Rabbi Levin's Blog

  People are faced with challenges every day, and the way we deal with them can have very small consequences or sometimes can be life-altering.  A community leader’s decisions in the face of adversity can often have a major impact on the community, and a world leader’s actions can impact the entire world.   Our history is rich with great leaders whose strength and tenacity, and unwillingness to allow anything to stop them from leading the Jewish people forward, brought Jewish life back to its full strength after very difficult times.   Such a leader was Rabbi Dovber of Lubavitch.  His birthday and his Yahrzeit are both on the ninth of Kislev, which we will celebrate this Shabbat.  On the tenth of Kislev, he was released from prison.  He was arrested, as was his father Rabbi Schneur Zalman and just about every major Chabad leader, due to false accusations made against him by people trying to stop him from his work of building the Jewish community and mo...

Friday is the first day of the month filled with light - Kislev!   At the end of the month we have Chanukah,  the beautiful “Festival of Lights,” with its message of increasing light.  There are also two celebrations of redemption relating to this Chanukah message.  The “Alter Rebbe,” Rabbi Schneur Zalman, first Rebbe and founder of Chabad, brought a new light of Torah to the world.  He enabled us to deeply understand the mystical secrets of Torah, thereby combatting the darkness that enveloped the Jewish world and preparing the way for the revelation of Moshiach.  This light was almost extinguished when he was falsely accused of rebellion against the Czar and arrested on capital charges.  On the 19 th of Kislev he was released with great honor, and the light expanded much more than it had before.   His son Rabbi Dov Ber continued to spread this light after his passing,  who was also falsely accused of rebellion and arrested.  He was re...