in which they were slaves. He could have just said “who took you out of the house of bondage” and everyone would know He was referring to Egypt.  Chassidus explains at length that Egypt is not just a country and...
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Receiving the Torah Today - Bamidbar pre-Shavuot 5786

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In a week, we will be receiving the Torah from Hashem.  Wait a second, you might say, that happened 3,338 years behind the times!  The Jewish people stood at the foot of Mount Sinai in the year 2,448 from Creation, 3,338 years ago, and Hashem came down onto the mountain and gave the Torah.  But even though it happened then, what I said is still accurate, for a few reasons. First of all, every one of our holidays is not just celebrating an event that happened in the past, but reliving the events that happened the first time.  On Rosh Hashanah, the birthday of humankind, we celebrate the creation of the world.  Chassidus explains that every Rosh Hashanah the world is renewed, with a new revelation of Hashem’s will to create that lasts for another year until next Rosh Hashanah.   Every Pesach we celebrate not just the first Exodus from Egypt but the concept of freedom that is one of the greatest values of the Jewish people.  And on Shavuot we once ag...
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Reap Without Sowing - Behar Bechukotai 5786

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  There is nature and there are miracles.  We usually think of them as completely separate things.  Once in a while a huge miracle happens, like the sea splitting, or when thousands of missiles flew and a relatively tiny (though tragic) number of Jews died.  But the sun rises daily and sets, as does the moon.  We plough a field and sow it, it rains and the seeds grow into grain, vegetables or trees.  Sometimes it doesn’t rain and they don’t grow.  It’s the way of the world.   It’s a common practice to let the land lie fallow on occasion, like rotating crops, in order to allow the earth to regain its strength, otherwise the amount it produces may drop.  I did some research about this and some modern farmers feel that fertilizing the land has the same effect, but certainly this was a practice in earlier times.  Many still believe in it today. So then it would make sense that the Torah tells us, in the Parsha we read this Shabbat, to l...
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